Why do i keep getting a brown coloured film on the inside of my tropical fish tank?

Question

I look after it as supposed to and dont over feed but its the third time its happened.

Answer 1

Its usually caused by too much Nitrate in the water, commonly connected to either over feeding or not changing a portion of the water regularly enough. However, if your tap water contains too much Nitrate in the first place this would also do it, so i would suggest you test the tap water and ascertain what the Nitrate reading is for that, if as i suspect that's the case you can either source R.O. water and use a 75/25 pct mixture if your type of fish can live with soft water on the acidic side or get a large canister filter to run in conjunction with whatever filters you have in place now. Thus increasing your bio filtration above the norm.

AJ

Answer 2

its probably brown algae. wipe the inside of the tank every 2 weeks with a sponge. do a 25 partial water change every month. keep tank away from sunlight as much as you can. i put blue paper at the sides to keep out a lot of light. i still have the front of the tank clear obviously, but still have to the above procedure. i have a plastic sea scene at the back.

Answer 3

Hello, What you have is brown algae. Algae comes from two things to much light and to much nitrogen in the water. So do a water change and keep your nitrogen levels low. You should also test for nitrogen in your tap water as well.

Answer 4

It's probably brown algae. Try using "No More Algae" by the company "Jungle." It's sold at Wal-Mart, and It works GREAT at removing the algae without the hassle of scrubbing the glass. Hope this helps!

Answer 5

it just sounds like brown algae, i get the same in one of my tanks and it is not from too much light or overfeeding! i dont agree with putting chemicals into tanks unless it is really necessary so just do weekly water changes and invest in a magnet cleaner or a bit of elbow grease with a sponge.

Answer 6

Could be diatoms. They are an organism that commonly forms a brown slime or films on aquarium glass or rocks. Diatoms form their shells from silicate, and can be controlled to some degree by preventing the addition of this compound through the use of purified water.

Answer 7

Its brown algae, Is your tank light on too much? Is the tank in direct sunlight? Try reducing the amount of light, And if you light bulb is old, Try replacing it - i found that helped.

Answer 8

to much direct sun light,

Answer 9

either:
a) too much food
b) too much direct sunlight.

Answer 10

its bloody obvious! they are fed up looking at your wallpaper and have decided to decorate!