i have this odd brown alge (i think)and its freash water what is it ?????

Answer 1

That is just what you said, brown algae. The best way to get rid of current growth is to just scrub it off. To prevent it in the future, you will need to keep your tank cleaner by doing weekly 25%+ gravel siphonings to remove any waste (fish food, fish poop, plant material) as well as limiting the amount of light the tank gets to 8-10 hours a day. Brown algae grows best in tanks with long perioud of weak lighting, so short periods of intense lighting are great ways to prevent it. Also, be sure your tank gets NO direct sunlight. Contact me if you have any questions.

Soop Nazi

EDIT: Confused, phostosynthesising diatoms are a type of algae... so, yes, they will always look like algae... http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/micropal/diatom.html

Answer 2

Yes, brown algae is very common in aquariums. Several factors contribute to algae growth. Algae being a plant, require a light source, be it sunlight or the tank bulbs. Limiting the light exposure by reducing the lighting time down to about 8 hours should help. If you have a planted tank, this will hurt your plants somewhat, but as soop said as well, using more intense light can very well make up for that.

Water changes help here as well. Nitrate build up from letting water changes become lax are nutrients for both plants and algae. Keeping nitrate in the water low and keeping it that way with good sized regular water changes is the way to go to treat this.

Phosphates are another key nutrient for algae. Phosphates come into the tank via the water changes, so take a reading of the phosphate levels in your tap water source to deal with this. If needs be, employ a phosphate removing treatment.

Keeping your tank maintenance up and keeping direct sunlight out of the tank is the way to go here.

Answer 3

its algae, depending on light and N2O or N3O, color varies. {Nitrates and Nitrites} get an algae eater or some snails, do a partial water change of up to 20 % of the tank and check the lighting conditions. Algae comes after a tank is mature and there is an inbalance of one or more of the three items mentioned, weekly 20 % water changes can help correct it along with a creature that feeds on that stuff.

Answer 4

i agree with soup.

but the ph balance could also be out of kelter and that contributes to algae growth.

Try draining the water down to about 3 inches in the bottom and putting in a charcoal filter on the bottom of the tank, extra. And then filling it back with disstilled water. Check your ph and alcoline and see if that will help.

Sounds like your filter is not big enough to handle the amount of fish and size of tank.

Answer 5

Usually brown algae appears when the tank isn't getting enough light. Try leaving the light on an extra hour or two a day. However, if you leave it on too long, it could cause green algae, which is harder to get rid of.

Answer 6

Did your tank just finish cycling?I bet t did!!!!!

Its called Diatoms,and they will look like algae,even in the 70's......LMFAO

when do they stop then?thenOMG they don't


Soop, u like it,huh,,,,,,