Is this a new tank? Oto cats will eat that brown algae (diatoms) off the glass and plants but I dont think they will eat it off the sand. I have heard diatoms will go away on there own after the tank is established.
low tech light duration and algae issues.
in my 75 gallon I have 160 watts of t-8 lighting,2 small but rapidly growing onion plants and 2 small amazon sword plants.No co2 and only pool filter sand for a substrate(I add seachem's fert tabs)and a low fish load,for now.
I was running the lights full blast for 10 hours a day but now my sand is getting covered in brown algae its real fine and loose,theres also a few spots on the glass but not much.I have a large piece of drift wood thats starting to get green algae on it but I really dont mind that so much.So I added a boat load of stem plants to try and out compete the algae for nutrients and I also changed the lighting schedule.For the first hour I only run 64 watts then I turn on the other 96 watts worth of lighting and run the full 160 watts for 7 hours then turn off the 96 watts and run 64 watts for the final 2 hours.Giving me a total light duration of 10 hours.My water paramaters are ammonia 0ppm,nitrite 0ppm,and nitrates are 5.0ppm.Th ph is 7.2 and the temp is 80.The fish list right now is 30 head and tail light tetra's and 9 green cory's.I feed very lightly everyother day.The tank just completed its cycle a few days ago and have not performed a wc yet.Any advice or suggestions on how to fight that loose dirty looking brown alge is greatly appreciated.
I was running the lights full blast for 10 hours a day but now my sand is getting covered in brown algae its real fine and loose,theres also a few spots on the glass but not much.I have a large piece of drift wood thats starting to get green algae on it but I really dont mind that so much.So I added a boat load of stem plants to try and out compete the algae for nutrients and I also changed the lighting schedule.For the first hour I only run 64 watts then I turn on the other 96 watts worth of lighting and run the full 160 watts for 7 hours then turn off the 96 watts and run 64 watts for the final 2 hours.Giving me a total light duration of 10 hours.My water paramaters are ammonia 0ppm,nitrite 0ppm,and nitrates are 5.0ppm.Th ph is 7.2 and the temp is 80.The fish list right now is 30 head and tail light tetra's and 9 green cory's.I feed very lightly everyother day.The tank just completed its cycle a few days ago and have not performed a wc yet.Any advice or suggestions on how to fight that loose dirty looking brown alge is greatly appreciated.
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The brown algae will probably go away on it's own. Your sand may be leaching silicates and this is what brown algae is made out of. Doing water changes will help get rid of it as it leaches out and reduce the brown algae. Algae eating fish love it too. A plecostomus would probably help out with both the green and brown algae. Water changes shouldn't mess up your cycle as long as you leave the filter alone.
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