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Fan,

I'm afraid that your problem is partially due to the amount of light in your aquarium.

Shop from the classified ads in the paper or visit the local moving sales and bump up your wattage to 2 watts per gallon for "medium" lighting or 3 watts per gallon for "high" light. I find that medium plants grow best at 3 watts per gallon.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Fan!

This is from freshaquarium.about.com:

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Brown Algae From Shirlie Sharpe,
Your Guide to Freshwater Aquariums.

Other Names: Gravel algae, Silica algae

Color: Brown

Appearance: Begins as brown patches on the gravel and/or glass, then rapidly coats most surfaces of the aquarium with a thin, dark brown coating that is easily removed. Unlike blue-green/slime algae, it does not come off in large slimy sheets.

Causes:
Excess silicates & nitrates

Inadequate light

Low oxygen levels

Brown algae is a common occurrence in a newly set up aquarium. It is generally caused by too little light, an excess of silicates, an abundance of nutrients, and too little oxygen. Silicates can build up through tap water that is high in silicic acid, and silicates that leech from some types of substrates.

Cure:
Wipe off surfaces & vaccine gravel well

Use silicate adsorbing resin in the filter

Increase the lighting

Stock a plecostomus or several otocinclus

This type of algae does not adhere strongly to the tank surfaces, and is easily wiped away. Vacuuming the gravel with a siphon will quickly remove coatings from the substrate. Increasing the lighting will inhibit regrowth of brown algae. As a new tank matures brown algae is often eliminated naturally by plants and green algae competing for nutrients.

Some suckermouth catfish will readily eat brown algae, most notably plecostomus and otocinclus. If the problem is due to high silicates in the water, and the brown algae persists, a special silicate absorbing resin can be used in the filter.

Prevention:
Use of RO water

Regular water changes

Regular aquarium cleaning

Good lighting

As with any algae, keeping the tank clean and performing regular water changes is one of the best preventative measures. Unfortunately it is still possible to get algae in spite of regular maintenance, especially in a newly established aquarium. Prompt attention to sudden algae growth will prevent more serious problems.
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Mmm, the article says, excess slicates and nutrients with low light and low oxygen. Window light does NOT cause this algae. Use the phosphate pillow, clean your aquarium, increase the current in the aquarium to boost your oxygen levels and put your aquarium in the window to boost your light!

Good luck...

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Unlike Bob Wesolowski I had great results using a phosphate remover. I don't run it continuasly (although it's only like 4 pellets in a 10 gallon tank so I could and still never get to the end of the jar ) but noticed within a few days of adding it (pretty sure it was seachem) that there was marked improvement. Aparently it can be harmful to some fish (I seem to remember someone saying something about clown loaches) so anyone using it may want to check their stock list over.

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well i was thinking (and how it does hurt) but i realised that any light that shines through my blind or when it is open etc shines right onto my fish tank. would this be affecting the growth of the algae??

I have the same problem in my tank it's a 30G Extra High, with about 1.5WPG.
Keeping the tank in the dark and away from all sunlight for 4 days did NOTHING, cutting back on feedings did NOTHING, water changes do NOTHING (in the long run).
I think I'm about to break down and buy some SeaChem PhosGaurd.
I have enjoyed their products in the past, hopefully this will work for me as well.
It's placed in your filter, and removes phosphate and silicate.

dam LFS guy!!! and ive already cut it up and put in in my filter, so no returns for me. ohh well, ill test it out and see if it has any effect on my phosphate levels.

Phosphate sponges are excellent. They generate great revenue for the pet stores!

I don't think that your phosphates are a significant problem but I would increase your water changes. Many municipal water systems add phosphoric acid to their water during some parts of the year creating a phosphate spike. Call your water department and find out what they are doing!

Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 14-Nov-2004 18:47

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

i managed a trip to my LFS today, and took both samples of my tap water and tank water. i was extremely surprised to find that my tap water had (i think) 1 parts to the million, and my tank 4-5 parts per million. The guy said that they had been having an extremely large number of phosphate tests lately as everyone has been having trubles. I purchased a "phosphate sponge" which was recomended by the dude at my LFS, he is a pretty kool guy, and i installed it sarvy in my cannister filter, are these any good???? i think the problem has only just come up now because i moved house and my tap water comes form a different dam even though im only about 10 m inutes away from my old house.!!! will update every one on the progress.

hmm i seem to have this same stuff you've described in my 10 gallon which has 1.5wpg... I'm going to do a good cleaning/water change today and see if it keeps coming back.

DIY lights can be done rather easily and cheaply so long as you're not going for 3-5wpg. I have all my tanks up to 2wpg+ for under $30USD, and that's including the bulbs . Cheapest thing is to get "daylight" bulbs from your hardware or DIY shop, make sure they're 6500K minimum.
Florescent bulbs aren't like traditional incandescent bulbs, in that the size indicates the wattage. Regular bulbs can be 30 watts or 150 watts and all can go in the same fixture, for florescent bulbs a 2 foot tube is 20 watts.

IME your best bet will to either buy fixtures designed for planted tanks online (try [link=hellolights]http://www.hellolights.com" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link]) or purchase some dual bulb "shop light" fixtures from the lighting section of your local DIY store.

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my plants have recently developed a chocolate brown powdery algae on their leaves. is this an algae or just the plant dying. the stuff rubs off but not without damaging the leaves. wat can i do to help the plant and make my tank recover to its former "glory"

You have .8 wpg there, and depending on your plants that may be sufficient. I think somewhere you said you had a sword, and they require medium lighting at least, which is 2 wpg. If you don't have the money for a few more tubes, then you may want to stick with low light plants.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

well i decided after reading the post by Bob Wesolowski i shuld find out wat wattage my lights are. you see the initial cost of my new tank sorta bankrupted me. i just looked and to my horror i only have the original 2 foot lights with a twenty watt globe in each. the globes were promoted as "plant grow lights" when i bought them. and i suppose that was tru for a 40 litre tank. but is it meant to be 2 watts per gallon or litre? im assuming its gallon. if thats tru then i have 40 wats for 50 gallons. which is over half a watt per gallon, but isnt it meant to be at like 2watts per gallon?? wen i get some money i plan to purchase the correct dual tubed light and reflectore that i want.

Fan,

How many watts of light do you have for your aquarium? How large is your aquarium? When was the last time that you changed your lamps in your fixture?

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

i do 25- 50 percent changes weekley. i have no other types of algae in the tank except this brown stuff. It only seems to grow on one plant though. it doesnt get on my amazon sword or my other plants.

Phosphates can also come from your tap. Mine do, and I have a terrible time with algea. Diatoms in my non-planted low light tanks, and green and hair algea in my planted tank with 2+ wpg. In this case, water changes don't do anything as far as the phosphates are concerned (but you should still do them) and the "pillow" is the only way to get rid of it.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

you could always add malaysian trumpet snails. mine have done an *excellent* job cleaning that stuff off without hurting the plants

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Water changes and wiping down the glass will help as will boosting the amount of light in the tank. Remember that your MINIMUM water change should be 25% each week.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Sounds like it might be diatom algae, if your LFS tests for phosphates that's one thing to check for. High phosphates often comes from the food, not necessiarily from overfeeding although that's often the cause. Small daily water changes (10% or so) should help, as will a phosphate remover, depending on the stock.

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