# what will eat brown algea off of anubias?



## indyglyder (Jul 14, 2006)

I have about 6 anubias in my 90 gallon planted tank. all of them have a brownish black algea on them. Most of them are on a very long piece of wood which is the length of the tank diagonaly so I can't take them out to dip in a peroxide solution. I have 4 sae's and they don't seem to touch it. what can I put in that will eat it without harming any plants?


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

ottos.


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## looking4roselines (Mar 28, 2008)

Nerite snails will do a good job with brown and green spot algae. Only down side is that they crap out too many white eggs.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

diatoms are otto's favorite food.


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## dthb4438 (Nov 12, 2007)

@[email protected] said:


> diatoms are otto's favorite food.


What are diatoms?

Otocinclus IMO are the best way to go naturally instead of adding chemicals to your tanks. 
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myfish/64-Otocinclus_Otocinclus_vittatus.html
I've had nothing the the best with them and I have tried SAE's, snails, Flying Fox as well for the algae issues. Once you get the algae under control and fix the problems, the otto's will keep it all balanced.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Brown Diatom Algae. It is the brown stuff in question.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

brown algae which grows in generally low light (rare to find in higher light levels), and are easy to remove manually.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

But common in newly set up tanks.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

yep, due to silicates i think.


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## samckitt (Feb 14, 2008)

Try some Florida Flag Fish. I got some the other day & they are picking on all kids of algae in the tank.


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## indyglyder (Jul 14, 2006)

I will get some otos, I used to have some but they died out. I am thinking of maybe some nerite snails too. I have seen them sold for saltwater tanks though would I just slowly acclimate them to freshwater.
Also it brown algea is from silicates what whould that be from? this tank is 3 years old.


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## omboocat (Nov 3, 2005)

We have freshwater nerite snails.
www.wilmasthecause.org


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

i use CAE when otto isn't available. 1 CAE cleared the mess in my 40 gallon tank in about 2 days. he got very fat


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

indyglyder said:


> brownish black algea


Brownish black does not sound like diatoms to me, and if I am right, ottos won't touch this stuff.

I would venture a guess and say that your CO2 levels might be a tad low and possibly you might even have low phosphates.

Don't make any drastic changes yet, but I would check these two things and post your results.

I have gotten well past buying livestock to combat algae. From my experience it doesn't work too well. Yeah ottos do eat algae and yeah I have some, but I have them because I like them rather than them impacting the algae in my tank.

When you acheive the right balance with CO2, light, nutrients, etc. then buying algae eating livestock should only happen because you like the animal.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

I'd get your substrate cleaned up a bit, seemed to me like an organics buildup in the substrate made the problem worse. I had a lot of Anubias in my old setup.


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## indyglyder (Jul 14, 2006)

If I try to wipe it off I need to rub it with a used green scotchbrite pad gently. My co2 is slightly low I'm working on that with a better setup, my phosphates are usually .5 -1


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

If you do decide to up your phosphate levels dont forget to up your potassium levels as well.


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