Dog poo

[Whitey]

Well its not dog poo but it might as well be, over the last 2 weeks brown algae has been majoly covering everything in my tank plus the tank, and i dunno wots caused it, my room is normaly dark and i leave the tank lights on for about 8-10 hours a day, regular water changes and gravel changes.

So i dont understand? What i thought might of changed it is a little while before it happend i gave my pleco away to a freind.

help

 

[Whitey]

 

[glolite]

It could well be the absence of your plec. Could you replace it with a smaller variety? Bristlenose catfish are good at algae eating and grow to only about 5-6 inches. If you want a small plec/catfish that is a good algae eater try a pitbull or bulldog catfish which grow maximum 1 or 2 inches.

 

[OrkyBetta]

Try burning your lights a little less. Is the tank in direct sunlight or anything? When you do water changes, scrub the sides of the tanks compulsively, even after the algae is gone.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I thought brown algae was diatoms, they multiply with less light. I got oto's to take care of mine, they work great. Plant leaves that I thought were goners are green again. It could also be cause by silicates in the water. You can get silicate absorbers for that. I couldnt' find any at my lfs, so i got six oto's instead. Best investment I have ever made. My 55G has never looked so good. Increasing the time the lights are on might help too. Is this a new tank? Diatoms are common in new tank setups. That is why mine was so affected.

HTH

 

[dwarfgourami]

I am sure Fishenthusiast is right here, have read it elsewhere and it explains my situation perfectly: new tank, dark niche of the room, fairly weak tank lights- and fur coatings on my plants. The livebearer tank is not too bad as they do snack on them but the cory tank keeps furring over. Seems slightly better since I got in more plants though, and hopefully time will do something.

 

[Whitey]

My tank has been set up a few months now, with fish living in them nearly as long (excluding the cycle), if what u guys say is true then i think il invest in sum ottos i hear nothing but praise for the little urchins except that they are fragile.