# brown algae problem



## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

So I've been dealing with brown algae. Been cleaning and cleaning and cleaning trying to get rid of it. Its just keeps coming back. And very quickly. My amazon swords aren't dealing with it very well. I keep wiping off the leaves ever day during my daily cleaning. So I was hoping someone could give some advice?
Tank: 5.5 gal
Light: one 13w cfl (5000k) I was keeping it on from 6a til about 11p, but have been limiting it to 8-10 hours a day to see if it helps.
Temp: stays between 76-78
Plants: 3 amazon swords, a marimo ball, anubias Nana, and 2 bamboo (I just put them in cause I read more plant using up the nutrients could help. Thinking about adding the other two I have)

Test numbers
pH-7.4
Amm-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrates-just past 10












I've been thinking about buying another plant too. But not sure its a good idea. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advanced!


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

I'm in no way an expert but all I can think of is reducing the amount of time that the lights are on (as you have) and maybe getting a nerite snail or two, they only breed in brackish (salty) water, so no worries about babies. Or maybe a few Siamese algea eaters (otocinclus catfish) depending on the temperament of your betta..


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Thanks for the reply. I thought of some sort of algae eating fish, but wouldn't I need an air stone? As for Mortimer's temperament, I'm not convinced he would do well with other fish. He likes to flair and attack his food.
I thought about snails briefly but read they have a large bio load? The people I talked to at the pet store suggested buying a fast growing plant that will absorb nutrients quickly and sold me water wisteria. I also added the other two bamboo shoots to absorb some. 
I need to find a different fert I think. Maybe a liquid rather then these root tabs. I think that's part of my problem. Numbers remain good, and Mortie seems happy. I just hate seeing that nasty brown stuff growing everywhere. 
Here's the tank today...


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Depending on how frequently you change your water and if your filter causes much surface agitation you may get away without the air pump but I'd recommend one  As long as the air pump wasn't too powerful and it used a spraybar or dense air stone your betta shouldn't mind it (I use a small interpet airpump and spray bar with my betta, he loves it). I'm not sure about snail bio-load but I'm sure 2 or 3 wouldn't cause much of an issue in a cycled, established tank, but once they've cleaned up you could always remove them. And with the fish, the only way of truly finding out if they could get along would be to try it, Id recommend putting them in a breeding box in the tank first just to see an initial reaction from your betta but they don't usually bother ottocinclus as they are small, dark and really fast!
Hope it all goes well!


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Thanks for the advice, I'll look into those fish. I wouldn't mind having a little variety.  As long as Mortie doesn't mind lol


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

(the otos are in the corner near the thermometer) 
So after lots of researching different fish and snails (and finding out snails are illegal in Maine) I decided to go with the otos. I wasn't sure if 2 or 3 would be appropriate for my size tank so I got two as the lady at the pet store suggested. The greeting went well  no flairing or anything! He just sniffed them then went about his business. I'm excited watching them help me clean the tank  lol


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

The brown algae is probably diatoms, and might just disappear on its own anyhow.. or if it doesn't (I'm not sure whether otos eat diatoms..) then a change of substrate -might- help, since its silicates that encourage growth. 

Here's a great article on brown algae:

http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/water/82-diatoms.html

Even if your new fishies don't help the brown stuff (which they might!), they will nom on all your other algae and bits of cooked zucchini too or algae wafers, when the stuff in the tank runs out.

You have a very nice tank, btw, and your betta looks so happy and healthy! Well done!


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

I hope your new clean up crew sort the algae out for you! If they dont eat the algea remember too feed them algae wafter or zucchini


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Thank you Aus! And tanks for the article. I'm fairly certain its diatoms. My tank has only been cycled for 3*fish weeks now, I'm guessing its due to being a newly cycled tank. I thought I was getting on top of it and it seemed to be slowing down. Then a few days before I bought the otos it blew up again. I also made sure to research if the otos like to eat it, and they do  They only seem to attach themselves to the glass (which appears visibly cleaner ), wood and rocks. I haven't seen them on the plants so I've cut down to just cleaning the plants. I also bought the sinking algae waffers for them. 
Thanks for suggesting them Jord, they are adorable lil guys. They made me a little nervous with how active they were at night time. I was worried because they were swimming midline, and zipping past Mortie. He doesn't seem to care tho  









The tank this morning 
















I had to share a few pics of my new clean up crew, still thinking of a name for the pair.


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

No problem, I'm glad they all get along! And at least you've now got a few tank mates and less algae to clean  I'm actually planning on getting a few oto's for my tank soon, I hope my betta is as friendly as yours with them!


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Oh nice  I hope your introduction goes well. I'm thinking about getting something to clean up the bottom of Sweet Cheeks tank. It only has silk plants and no algae problem so I don't think the otos would work in there. When I help my son feed spot I usually get the left over food out, but when my husband is home he doesn't. So I want to find something to help clean up the left over food between water changes. I'll wait an see if the ammonia becomes an issue between water changes.








Sweet cheeks tank ^


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Nice tank! Not sure of the size but you could try shrimp, they are a target for a lot of bettas though because they are small however a lot of people manage to make it work.. I've heard some species are good at cleaning  I'm not sure weather there ok with gravel or not, it would be something to research into. It's a shame you cant get some real snail to go with Gary the snail! haha


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Lol! It is a shame! Shrimp can't be sold here either  and you can't even find those online with a 14 day guarantee. The snails you can find online with 14 day guarantee I think. Its cause they are invasive, and our (Maine) shrimp population is already suffering due the ocean temps changing. And im guessing the hugh milfiol issue the state is facing has something to do with making invasive things illegal to sell here. I may wait til spring and order a snail online. Today's high was -8 so I really don't want to chance shipping them this time of year.


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Ah, I didn't even think about shrimp being illegal too :/ But atleast you could find snails online if you wanted them  And wow that is cold! I doubt anything could survive shipping in those temps. It's been a mild winter in the UK, just stormy weather and a lot of flooding but that's nothing unusual haha!


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Lol... I'd be pretty nervous in a flood, never seen one. The last one in my area was 6m before I was born (87) I'd love a mild winter tho... we had a few in a row. This winter feels like a good ol' Maine winter like they used to be when I was a kid. 10th snowiest Dec on record this year, got a blizzard moving in tonight! Lol Brrr!


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Wow, we've not even has snow this year! It's been strange. Everything went crazy near me a week or two ago, unusually high tides flooded the coast and a river that passes my local college burst its banks, flooding the college and knocking the towns electricity off haha! It's great to talk to someone on the other side of the world!

But slightly back on topic, I hope you've got good tank heaters for your bettas and oto's in your freezing winter lol!


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Oh yes, they both have heaters. Spots tank is in the dining room. With the heater on it was above the safe area on my thermometer. I turned it off and its stayed at 74. We keep it at 75 in here (heats included in our rent, thankfully). Morties tank on the other hand is near a window, I noticed it got down to 70 so I had to cover the window and its back to 76ish. 
It is pretty interesting talking to someone so far away. The internet makes the world a smaller place. We have snow usually late Oct threw April... its like winter is 6m long and we have super short transitional seasons.


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## spencanat0r (Jan 2, 2014)

dood any one sell betta fish


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

hi spencanat0r, try the classified section on the forum and see if there is anyone near you  

Its crazy how the seasons are different, here it's got to about -2 this winter, we have all the seasons but everything is usually mild, the summers aren't hot for long and the winters are rarely harsh, that's why we all flock abroad in the summer haha!

It's strange to think how things are so different, even down to Betta's! Here there just called siamese fighting fish.. I don't think I've ever been into a shop and seen them labeled as betta fish haha.


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

-2 is cold enough, was just watching the new... -35 with the wind chill. Glad its hubbys work day and I can stay in tomorrow! Our summers are pretty mild too. We have 5 seasons here, winter, spring, mud season, summer, and fall  lol 
It is interesting how different places are, and how different we all talk. Even within the US, the west coast line and the south as so different from New England. Accents are probably my favorite differences


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

That is cold! Atleast you can stay in with the betta's haha, here we have winter, spring, summer and autumn (fall). Im glad we dont have mud season, bet that is a nightmare!

Oh, ive been meaning to ask, did you get names for your oto's? Haha


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Mud season is a nightmare. Tons of snow all melting at once. Especially out in the country with all the dirt roads and dooryards. 
I was thinking one fish two fish... but hubby wants to name one frodo. I guess well have to keep thinking. I was thinking they look to much alike to have different names, I wanted a combined name. 
What are your fish named? You should post a few pics so I can see your tanks too!


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

I've only got the one tank and one fish, would love more but I don't have the time with college and work. My betta is called Mr. Chow, when I get my oto's I think there just going to be "Mr. Chow's gang" haha, there all identical! 

Heres a few pics of my tank, the clear water pics are old, I just planted it a couple of days ago so excuse the water.. it's abit cloudy. And yep, Mr. Chow is a fin biter :/ he goes through phases where it's really bad and then he will let them grow out, also he only has one ventral fin, thats why I chose him in the store


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

I love the sand... so pretty. Is it hard to clean? And the way it was like rippled in the first picture looked great.


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Thanks  I cant wait for my plants to take shape and fill out more  The sand is pretty easy to clean, I use a gravel siphon and hover it over the surface to pick up all the mess, on occassion it seems to get algea ontop but I bend the tube on the siphon to reduce flow and just put it into the sand and it falls out like gravel  The only issue is, as soon as something lands on it you can see it! Haha


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

It looks great. This is my first planted tank too. I know what you mean, mine seems so bare too. Tonight I noticed one of my swords has got a baby tho! I'm pretty excited lol


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Aw cool  do you dose any ferts or root tabs etc?


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

I used root tabs when I set it up, which turned into my ammonia source to cycle it. I think I over dosed and wonder if that's why my water has to much nutrients in it. Which would be fueling this algae. I think I want to switch to a liquid fert that has gallon dosing instructions. I have quite a few tabs left tho. So I'd like to use them up as well... not sure what I'll do next, need to do some reading up on liquid frets. 
The root tabs are supposed to last a month before adding more. So I can see how the water would be full of nutrients. I think you need to dose liquid more frequently? Which makes since, just put in enough for the plants to use with none left over for algae to get a hold of. Like I said, I've got lots of reading up to do.
Have you figured out which fertilizer your going to try out?


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

I used root tabs aswell but ive also got liquid ferts and liquid co2, ive only dosed the fert once so far, its done weekly and the co2 is supposed to be done every day however my tank is still murky and I have a bit of algae growing so im going to stop adding anything until it calms down, im thinking that the cloudy water could be a bacteria bloom though as I added new gravel and moved the sand about.. 

Im just doing daily 20% water changes in hope it will clear soon


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Its all a learning process. Well get it with trial and error  I haven't looked into the co2, but I don't think I have plants that need it? I'll have to read up on that as well lol
Mortie is bloated this morning. I think its constipation.  poor lil guy... He's a slow eater and doesn't eat much at one time so I added a second feeding time, I'm guessing that was to much. Gonna fast him today. Poor lil guy


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Sorry for the late reply, I had a busy day yesterday. Hope Mortie is doing ok, it's reccommended that bettas have one day per week where you don't feed them to allow them to regulate their bodies so you could try that to avoid it happening again 

As for the plants I'm not sure what type you have but things like anubias and javamoss should be fine with just the light, I think I have some 'medium' plants thats the only reason I've bothered with the ferts.


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Mortie looks great this morning. His bloating (which was mild) went down before I went to bed. I'll have to start doing that once a week then. I think all my plants are low light. So I guess I wouldn't need the co2, I do want to look into something other then these root tabs tho. Probably will look those up tonight so I can go to the pet store prepared on Monday. I think I'll look at different substrate while I'm there.


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

I just love the look of the sand! Especially all rippled, it looks so soft and relaxing


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

The sand is great, I would definatly reccomend it, I would also reccomend spending a bit extra and going for the proper aquarium sand, it seems to settle quicker than regular play sand. Also if you get it, either scoop it into the tank with a cup or empty the tank and refill once its in or you wont be able to see through the water haha.


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

So I've spent the morning researching sand and silicates and how changing to sand could effect my brown algae problem. An now I'm nervous to switch over. The gravel/rocks I have now have been submerged since mid October. All of my reading points to the silicates leaching out around the time of my break out. Which lasts around 8w, after all of my reading it seems my rocks should stop leaching out the silicates soon. So after all of my reading I'm afraid to start with s new substrate for fear of giving my brown algae even more fuel. I have found a fert I want to try out tho  
Any advice about switching to sand and avoiding silicates?


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

I don't know about the switching of substrates but maybe start a new thread? someone on here will know  Glad you've found a fert, make sure you stick to the dosage as anything over will feed algae rather than the plants


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

If your substrate will quit leaching after 8 weeks, I'd just persist with it.. and keep removing the diatoms by hand (annoying yes, but buildup had to be removed..). I get them in my 3g every time it decides to mini-cycle (it's fish free atm) so I give it a bit of a scrub right before a water change. That really helps keep them manageable til things settle again. 

Diatoms really aren't a problem (aside from being unsightly) unless left to build up quite thickly.


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Thanks. I was thinking I'm going to stick it out for now because its finally slowed down. Between my cleaning of the plants and the otos eating what's on the glass, wood, and rocks the tank is looking a lot better. I'm not needing to wipe the plants off nearly as much 
I did notice last night there's quite a bit in my filter, I cleaned just the front where the water comes out and there was green in there too. I haven't seen anything green til then. So I'm thinking I may have another algae or somehow a lil bit of the Diatoms were green? I'm not sure... Tonights water change I'm going to tackle the rest of the filter, as there's quite a bit of Diatoms built up on it.


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

So I went to the pet store yesterday, and decided it'd be best to buy a good heater for the tank rather then that small one I had under the gravel. It was getting to low and fluctuating a lot with how cold its been. I also got a few more plants. This is really turning into an addiction! It looks less bare  








I was to excited not to share!


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

It looks great, I really love the rock  Good decision on the heater, especially with the weather haha  I just got 5 oto's today, Mr.Chow flaired at them while they were acclimating but hes fine now that there swimming, il upload some pics in a while!


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Here are the pics as promised  I think I might loose one of the lil' guys through the night  he always seems to be on the floor, but he is still sucking on the glass so maybe he's just lazy haha!


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Wicked awesome  Glad the meeting went well... can't wait to see some pictures. They sure are cute lil buggers


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Woops! I should have refreshed my browser lol adorable.... how do get em to clean the leafs?? Mine won't clean my plants... well that I've seen. Lol


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

They just automatically did it, they even do it on the smaller leaf plants, im not sure if theres a way to encourge them onto the plants but mine were in a planted tank in the shop


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

I keep having to clean the brown algae off my plants. With how much they like to eat it I would think that's encouraging enough  lol oh well. Cleaning just the plants isn't nearly as bad as getting it off from everything. My otos came from a tank with only other algae eating fish. Nothing but rocks and fish in the tank


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Mr.Chow has taken a liking to chasing the oto's, he swims up to them so that they move and then chases them, im hoping that as soon as he realises he cant catch them he will give in :/..I hope I don't wake up to a massacre in the morning


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Oh my goodness :/ I hope not too! Behave yourself Mr. Chow!


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

Everyone is doing well this morning! Much to my surprise, the guy I thought might not make it is fine, I think he just likes to lay on the floor every now and then! Mr.Chow seems to be warming to them, he sits near them now and only gives chase if they move quickly, I suppose it's just something new for him haha, I'm also hoping that the new 'entertainment' may stop his fin biting too  

Here's a pic of them being 'tolerant' haha
(The bits in the water are bubbles, my non return valves came so I've got the air pump running)


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## KSbetta (Jan 8, 2014)

*Diatom- brown algae*



Aus said:


> The brown algae is probably diatoms, and might just disappear on its own anyhow.. or if it doesn't (I'm not sure whether otos eat diatoms..) then a change of substrate -might- help, since its silicates that encourage growth.
> 
> Here's a great article on brown algae:
> 
> ...


So grateful to read about Diatom from the quoted source, thank you. I had to clean my 32L tank almost every week just to get rid of the brown algae. 
Alter gone thr NTS (Nitrogen Cycle), it's time to test/remove silicate and silicic acid the water.

So happy to find this useful forum/site. Still learning ....


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Glad to hear Mr. Chow is doing well with his new buddies  I was wondering about them last night lol I've got oto envy... I want mine to clean the plants  hah My otos don't seem to like their food, maybe there's still to much brown algae. I'm not seeing it on anything but the plants now so I figured I should feed them. They didn't touch it tho.


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

And that was a great article! That was the biggest help in understanding the brown algae. I'm still learning too, my out break was right after I got it cycled. Its quite the learning process, but I'm really enjoying it


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## jord388 (Jun 26, 2013)

SweetCheeksMum said:


> Glad to hear Mr. Chow is doing well with his new buddies  I was wondering about them last night lol I've got oto envy... I want mine to clean the plants  hah My otos don't seem to like their food, maybe there's still to much brown algae. I'm not seeing it on anything but the plants now so I figured I should feed them. They didn't touch it tho.


Mine are the same, I have some brown algae on the back wall but apart from that there isn't much so I dropped 2 algae wafers in, and they haven't touched them, Mr.Chow had a taste and spat it back out straight away haha.

Glad to hear that your algae is under control now though, there's nothing worse than worrying about the tank when it takes so long for things to adjust :/


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## SweetCheeksMum (Nov 3, 2013)

Lol Mortie did the same... he ate a few bites before I got it out lol


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