# Brown Algea (maybe) on tank and ornaments



## bigk_54

In the last couple days I have all of a sudden got this brown (rust colored) stuff on the front of my tank, on 2 of the ornaments, and on the filter overflows. I got a light that has been on the tank for like 2 weeks and I try to keep in on 10-11 hrs a day give or take. I did notice a little bit on the ornaments a couple days ago but the glass and other ornament has just REALLY got it since that. I did a water test today and NitRATE was 30, NitRITE 0, Ammonia 0-.25 (hard to tell) and my Ph is like 8. From my last test the only thing that has changed is the NitRate went up 10-20 and the trace of ammonia.
Does anyone know anything about this and/or what to do about it and should I be worried?! THANKS!


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## iamntbatman

How long has the tank been set up? Is the algae just sort of blotchy stuff on the glass? Or is it thicker and furry? If it's the kind that's just sort of splotchy on the glass - I get that a lot on brand new tanks. I think it gets out of control from the ammonia in the water. I've always just scraped it off the glass with a razorblade. After the tank is established and the ammonia is steadily at zero and you're keeping the nitrate in check with water changes, it should keep the algae at bay. Also, do you have the tank in direct sunlight? That will definitely cause the algae to get a little crazy.


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## bigk_54

Tank has been set-up like 5-6 months now. It is kinda blotchy on the glass and on the orniments it kinda stained them. I just took my glass magnet and one swipe and it was gone off glass. I wouldn't say tank is in direct sunlight. The window is a good ten feet away and is westward facing so it only gets sun now about 5 hrs a day and we haven't had the greatest of sun round here lately anyway


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## bigk_54

This is the discusting {colorful metafor} that I am dealing with! That Cave used to be a nice color blue. The second pic is of the gravel just below the surface, there are about 7-8 spots around the tank that are the same way. Anyone have any more ideas as to what it is and what to do?!


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## Tyyrlym

Yeah that's brown algae. Scrub the glass to get rid of it there. Then during your next water change pull the ornaments out and them a scrub too.


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## bigk_54

ok, any special way to clean them!? That cave as you can see is a little jaged, I tried to use a tooth brush b4 but it just wouldnt come off. Any ideas as to why now I am getting this and how to control it/rid it? Is it harmful for my fish? They don't seem to be effected! Thanks Tyyrlym


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## Tyyrlym

Go to your local lake or river, see how much algae is growing there and don't worry about it. The little bit that is unsightly in your tank is of no concern to fish. Why are you getting it, again others know more than I but from what I understand its a normal part of a new tank and will dissipate with time. There's no real special way to clean it, just get it off however you can. I use an algae brush for my glass, a wash cloth for the plants and such and scrub my caves with a scrub brush, that's all.


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## okiemavis

How new is this tank? Brown algae is very common in new tanks and tends to dissapear as the tank becomes established.


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## bigk_54

I set my tank up April 4th I believe. So about 6 months


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## projectcam95

I have the same problem. It started off just on the glass. I was told it would disappear on its own. After a week its all over my ornaments , gravel, some on the filter,

No direct light either. But my tank hasn't finished cycling so maybe that's the problem . Nitrite is very high right now.


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## aunt kymmie

I also have the same problem! It started once I added my new compact florescent lighting. My plants are doing wonderfully (now) but so is the brown algae. I can easily scrub it off the glass but it's also all over my driftwood. I do not have any algae eating inhabitants so I may have to add some.


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## projectcam95

Yeah its easy to scrub off . I'm worried about the gravel not the glass or ornaments. I don't want to have to remove the gravel and clean it.


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## bigk_54

Glad to know Im not the only one with this problem! I agree though, mine too has seem to have started about 3 weeks after I put my light on my tank! I have a pleco and he seems to go nuts a night on the glass but that about it.


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## aunt kymmie

Yes, it's a total drag. It comes off the glass/acrylic easy enough but the algae on the plants is a pain in the butt to gently try to wipe off. Hopefully my plants will begin to do a better job off competing for nutrients with the algae. The new lighting is helping the plant growth take off so maybe in a few weeks the algae will DIE!!


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## kjjb0204

Glad to see there are others out there. Came here today looking for info on the sudden brown algae I'm seeing on the glass, ornaments and gravel since I put on my new 20w flourescent hood. Hoping it's just taking some time for the tank to adjust to the new lighting and will cure itself in a few weeks.


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## flight50

all part of a new setup. give the tank time to establish. algae comes in many forms and they all take nutrients from the water column. especially if it has nothing to compete with. you could reduce your light but if you alter anything else while the tank is cycling, you could disturb the establishment process. its best to just let nature run its course and wait it out. mine started on the front glass, then my driftwood and then all other surfaces of my glass. i think its cool to let it grow. when my cycle is done, i will moderately-heavily plant it. what algae still remains, will be controlled by otos and shrimp after the plants are established.


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## bigk_54

OK I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS [email protected]#$ !!!!!!!! It really seams to be getting worse! Tried cutting my light time WAY back. Scrub tank weekly and change out about 15 gal. WHAT DO I DO!!!!!


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## WisFish

How many watts of light are you using? How often do you do the water changes? and how much water do you change? Any real plants in the tank? I'm assuming not. Any fish that eat algae? The only time I've seen brown algae in my tank was when I didn't change the water often enough and I didn't have enough watts of light. For a 15gal tank you should have at least 25watts of light for 10-12 hours a day.


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## MBilyeu

I have this same problem. My tank hasn't cycled, and I am told that it will go away once my tank cycles, so I am waiting for that to happen. I use to clean it off the glass and pull out the ornaments to gently scrub it off of them, but within a day or two it would be back. Now I am just leaving it alone, and hoping it will go away in time.


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## bigk_54

HOLY GEEWILLICAS ITS GOTTEN HORRID!!!! Don't know if the 2 are related but I will start with the first set of ?'s by WisFish

Once a week change water, roughly 15 gallon. Think I have like 100w of light and yes I have real plants, a melon sword, corkscrew villarisna, ludwigia and a moneywort (last 3 added in last week) I also have 4 cory cats and a pleco.

Now........Today something has gone MAJORLY WRONG! I have lost 16 fish since around 10 oclock today, they just keep dying left and right!

My plants seem to grow great and then some of the leaves turn brown (such as the brown algea color). This whole brown stuff in tank started before I added plants. Plants grow new spirts and they are nice and colorful but fade in about a week

Check tank today NitRATE 5 NitRITE 0 PH 8.2 (always that) Ammonia 0


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## WisFish

Okay. How big a tank? Water temp? and are you adding ferts?


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## WisFish

It could be too much or (more likely) too little light, too much of some fertilizer (if you're adding them cut back) or a temp issue. With the water changes, the other levels look good.


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## bigk_54

I think my light has 2 55 w bulbs, I have a 55 gal tank and I just got some fertilizer tabs that said that a 10 gal tank needs 6 tabs (think they are api) but I put 3 in strategically by my plants and my temp is always between 75-78.

I just changed out about 18 gal of water and cleaned every bit of algea that I could find, well see what tomorrow brings. I have some head and tailight tetras in there and they don't have their distinctive colors anymore  this is depressing


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## WisFish

Firstr off I agree with an earlier post. You'll always have some type of algae in the tank, the type depends on many factors. But it sounds like you got a new light? You said the tank was setup for 6 month but the light was on it for 2 weeks or so? If so, then the obvious question is, what's the difference between the old light and the new one. If it's new, are the bulbs 6500K daylight bulbs? I usually equate brown algae with not enought light, either not intense enough, the right K rating or not enough duration.


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## WisFish

I forgot 1 more thing. You always want to stock a variety of fish that eat algae if you haven't already.


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## Tyyrlym

Don't stock a fish to try and cover up a lack of maintenance.

Otos: Can be finicky eaters. Some will eat only algae and once the algae in your tank is gone they starve to death. Some will learn to like the food you supply, and never touch algae again. It's rare to find one that will eat algae and supplied foods.

Plecos: Some are tank busters, growing to over a foot. Others stay smaller. They all need some real driftwood in their diet. They also tend to be better algae eaters when younger and when they get older they tend to ignore algae altogether. They're also big messy fish.

Chinese/Siamese Algae Eaters: There are three kinds of algae eaters that get this name. One eats algae when small then grows into a large aggressive fish that will kill other fish. Guess which kind is the most common.

Shrimp: Depending on the variety some eat algae, some only eat one or two kinds of algae, and they're all very sensitive to water quality. Some fish also enjoy a nice shrimp snack.

Trying to have a fish control your algae is just a bad idea. Almost all the "algae eaters," bring whole new sets of problems to your tank. Identify the cause of the algae and fix that, don't buy a fish to try and cover it up.


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## WisFish

I have both types of algae eaters, Chinese & Siamese. After several years I have yet to see any of them kill any fish. The only fighting I see is between the Chinese algae eater and the red-tailed shark. And the Shark always starts it. I agree that water changes and water chemistry should come first, but adding algae eating fish to a tank should never be viewed as a negative.

Here's more:

Algae control: Stock your tank with algae-loving herbivores


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## Tyyrlym

I don't view having algae eating fish as a negative IF you want them in there because you enjoy them. Adding in fish just because you expect them to clean your tank for you is a great way to wind up disappointed with fish that don't eat the algae like you want them too, don't eat enough, or eat it all and starve to death.


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## bigk_54

NO NO NO I was mis understood. Tank has been set up since I think April 08, then added light in like late July and it was like the middle of Sept. that I started getting this Algea. I have a nova extreme t-5 light, should I try switching out the bulbs with a different kind of bulb? If so what would someone suggest? I think that it has 10000k in it when I got it.

I also have some "scavengers". I have one pleco, had 4 cory cats (think I have 3 now) and had 2 loches.

I also keep up on the matenance of my tank. Every week I was changing out about 10 gal of water (give or take for evaporation) and now I am up to about 15/20 gallon since I am trying to curb this problem. EVERYTIME I test my water it is the exact same! Rites and Ammonia always 0, Rates 5-10, and pH 8.2-8.5 range (which ALWAYS has been that way)

Does anyone that has some knowledge of plants know if my plants can be causing this?! Last weekend we trimmed them up took anything that looked dead off them and they are now back to the new schutes bright green and lower on the plants a brownish color and when you feel them they are slimy with a brown tint.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOU HELP!


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## WisFish

Yes. Change the bulbs to 6500K or 6700K bulbs. They're usually called daylight bulbs. 10K is too high.


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## Kim

I had a 9325K bulb on my tank and shortly after I added it I started getting algae. I just switched it to a 6700K bulb, so we shall see. Frequent scrubbing has kept it under control until I was able to change the bulb along with not dosing Flourish anymore.


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## Neah84

Not trying to take over thread, just a very similar tank and problem. 

Question about the lighting. I have the same lighting. the T-5 Extreme. It has 2 bulbs in it one is the 10k and the other is the daylight bulb. Is it still too high of a lighting? Thought for planted tanks you wanted the high lighting. Saturday morning I woke up to brown algea on tank and on plants.  I have a 46 g tank so a little smaller then BigK_54's tank

I think the lights are being left on too long. 12-14 hours pending on when I get home from work. Planning on getting a timer today. How long should they be on?

Oh and Bigk, did you ever get your brown algea problem controlled?


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## WisFish

Yes change the bulb(s). You want daylight 6500-6700K range. Duration of light depends on the tank and conditions. I use 12 hours but some use even less time.


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## Neah84

so I want daylight 6500-6700k range for Each light in there? Wouldnt that lower the W/g? 

and what do you mean by conditions?

Sorry I am new when it comes to lighting systems. Still reading and learning as much as I can. :-/


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## WisFish

Yes. I would change each bulb to be a 6500K "daylight" bulb. I bought mine at Menards (Lowes or Home Depot equivalent) The wattage should remain the same. My fixture uses 32watt t-8 bulbs. The "Kelvin" rating is more the type of light than the intensity.

Conditions are water temp, tank size, CO2 or not, ferts used and the amounts, type of plants and the amount of algae you get. I just went through this last year for the first time. With my 55gal tank I started by changing the fixture from 40 watts of light total to about 96 watts. I then added Seachems flourish and Excel, added plants and set the light to be on 14 hours a day. After a couple of weeks the plants really started to take off. After about 4 weeks the algae started to take over. So I reduced the light to 12 hours a day and added more plants. I remember reading that algae tends to grow if you have excess nutrients. The idea is to have enough plants to use up the nutrients so that the algae starves. I was lucky because now I only have to clean the algae off the glass about once every 4-6 weeks. But it all starts with the light. You have to play around with the duration of light and amount of ferts to use as you go. 
I also want to mention that even after doing all this, there will still be plants that won't do well in your tank because of PH or the lack or abundance of some other element. I just tried different plants until I found the ones that grew in my tank.

Good luck.


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## bigk_54

Neah.....No hi-jack here, sounds as if we have the same problem!!!! And no I still have the (colorful medafor) in my tank! Just when I think that I have gotten rid of it BAM there it is again! Ive gone about a good week/ week half now and it seems to be gone!

As for the lights. I switched out my 10000k bulbs for some 54watt T5HO 6,700K Daylight SlimPaq. Was that a good move? I see most are mentioning 6500k bulbs. I agree with WisFish on the plants per water parameters though. I have some plants in my tank that are doing FABULOUS (anacharis, whisteria (grows like a week just no where near the leaves that you see in photos), banana plant)! But I have a chain sword, microsword, and anubias nana that don't grow worth a darn and are going to hit the garbage here in a week if they don't perk up. It's just really frustrating getting nice plants and watch then die  I have started adding Sea Chem flourish 2x a week to my tank and it seems to make a drastic difference in the week that I have added it to the plants that are doing well!

Since WisFish brought up the CO2 issue, I currently don't use it and have looked at it but man that price just scares me! Has anyone ever used Freshwater Planted Aquariums: Red Sea Turbo CO2 Bio-System

Thanks everyone that has helped myself and others with this issue, I thought I was the only one that has ever had this prob for the longest time!!!


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## Neah84

bigk we have basically the same tank, lighting and issue so no worries on the hyjack.  I think I know what caused my bloom over night. I did a water change and added some fert to the tank, Didnt know that when my dad was over the day before he added some fert to the tank thinking the plants needed it. so there was way to much fert in the tank for the few plants I have in there. lol That along with the lights being what they are caused it to be a diatom heaven! They havent spread anymore but havent gone away 100% hoping to get some shrimp and a few small snails in there *before the dwarf puffers arrive*  then ill have to think of something else lol.

Still scraping glass and rubbing the plants gently so it doesnt build up.

My Anubias nan hasnt grown but its still looking very good. It might have grown hard to tell. I just added a microsword and so far its still looking healthy. but I will give it a week before I really say its healthy. I also added some dwarf hair grass and I have some java fern in there. 

I am with ya, the price for CO2 scares me too lol especially when I don't have any money to spend on equipment right now.


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## HookLineandSinker

I have a small 10 Gal. tank and it started getting the brown algea too. So much so that I was trying to clean it off the glass and then it started growing on my gravels. I couldn't figure it out since my tank was in a VERY dark room and my bulb is low wattage. I just moved my Albino pleco (very small) from another tank and the next morning I woke up and it was ALL gone!


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