# How to remove Brown algae from substrate?



## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

snails or shrimp will do all the work for you, if you get shrimp I recommend cherry shrimp... they are good for beginner aquarists. As far as snails go I say get 2 nerite snails or maybe 3, they will surely get the job done...


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## HannahFergusonFan (Dec 13, 2016)

BettaBettas said:


> snails or shrimp will do all the work for you, if you get shrimp I recommend cherry shrimp... they are good for beginner aquarists. As far as snails go I say get 2 nerite snails or maybe 3, they will surely get the job done...


Thanks again, I did had Cherry shrimp but they died as soon as I started dosing IRON, so does snails die as well ?


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

depends how much you dose but if followed by the amts on the bottle no


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## HannahFergusonFan (Dec 13, 2016)

BettaBettas said:


> depends how much you dose but if followed by the amts on the bottle no


Thanks again, I was not overdosing but they still died or may be due to the fact I used Rain water instead of tap water(which was hard). I thought only excess copper kills shrimps.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

shrimps require very sturdy parameters, do some more research on cherry shrimp an you may be able to learn more. they require steady parameters and RO usually doesn't work for them as it contains some things that aren't good for them.. unless adjusted.


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## pauliewoz (Sep 22, 2015)

It sounds like it might be just diatoms which are fairly common in newly setup tanks.

Nerite snails are good to help get rid of it. As well as frequent water changes. Depending on how big your tank is I would just try and vacuum the algae off of the substrate and rub it off the plants using your fingers or an unused toothbrush.

If it's not coming off easily then it might be some other algae.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

BettaBettas said:


> shrimps require very sturdy parameters, do some more research on cherry shrimp an you may be able to learn more. they require steady parameters and RO usually doesn't work for them as it contains some things that aren't good for them.. unless adjusted.


Probably best not to offer advice if you don't know what you are talking about. 

RO removes the minerals that shrimp need. The problem is that it doesn't contain the things that are good for them. This is why we have remineralizers that add back the necessary things like calcium and magnesium. 

The reason most people don't successfully keep shrimp is because they don't understand the need for proper minerals (which translates into general hardness of water). Without the correct parameters there, the shrimp will eventually fail to molt properly resulting in death.

As for the diatoms, just wait them out. They are caused by excess silicates, and they will die off once they've consumed all of the excess.


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## HannahFergusonFan (Dec 13, 2016)

pauliewoz said:


> It sounds like it might be just diatoms which are fairly common in newly setup tanks.
> 
> Nerite snails are good to help get rid of it. As well as frequent water changes. Depending on how big your tank is I would just try and vacuum the algae off of the substrate and rub it off the plants using your fingers or an unused toothbrush.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your reply, I will do 50% water change now, mine is 29 gallon tank.

Bump:


natemcnutty said:


> Probably best not to offer advice if you don't know what you are talking about.
> 
> RO removes the minerals that shrimp need. The problem is that it doesn't contain the things that are good for them. This is why we have remineralizers that add back the necessary things like calcium and magnesium.
> 
> ...


They are on the leaves now even on the uppermost, so i better re-setup my tank fast.


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## MCHRKiller (Jul 25, 2008)

Honestly I don't clean my substrate....I keep a ton of MTS in my tanks and am only using pool sand or black diamond sand at the moment. I will occasionally poke around in the sand with a piece of pvc but that is rare. 

What substrate are you using? I ask because it is common for silica sand to cause brown algae for a period of time...an easy solution to that is to filter out the silicates which make it to the water column. Some media like SeaGel for the first month or two usually takes care of it. Some fish also love to eat diatoms....livebearers, barbs, and otos are some of the best.


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## HannahFergusonFan (Dec 13, 2016)

MCHRKiller said:


> Honestly I don't clean my substrate....I keep a ton of MTS in my tanks and am only using pool sand or black diamond sand at the moment. I will occasionally poke around in the sand with a piece of pvc but that is rare.
> 
> What substrate are you using? I ask because it is common for silica sand to cause brown algae for a period of time...an easy solution to that is to filter out the silicates which make it to the water column. Some media like SeaGel for the first month or two usually takes care of it. Some fish also love to eat diatoms....livebearers, barbs, and otos are some of the best.


ADA amazonia (this is not causing the problem), I have some 15% of silica sand (culprit) and 10 medium sized rocks (another culprit) hand picked at my surrounding which has sand or soil on their surface. So my rocks and that sand is causing silica levels to rise. First brown things started on sand and rocks then after 1 week it spread through ADA soil. Thank you pointing at my problem. I didn't get what is MTS ..snails ?


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

Is it a newly setup tank? Brown diatom algae is pretty normal while tanks are cycling and usually clears up on its own before the nitrification cycle is complete. If its a new tank (2 to 4 weeks or so), just cut back your photoperiod and ride it out. Drying the substrate means you have to go through it twice


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## HannahFergusonFan (Dec 13, 2016)

KayakJimW said:


> Is it a newly setup tank? Brown diatom algae is pretty normal while tanks are cycling and usually clears up on its own before the nitrification cycle is complete. If its a new tank (2 to 4 weeks or so), just cut back your photoperiod and ride it out. Drying the substrate means you have to go through it twice


Thank your for your reply, I am resetuping anyway I will remove everything from my tank.


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

You're welcome, just keep in mind that you'll probably see it again after setup. Since it seems to go away on its own, I usually choose to not spend much time or money trying to treat it. Water changes and some filter medias can speed up the process though. SeaGel, like @MCHRKiller mentioned is good

And MTS = Malaysian Trumpet Snails. Small snails that sift through the substrate and break it up


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## MCHRKiller (Jul 25, 2008)

ADA substrate often causes ammonia spikes in new tanks...so it could be causing the issue through the nitrogen cycle instead of silicates. Brown algae is just part of new setups or tanks with sand....it is easy to manage and honestly not worth the effort to remove. Lots of fish like to eat it, MTS(malaysian trumpet snails as previously indicated) eat it and lots of media options to remove the silicates. Getting your plant load up also helps get rid of it faster.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

natemcnutty said:


> Probably best not to offer advice if you don't know what you are talking about.
> 
> RO removes the minerals that shrimp need. The problem is that it doesn't contain the things that are good for them. This is why we have remineralizers that add back the necessary things like calcium and magnesium.
> 
> ...


I have 2 successful shrimp tanks, and no need to come at me? that's just immature :|
RO from what I hear is usually not the best for shrimps, that's what I was saying... please next time don't insult me, thank you.


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

BettaBettas said:


> I have 2 successful shrimp tanks, and no need to come at me? that's just immature :|
> RO from what I hear is usually not the best for shrimps, that's what I was saying... please next time don't insult me, thank you.


I'm not coming at you, and I'm not insulting you... But you are giving people bad information, and I'm telling you that you shouldn't do that. If you don't know anything about RO water, stop talking about it as if you do.

Most high end shrimp keepers use RO water... It's just that they know what it is and how to use remineralizers to make it perfect for the type of shrimp they are keeping.

I've seen you offer some good advice and some terrible advice in various threads. If you don't know, don't attempt to answer. People come here for help, and it's important they get correct information.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

natemcnutty said:


> I'm not coming at you, and I'm not insulting you... But you are giving people bad information, and I'm telling you that you shouldn't do that. If you don't know anything about RO water, stop talking about it as if you do.
> 
> Most high end shrimp keepers use RO water... It's just that they know what it is and how to use remineralizers to make it perfect for the type of shrimp they are keeping.
> 
> I've seen you offer some good advice and some terrible advice in various threads. If you don't know, don't attempt to answer. People come here for help, and it's important they get correct information.


then correct me... which you did I guess  and as I said earlier I was saying the information of which I had heard of... not what I knew.. Im not going to get into what I can see as a future argument..


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

HannahFergusonFan said:


> They are on the leaves now even on the uppermost, so i better re-setup my tank fast.


If it is diatoms, they will just come back no matter how many times you tear it down, clean it, and set it back up. They are different from your usual algae we deal with. Since you are still cycling, your only other option is a UV sterilizer (or diatom filter which is less helpful long term and harder to setup/maintain).


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