# How to get rid of brown algae



## Silly's_Planted (Nov 3, 2013)

I had the same problem with my old tank. I broke it down because it just got out of hand. I think there may be silicates in my water. Check your city water report and see if there is in yours too. Here's a good link http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/water/82-diatoms.html

Edit: Last year the city says the average amount of silica is 23.5 ppm. Does anyone know if that's enough to cause on-going diatoms?


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## cowmilkcandy (Feb 6, 2014)

too much light. try raising it.


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## rabidrider (Jul 18, 2014)

I have to agree you might have to much light and I would try raising the light. From there could be from source water but if the tank is 8 months old and this is a new occurrence (not factoring in "new tank syndrome") then the water should be relatively the same. How long has this been going on? I know when I first started my reef tank I was using plain old tap water (city water) and from time to time they would put stuff in the water to clean the system. This can cause havok to a tank even if you use water conditioner. For the reef I went to RODI water. Not sure if I would advise that in your case though. Also most all substrate contains a certain amount of silica. Have you stirred up the sand bed quite a bit before symptoms? If you did then I would bet you released some silica into the water column and with the new higher light than you had before that would be a cause for brown alge to take off. 

Again I would raise the lights and do water changes. From there let the alge run its course. 8 months is not a old tank so it could be very well possible by add more light you recreated "new tank syndrome". Tanks can go into mini cycles at any time for any reason. Yes the older the tank setup the less likely 8 months is really not that long IMO anyway.


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## birbaliktanki (Jun 18, 2014)

Silly's_Planted said:


> I had the same problem with my old tank. I broke it down because it just got out of hand. I think there may be silicates in my water. Check your city water report and see if there is in yours too. Here's a good link http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/water/82-diatoms.html
> 
> Edit: Last year the city says the average amount of silica is 23.5 ppm. Does anyone know if that's enough to cause on-going diatoms?


i read in another article that in freshwater, silica content ranges from 4-20 ppm. so i think yours is high. 

my tap water has 18 ppm and i am having some serious brown algae problems too.


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## rabidrider (Jul 18, 2014)

If you have 18 PPM out of the tap I highly doubt brown alge is coming from your source water. Especially if it is a sudden onset. Maybe if it has been there since you set up the tank and never gone away but even then I doubt it. Only way to truly tell is to send a water sample to a lab to be tested.

You must remember especially in the OP case that a sudden onset is generally the cause of something we as hobbyists did to create it. In there case it was most likely due to the increase of light and the alge bloom from the initial tank set up was not actually complete just could only do what the lighting allowed. Now that the increase of light was added it will enhance the brown alge's ability to bloom and thrive as long as other conditions are present and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that most if not all tanks have the right conditions. From substrate to lights and what we add to the tank (doseing) all play a role. 

One thing that can help is to increase flow. Brown alge tend to like areas of low flow but the conditions for it to bloom are still present it just has no where to grab hold. Silica is its main fuel next to light (but it dont need much light) and silica is in just about everything especially the substrate. Certain rocks used for decor in tanks are silica based rocks and can fuel brown alge for pretty much the life of the tank. 

Now I am no CO2 expert that is a fairly new concept that I have far more research to do before adding that to the equation. I am sure some on here have way better knowledge in that department. 

In order to get rid of brown alge (or any alge for that matter) you must find what is fueling it and adjust. The 3 main things are as listed. 



Excess silicates & nitrates
inadequate light
low O2 levels (since you are adding CO2 you might want to cut back a little here as well).
So if those are present you will have some type of brown agle. In fact almost all aquariums have some in the tank even if you cant see it. By doseing you are adding nitrates and probably some silicates. Lighting I dont think is a problem with to little but to much and the tank has not adjusted to it (hence why brown alge is present). Again I am not expert on CO2 but I has to have a direct effect on oxygen. The higher the CO2 I am going to assume the lower the O2. With that in mind start cutting back in small increments on both doseing and CO2. Raise the light (or leave it if thats where you want it but the tank will need time to adjust to the new lighting).


Remember easy does it. Dont make dramatic changes all at once but incorporate them slowly over a period of time. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby. I know the agle is unsightly but doing to much to fast is even worse.


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## greaser84 (Feb 2, 2014)

Silly's_Planted said:


> I had the same problem with my old tank. I broke it down because it just got out of hand. I think there may be silicates in my water. Check your city water report and see if there is in yours too. Here's a good link http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/water/82-diatoms.html
> 
> Edit: Last year the city says the average amount of silica is 23.5 ppm. Does anyone know if that's enough to cause on-going diatoms?


23.5ppm is more than enough for a constant diatom problem without a doubt. There are also other issues that may cause them, low light, too much light, poor tank maintenance, excess P04 and N03. Example my tap water has 8-9ppm which is still high, I switched to RO/DI water and the diatoms disappeared, haven't seen them since.


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## rabidrider (Jul 18, 2014)

greaser84 said:


> 23.5ppm is more than enough for a constant diatom problem without a doubt. There are also other issues that may cause them, low light, too much light, poor tank maintenance, excess P04 and N03. Example my tap water has 8-9ppm which is still high, I switched to RO/DI water and the diatoms disappeared, haven't seen them since.



8-9PPM are you talking TDS or actual silica? I have never seen tap water with 8-9 TDS. Not sure how you even test for silica besides a lab.


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## birbaliktanki (Jun 18, 2014)

@rabidrider

i use a hanna colorimeter silica high range. i am no expert but the tester seems to be pretty decent. the procedure, i would say, is very arduous. 

no, it is not a sudden onset. it actually is happening slowly but definitely getting worse week after week. 

do you mean to say 18 ppm is not that high? 

in my other low tech tank which uses the same tap water, there is no brown algae. so yes, i also suspect it could be due to other things like the dry ferts or the lava rock. but the most obvious culprit seems to be the tap water itself.


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## rabidrider (Jul 18, 2014)

18 is high if it is silica. I have never seen or heard of a silica test like that before so thats why I raised the question. I seen PPM from tap water and typically thats a TDS reading which in a TDS reading thats pretty good as it not only reads silica but everything in the water thats not supposed to be there (TDS=Total Dissolved Solids) and that could be a wide range of things not just silica. 

Also what are your other water parameters.


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## birbaliktanki (Jun 18, 2014)

the tap water here is very hard, gh 400+ ppm, tds 600+ ppm

for my tank water,
ph w/o co2 7.6 - 7.9
ph w/ co2 6.4 - 6.6
kh 169 ppm
nitrate 30+
phosphate 2+
iron 0.1+

for nitrate, phosphate and iron, their levels stay that way, even w/o dosing. there must be something in the tank leaching those in the water.


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## rabidrider (Jul 18, 2014)

Ok thats what I need to see. First off you source water sucks. Could be the issue alone. Consider RO water. airwaterice.com is a good place to look from my experience have not checked out the sponsor below that does them so compare prices and try to use a sponsor if feasible. 

Second PH is low with CO2 (just from my perspective hope someone else with more experience with CO2 chimes in). Consider cutting back (little at a time does it).

Third Nitrates is high (very high). Consider cutting back on doseing (little at a time). 30+ is high very high. IMO you dont have the plant load to back what you are doing yet. So dont force it back up and ease into it. Whats you bio load? Meaning what do you have as fish and other livestock. How much do you feed and how often? How thick is the plant load and what kind of plants? I will have to look everything up. 

Look I am no freashwater planted tank expert. In my reef experance where water quality had to be perfect all the time tells me these 2 areas alone is enough to cause the problem you are having (know nothing about CO2 but know PH very very well) W/O CO2 you are a little acidic but not alarming (a little but I can live with it) with CO2 thats ringing some red flags here (again no expert on fresh water) but alarms are going off in my head.

It take time and patience to "dial in your tank" sounds to me you went from 1 side of the spectrum to the other (so to speak). Consider cutting back little by little till you find that happy spot. With source water that high in TDS seriously consider a RO unit. I would not go RODI but you are going to need to eliminate that from the equation. 

Thats a good place to start if you got questions ask away. I will not answer tomorrow as I am working in the ER all day so will not be on. 

Good luck


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## birbaliktanki (Jun 18, 2014)

thanks rabidrider. i have an RO unit but when I moved house there is no way for me to install it. definitely have to rule out the RO as a solution.

i would say i have a moderate fish load for a 29 gallon tank (23 gallon actual water volume). 10 adult black neon, 10 adult plates, 1 emaciated janitor catfish (about 4 inches in length), 1 small chinese algae eater. i feed very lightly once a day. 

i am really perplexed whats driving those values (NO3, PO4 and Fe) very high. 

the tank ph is around 7.6 w/o CO2, is that acidic?

btw, i have to tell you, i did not experience this brown algae problem before even with using the same water source. the problem started about 3-4 month ago. and even with a very bad water source, i am able to grow up to now glosso, pogostemom erectus, myrio mattogrossense, etc. i just cannot grow mayaca fluviatilis with this water. i'm amazed at how plants can adapt to growing in, i would say, extreme water conditions.


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## Fletch (Mar 18, 2004)

*Another factor to consider*

I have a 2.5 g unfiltered planted shrimp bowl that is usually crystal clear. However, I have noticed that if I feed the shrimp one flake each, four or five times a week, I get a brown algae bloom. If I feed them one flake each 3 or less times a week, the water remains crystal clear. I have repeated this experiment many times, and have come to the conclusion that the brown algae blooms in my tank are the result of excess nutrients. Everything else seems to be balanced. I have several 2g unfiltered planted vases, with no livestock, and they never get any algae, because all the nutrients are in the substrate, no nutrients are added, and the plants use up anything that diffuses into the water column. You could try feeding your Betta only as much as he eats immediately, leaving nothing else in the tank to dissolve and add nutrients to the water column. Larger tanks can handle a bit of excess nutrients, but the smaller the tank, the easier it is to upset the balance with light, heat, food or livestock.


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## birbaliktanki (Jun 18, 2014)

i'm beginning to think that when it comes to algae, there is no 1 cause for each type. i mean, many factors are involved and they come in heirarchy. like for bba, maybe the no. 1 cause is co2, and if your co2 is ok, it doesn't mean you will no longer have bba because there is the 2nd cause in the heirarchy, perhaps high nitrates. these are all speculation, i should say, but i think it explains why there are many conflicting and contradicting arguments you get to hear from time to time from aquarists. but what i would like to emphasize is, the causes come in heirarchy.


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## swimmingwiththefish (Oct 20, 2013)

birbaliktanki said:


> @rabidrider
> 
> i use a hanna colorimeter silica high range. i am no expert but the tester seems to be pretty decent. the procedure, i would say, is very arduous.
> 
> ...


Ok, I'm not trying to be mean, but clearly my thread has been hijacked.


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## birbaliktanki (Jun 18, 2014)

yes, i was thinking about that in my earlier posts. sorry for that.

going back to your problem and since we both struggle with the same thing, have you tried doing a silica tests or asking your water company perhaps?


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## King of Hyrule (Apr 29, 2013)

*try...*

*Stop dosing the Excel and the all fertilizers,* at this point you're feeding the algae. Stop completely! 

Reduce your feeding down by half. Rotting food fuels algae growth.

Cut out effected plants. Rotting plant matter fuels algae growth.

Water change. 

Try backwater extract. The tannin could inhibit the algae growth. I've used it to control an algae out brake on a 10G tank. 

Reduce the time the lights are on. If you're not home, the lights don't need to be on. I personally run my for 30 minutes in the morning, just enough to see my fish before going to work, and again for 4 hours at night so i can enjoy watching the tank until I go to bed. 

Control the temperature of the water, algae love wild swing in temperature. Use a heater to keep the water a steady temperature. 

Try adding 3-4 Otos to the tank, they help by eating the algae. Some feeder shrimp can help clean algae and the Betta will love hunting them. 

Try a phosphate remover, I had good luck with PhosGuard from Seachem. Keep testing you water, you might want to use a gallon of distilled water as part of your next water change.

Run a full test on your tank and source water (get readings for nitrates, hardness, phosphate), I'll guess they are high phosphate and nitrates are high. 

You need to get the phosphates and nitrates down and keep them down, to starve the algae. You plants will recover, they might gown slower without the Excel and Fourish, but they will grow.

This didn't happen overnight and it won't go away over night either. Be strong, you can defeat algae and have a great tank.


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## longgonedaddy (Dec 9, 2012)

Maybe not addressing the cause, but ottos should control the brown stuff, no?


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## rezco (Jan 25, 2012)

King of Hyrule said:


> *
> Reduce the time the lights are on. .*


*

What???? He already has lights on for only 5 hours. Reducing the photoperiod is going to make it worse. I have successfully dealt with both brown, BBA, and various green algae in my tanks. I played with ferts, lights, Co2 etc etc.

Brown algae is caused by combination of low levels of light and inadequate duration of bright light. You need to have enough light - defined as both intensity and duration. Fugeray is overkill for a 5 gal, but the solution is not to reduce the photoperiod to compensate for excessive lumens. Raise the light and increase the photoperiod (try 8hrs). Also block off any source of sunlight on your tank or nearby bright lamps. These can provide low ambient light while the aquarium lamps are off. Brown algae is well adapted for these conditions.

Clean the tank, so healthy plant tissue is left to grow. Healthy plants maintain a protective layer on their surface that retards algae from seeding. This is why even slow growing plants such as anubias, if kept healthy will not allow algae to grow. Getting back to the photo-period issue - you have limited the ability of plants to grow by having lights on for just 5 hrs. 

Honestly, ferts are not needed unless you have rapid growth. Most established tanks provide a background level of NPK that plants can use. This becomes limiting during periods of fast growth. Hopefully as you get success you will hit this limit -but then its an easy fix. 



Goodluck!*


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## gonner (Jun 18, 2014)

*simple solution*

get yourself a few oto-cats and your are done with the brown algae aka diatoms.


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 22, 2013)

I have a 20g high all crypt tank with 2 13 w cfls 6" above water line running 8 hrs a day and get a tiny bit of brown algae on all glass. Picked up 3 ottos 2 weeks ago and they have yet to put a dent on the algae. I also covered maybe 75% of the surface with water lettuce a few days ago

I have an uncovered window that I think may be the culprit.


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## swimmingwiththefish (Oct 20, 2013)

King of Hyrule said:


> *Stop dosing the Excel and the all fertilizers,* at this point you're feeding the algae. Stop completely!
> 
> Reduce your feeding down by half. Rotting food fuels algae growth.
> 
> ...


I am the original poster. Is this advise directed to me, or the person who hijacked my post? I'm having a bit of a challenge trying to determine which advise is for me. 

I will definitely raise the lights. Again this is a 5 gallon tank with one betta. I only feed 1-2 small betta pellets, which he always eats, so I don't think over feeding is an issue. I will cut out rotting plants. I can't add an oto since my tank is too small. I will stop using Excel and and Flourish. I tested my water. Ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-5 ppm, ph 7.8 or 8.0 (hard to tell the difference in color), KH ang GH- both took 4 drops to change colors. I can't test for phosphates.


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## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

My source water isn't the greatest, but I've seen worse........much worse. But for the 15 years I was in SW, diatoms were the absolute back-breaking part of the hobby. Snails and crabs, big and small never totally eliminated it, and at times they would eliminate each other. having returned to FW I've only found one and only one solution to brown diatoms and it's not a single- bullet solution.
I breed angels for the most part and have around 25 tanks with close to 900G of water running. The only solution I've found is a combination of Purigen, Phosgard, and 30% water changes at least every five days. The tanks that I can maintain that schedule for are free of diatoms. These are largely 20G's and 10G's that this holds true for and The Purigen and Phosgard run in small air-driven box filters. They are barebottom, but I keep plants in each tank in either a drinking glass or plastic container "dish garden".


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## birbaliktanki (Jun 18, 2014)

swimmingwiththefish said:


> I am the original poster. Is this advise directed to me, or the person who hijacked my post? I'm having a bit of a challenge trying to determine which advise is for me.


it is safe to assume that after you raised your concern, the responses are all yours!


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## swimmingwiththefish (Oct 20, 2013)

birbaliktanki said:


> it is safe to assume that after you raised your concern, the responses are all yours!


Ok thanks. I was not sure since there are a couple of suggestions to add oto's. I am under the assumption that my tank is too small. Therefore I wondered if they were in response to the other poster.


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