Brown Algae Problem

[Oliver]

i have a 30L tank with 10 neons and 2 bronze catfish in it. it also contains 2 small pieces of bogwood and some plants not sure of their names though. Recently the leaves of the plants have been getting covered in a brown algae. i have been rubbing it off and changing the length of time i have my lights on for but it is still growing back.
the tanks tests like this:
PH 7.2
Ammonia 0
Gh 9Dkh
Kh 4Dkh
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
any help with this problem would be appreciated thanks.

[ILLUSN]

brown algae is normally associated with low light, good news is otto's and bristlenoses LOVE THE STUFF!!!! try increasing your light intensity, add more globes or use reflectors or even better both :D if you can get your light to about 2w/gal (40L) this wont be a problem, on a 30L tank I think 2 15w t8 tubes will do the trick or an 18" CF/T5 unit.
what type of light do you have?

[Oliver]

i have a 36" aquaone twin reflector that runs for about 9hours a day. one tube is a blue tube the other is a white one not sure about its stats.

[ILLUSN]

how did you fit a 36" reflector over a 30L tank???? a 30cmx30cmx45cm is a 40L a 36" reflector(90cm) would overhang by 20cm a side!!! do you have a 30G tank (120L) or a 30 gallon "long" tank?
aquaone reflectors ship with 1 plant grow tube (pinky white) and one blue purple tube, I've grown plants VERY well under these fittings (Love that parrabolic reflector) how old are the tubes and when were they last replaced? I had to change 1 of mine every 6 months (1 tube at a time alternativly) to keep up the growth rates. try some otto's maybe 4-6 to keep your leaves clean, they stay small and don't add too much bioload they should keep your algae in check.

[ILLUSN]

Try and increase your photo period to 12 hr a day then back it off once the algae is under control. brown algae is usually "diatoms" they don't like bright light. try this link
http://www.aquariaplants.com/alqaeproblems.htm

[Oliver]

the light does overhang put i have it hanging just above the tank. the tubes are only 2 months old. thanks for your help guys
i have increased lighting time to 12 hours and will see what happens.

[Oliver]

i have set the lighting time to 12 hours and added some ottos tonight hopefully the will get my problem under control. if not though has anyone used any of the algay killing stuff they sell at LFS

[ILLUSN]

tried it once and lost my lilly grass,hair grass, 1 ozolet green, 1 green flame, 1 E.grisbachi 2 E.amozonicas lots of hornwort. All E.bleheri survived as did a E.marble queen java moss took a bad hit never really recoverd, but still it didn't die I wont be using anything like that again.

[DiscusEden]

From the looks of what's happpening in my tank I'd go the Seachen Excel long before using anything toxic like the algae killer.

In my last tank (I didn't have discus, so wasn't worried that they might suck on the slime coat), 2 Siamese Algae Eaters and then one otto made short work of a tank full of BBA, and there is currently no sign of it. Didn't add any ferts, only had very basic lighting. Go the ottos! Just keep an eye that they're not harrassing your other fish.

[Nathan]

hey buddy where abouts r u located oliver, i have a spare twin tube 36' aquaone reflector, if your close id be happy to sell it to u, works just as well as it does the day i bought it, only been in use for like 4 or 5 months

[ikavia]

Hi Guys

I'm suffering from brown algae now too - for the first time in 3 years! Also have green algae on glass as well for the first time! What's changed? I"ll tell you - I've spent more money on my tank than previously thought imaginable!

3 foot x 1 foot x 1.5 foot tall (approx 120 litres)

I have installed new lights - 2 x 39 watts T5, pressurised CO2 and am using Seachem Flourish.

Do I not have enought lighting? I physically can't fit any more lighting under the hood so I am a bit perplexed as to how to sort this out. I had lighting for 10 hours a day but increased to 12 based on this thread and now I have green algae as well as brown. The brown is going nuts!

Help!

[ikavia]

Oh forgot to mention that it is one of the lights that came with the blue and white tubes. Should I think of switching the blue tube for another white one. Been installed for less than 3 months.

[ILLUSN]

ikavia
whats your water parameters? also whats the spectrum of your 39w T5's

[ikavia]

Spectrum? Here's what I got from the supplier site:

Pacific Blue Actinic globe and Artic White 10000K globe included.

I will have to check water parametres today

[ILLUSN]

Actinc are useless to plants their output is maximised below 450nm (390-440 i think) great for corals though, your 10000k should be ok but again i believe it's strong in blue light (the range brown algae and red plants love) try adding a 39w grolux t5 inplace of your actinic

heres a write up of photosynthetic tubes
http://www.sylvania.com/content/display.scfx?FILTERNAME=@URL\&FILTERVALUE=www.sylvania.com&id=003680211

[ikavia]

Thanks for your advice Illusn. Always appreciated!

[Oliver]

hi guys after adding my 2 ottos and increasing my lighting period to 12 hours and also removing the glass top from my aquarium the brown alge has really cleared up. there is still a bit of it around but it was only about 3 or 4 days ago that i made all the changes. the tank really looks alot better now, thanks for your help guys.

[ikavia]

FYI: Apparently Sylvania have discontinued their gro lux range. :(