# brown algae



## roller03hockey10 (Oct 23, 2003)

ok i guess this is the correct sub file or whatever. anyway i have had a battle with brown algae for quite some time now. i was told to leave the light on for at least 12 hrs. well it is normaly on for 14-18 hrs a day. stll the brown algae is growing. do i maybe need another type on light bulb???


----------



## Griggs2121 (Aug 18, 2003)

Are you saying your leaving the light on for 14-18 hrs? how big is the tank and how many watts do you have? How filled is the tank with plants?

In any event you probably are still waiting for your nutrients to balance. There needs to be enough plants to use up most of the nutrients in the water. This only happens once your plants are settled in.

You'll probably just have to keep waiting, leave the lights on for 10-12 yrs per day, and scrub any brown algae you can.

Chad


----------



## Pterogho (Feb 8, 2004)

The light-therapy isn't so far off, but if you use bulbs of the glo-lux group you should loose them for a while.

I don't know the the english word for the type of algae that brown-algae adhere to.
But they grow on a calciumcarbonate-skeleton, that you must also prevent them from forming, this is easiest done by adding peat to your filters.

The downside is that you may have to light your tank even more, to prevent other kinds of malicious algaes to form.
But if your filters are are in full working order, you should win this battle.

Last but not least allow me to qoute Mr. Takashi Amano:

'Healthy plants make healthy fish.'

Let this be a working statement for youand you'll probably have the best looking tank in town, -- and a massive financial crisis, as ambitions are prone to increase with success :smile:


----------



## roller03hockey10 (Oct 23, 2003)

the tank is a 55gallon. plants, ha. every time i put a plant in there it is torn up in a few days. not realy sure the wattage, i bought the tank used with the light an all toghther but i am sure the light is old just from the looks of it so prob the wattage is even less then what it should be.

i dont care about lighting my tank more, the pirhanas will just have to live with it cause the brown algae is so freakin ugly. i had bough those bulbs from walmart that i have heard of ppl have success with growing in p tanks since they start rooting quickly, well my crayfish found a liking to them, turned into an expensive dinner for crayfish.

at the school where my mom works she has a community peacefull tank that has some moss or somthing in there growing, i'll ask her, but if she does i am going to send my dirftwood to school with her and have her attempt to get plants growing on that.

other then that what kinds of plants are fast growers to get nice strong roots quickly, or should i just buy the ones at petco that come in their own little base to hold them togther under the gravel?


----------



## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

14 to 18 hours?????









Decrease the time to 10 hours and you will be fine.Brown algae usually caused by *over* and *incorrect* lighting!!!


----------



## roller03hockey10 (Oct 23, 2003)

ok i'll try that, everything i have read said more light to beat the pest.


----------



## Teece3 (Jan 7, 2004)

I had the same problem with brown algea. It seemed to be growing only where the light was directly hitting the gravel. Increasing the time the light was on only made the problem worse. I have since bought a pleco and reduced the light to 10 hours a day and the problem has dissappeared. If your tank is new, this could also be part of the problem. Just make sure you clean any spots and turn over the tanted gravel. Good luck and I hope this helps.


----------



## roller03hockey10 (Oct 23, 2003)

tanks been running for about 4months so. i will just keep working on it.


----------

