# How to get rid of brown algae in planted 5g tank



## number20121 (Jan 19, 2012)

Hello everyone! 
Sorry for busting in like that, but I am slightly panicking.

I have a 5 gallon betta tank. It is moderately planted with anubias nana, java ferns (young plants grown from my older ones in my big tank), bacopa caroliniana, anacharis, narrow leaf anacharis, brazilian pennywort, giant hygro and one aponogeton (which will be removed as soon as it grows too big. It seems to be growing better in this small tank than in my 55g though). It is just a few stems of each plant, so there is a lot of room.
I am starting to get brown algae slowly covering some of the plants (especially the anubias and bacopa). 

This tank houses a female betta and two african dwarf frogs. The lighting is an LED light that came with the tank.
Because the LED seems to kind of suck for the plants, there also is a regular table lamp only a few inches away from the tank, which is equipped with a 50/100/150 fluorescent bulb.
This lamp had an energy saving bulb before, which equaled a 60watt fluorescent (supposedly). 


What can I do to fix the problem? I have paid a lot of money ordering all these plants online, and now I am fearing them to be suffocated by the diatoms.

I was thinking about getting some otocinclus to house in my 55 gallon tropical planted tank, and "rent" them out to my betta tank to take care of the brown algae every once in a while, but considered how sensitivie these fish are, I am not sure if this is a good idea.

Any other options? Or should I give the otos a try?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help provided


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Diatom blooms are common in newly set up (or recently heavily modified) tanks, and may persist for a few weeks.

After that, if you're still getting a lot of diatoms, it may be because of poor circulation, overfeeding, a large amount of dissolved silicates, excessive light, or poor fertilization.

With that in mind, it may take some time before either the tank matures enough, or you find and correct an underlying problem; and you need more immediate help.

The traumatized, half-starved otos direct from the fish store are fragile. Once put in a healthy environment and fattened up, they're much more robust. I've never had an issue moving them between my own tanks.

Another option is snails. My favorite are ramshorns. They eat soft algae, but not plants. Small and light enough to get on any leaf to clean it. And don't multiply to a plague unless you're overfeeding.

Finally, diatom algae brushes easily off leaves. So for now, you could resort to manual cleaning and a gravel vac to keep things clean.


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## number20121 (Jan 19, 2012)

Thanks a lot! I wonder if it's the water source containing a lot of silicates. I get brown algae growing in water bowls that are non-fish etc.
And I get it in all my tanks, independent from what type of setup, amount of bioload and lighting. Tanks that are up and running for more than a year still get it.

Ramshorn snails sounds like a neat idea (I feel a bit very conflicted about purchasing wild caught fish), I just need to find a place that sells them. How badly do they add to the bioload? I got a few mystery snails in another tank, and as much as I love them - they are so messy!


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Since they only eat excess food or algae that's already there, I don't consider them to add much to the bioload.

Have never seen them for sale at a LFS. But if you post a WTB in the Swap n' Shop forum, like this one, you'll find people who can send you some.


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