# Other Aquarium Forums > Fish Care, Nutrition and Water Management >  How to get rid of Brown Algae?

## libra04ts

Hi,

I would like to seek advice on how to get rid of brown algae. Have been getting brown algae, is it due to my filter? or any other stuff?

Thanks for your help.  :Smile:

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## KWL

get some otos, otos normally eat brown algae or diotome. I'm assuming you are talking about diotome. Algae photos would be help  :Wink:

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## Cross

Phosphates should be high. Do more water change/reduce feeding should go off by itself.

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## Navanod

I thought brown algae are the result of available silicates?
Of course, nitrate and phosphates too, but you shouldn't limit those if you have other plants able to use them.

There were some theory that if the phosphate levels are high enough in ratio to the silica, green algae will out-compete the brown and you'll have no brown algae! But now you'll have another problem on your hand...

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## kenkenstomp

Green algae is good for goldfish. However, brown algae is not truly an algae. In fact, when I went to see how a very experienced goldfish hobbyist (who has won many award) keeps his fishes, all his tanks have green algae. So, no need to paste poster at the back of tanks anymore because the green algae acts like a natural poster picture  :Smile:  and a natural ever-ready food for fish. :Jump for joy: 


But, like threadstarter, I got brown algae instead. From searching around for advice, it then dawned on me that my lighting was not sufficient. Back then, I was not using T5 lighting (4 lamps X 54W).

However, after changing to T5 lighting (4 lamps X 54W) for my 4ft tank, I still continue to get brown algae. After getting more advice and more info, I concluded that I should leave the brown algae alone while scrubbing just the front side of tank (for viewing my fish) and there's a chance green algae will take over the brown algae.

This is today's shot of my tank :


About 3 weeks after I got brown algae



As you can see, the battle of green algae vs brown algae is still taking place.

But I must say it's a joy to see my fishes nibbling at the green algae even though I feed them every 1 to 1.5hrs.

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## kenkenstomp

In my other tank (2ft tank), instead of using clear water, I now use Green Water (supposed to be good for goldfish if it's not too green) :




This is a new experiment by me. Purpose is to help green algae win the battle against brown algae. Alsop, green looks better than brown in my opinion.

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## Shadow

green or brown, both does not look nice  :Razz:

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## kenkenstomp

There are differences between novice and experienced fishkeepers, one of which is the grasp of the art of fish appreciation. 

IMHO, a tank that is perfect for show purposes is usually not ideal for fish grooming purposes. Then again, not everyone is into fish grooming.

That means one can have a show tank that may be cleared of algae and a fish grooming tank with algae in it. Or, just have one tank and it's one's own choice whether to have algae or not in that tank.

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## KWL

> just have one tank and it's one's own choice whether to have algae or not in that tank.


I thought you want to get rid of algae that why starting the thread?

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## kenkenstomp

> I thought you want to get rid of algae that why starting the thread?


I'm not threadstarter.

My reply is to encourage green algae to replace brown algae since green algae looks nicer while a good natural food for fish.

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## Shadow

for brown algae you can easily clean it either manually or put couple of otos inside, assuming your algae look like the one on kenkenstomp 1st photo. Green water on the other hand is more tricky. You cannot just change water to get rid of it, it always come back.

Green water is good for goldfish, not sure for other fish but it definitely not good for planted tank and aquascaping  :Laughing:

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## kenkenstomp

> for brown algae you can easily clean it either manually or put couple of otos inside, assuming your algae look like the one on kenkenstomp 1st photo. Green water on the other hand is more tricky. You cannot just change water to get rid of it, it always come back.
> 
> Green water is good for goldfish, not sure for other fish but it definitely not good for planted tank and aquascaping


I use UV Steriliser in all my tanks except the ones I designated to contain green water.

In fact, I have 2 clear-water setups outside at my balcony receiving a few hours of direct sunlight every day. These clear-water tanks never have green water problem because I use UV Steriliser in those tanks.




2ft tank




150-180L black-color fibreglass tank



I like pictures. So, hope you guys won't mind.

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## Shadow

yes for green water either you do black out or UV

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## StanChung

I wonder if the threadstarter is commenting about a planted tank or a fish tank?  :Grin: 
Both have different objectives.

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## Blue Whale

Stan, I believe the thread owner is more interested in Planted tank with beautiful Discus swimming heartily around the planted tank. 

UV is not a good equipment since some of the plant nutrients will be eliminated during the "cleaning" process. UV just correct what you do wrongly.

If you ask me gold fish do better in planted tank or plain fish tank; My answer would be planted tank...definitely, plus stamp, plus chop.  :Smile: 

Thread owner, maybe you could share how you dose the plant nutrient on NPK, how much, how frequent. Information on filter brand/model and feeding habit, these will help to troubleshoot your current predicament better.

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## Shadow

if not mistaken, UV will oxidise iron into something that un usable by plant. How true? not a clue  :Razz: , must ask those chemistry people  :Wink:

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## kenkenstomp

> ...
> If you ask me gold fish do better in planted tank or plain fish tank; My answer would be planted tank...definitely, plus stamp, plus chop. 
> ...


But, I think most (if not all) experienced goldfish keepers don't use planted tank for goldfish. Rather, green algae is encouraged. Unless green algae is counted as planted.

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## stormhawk

Algae is not a problem if you are not perturbed by it.  :Grin: 

I want brown algae to grow but it never does. Instead I get hair algae and the occasional BGA attacks.  :Laughing: 

Where goldfish is concerned, having the green algae that grows on the tank sides might be good, but definitely not green water. Think in terms of a pond. Usually when the pond turns green with algae (green water), if there is insufficient aeration, the goldfish eventually die of asphyxiation as the algae blooms. So too much algae is not a good thing.

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## Shadow

gold fish probably will eat all the fish  :Laughing:

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## stormhawk

Hahaha, basically anything that can fit into their mouth = food.  :Grin:

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## kenkenstomp

> Algae is not a problem if you are not perturbed by it. 
> 
> I want brown algae to grow but it never does. Instead I get hair algae and the occasional BGA attacks. 
> 
> Where goldfish is concerned, having the green algae that grows on the tank sides might be good, but definitely not green water. Think in terms of a pond. Usually when the pond turns green with algae (green water), if there is insufficient aeration, the goldfish eventually die of asphyxiation as the algae blooms. So too much algae is not a good thing.


Logically speaking, then that's an insufficient aeration issue and not a green water issue, isn't it ?

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## stormhawk

Both are related to one another. At night the green water algae will take up the oxygen in the water as their photosynthesis stops. This basically makes them compete with the livestock for oxygen dissolved in the water. Now if you don't increase aeration in the pond or tank, the fish can literally asphyxiate to death overnight if the green water is highly concentrated.

If for some reason the algae decides to die en masse, there will be an overload of nutrients in the water column, which will cause other kinds of algae to grow.

While green water is great for feeding tiny fry and some live foods like Daphnia/Moina, it is definitely not good to let it take root in a fish tank environment, which is basically enclosed and requires our attention to survive. This is precisely why many pond keepers have UV filters to remove the green water from their ponds. It is not only a matter of aesthetics, but also of practicality because the green water will block out light during the day, from reaching plants deeper in the pond, and risk causing the deaths of their livestock if the oxygen levels plummet at night.

As I've mentioned earlier, too much algae is not a good thing, in this case the concentration of "green water" in a tank/pond. Goldfish are not filter feeders and hence the green water is not consumed by them directly. What they eat is basically the animals that filter out the algae from the water column, like Daphnia or Moina.

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## kenkenstomp

I agree that green water is not for a show-tank. I think it's more for grooming fish (according to some goldfishkeepers). 

If green water is too green, during the day, fish can get oxygen burn and at night, fish may not have enough oxygen. Hence, an experienced green-water practitioner should be able to judge when to change water when green water is too green.

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## stormhawk

I take it that you understand what I'm getting at regarding increased aeration for tanks with green water. Oddly I never said anything about a show tank, nor about grooming fish. That is another debatable issue however.

Okay, so in your experience, when is green water too green? You stated yourself in the day, fish can get "oxygen burn" and at night they might not get enough oxygen from tanks with "green water that is too green", so why put them through the suffering in the first place? Unless your fish are benefiting directly from it, i.e. taking the green water as food, I don't see how it can be beneficial to the goldfish. The presence of green water itself means that there's an overload of organic nutrients in the water and excess lighting for the tank.

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## fishking

Let me give me comments here. It happened to me recently and now. 

In December, I did a water change. Lo and behold, after couple of days, my 6ft tank planted tank with Angels started to have green water issue. I am runnig an Eheim filter with 1000l/hr flowrate and my lights are on for 6hrs everyday. I tried 3 different types of clear water solutions but to no avail. So I actually off my lights for a solid 1 week period. The water was clear again after 1 week. I tot that was the end of my misery and I switched my lights on...but after 3 days, my greenwater issue came back again...I did my blackout again for 5 to 6 days and my water was clear again..but anytime I on my lights, the greenwater issue came back after 3 to 4 days. This kept going on for abt 1 month and all of a sudden, the greenwater just went away.

Then last month, I decided to do a empty tank for my angels...and worse, I have the problem of brown algae. My water is crystal clear but the glass of my tank are all covered with brown algae. Although they can be easily scrubbed away, it is an ugly sight. After scrubbing it away, it comes back just 2 to 3 days after I changed my tank water....I am just wondering what is happening. 

I heard from my colleague that buying a royal pleco such as L191 or L190 will do the job...I am very tempted to try, anyone can verify that the plecos can help?

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## Shadow

those normal otos will help as well.

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## stormhawk

Yup, normal Otos or any bristlenose pleco, the cheaper ones will be good enough. Those helicopter plecos, Rineloricaria and Farlowella are just as good too for brown algae.  :Smile: 

The use of Nerite snails helps too.

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## Blue Whale

=) Molly also can..bigger stomach. I have a pair of Red albino mollies (same sex) to patrol around.

But end of the day, look at the plant nutrients regime and whether you overfeed the fishes. You need calculator, the follow the link below. Rest of the different calculators are at the left side.
http://www.theaquatools.com/fertilization-calculator

When using aquatools, I recommend that you use AQ Calculator as well. http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/aq_calculator.php

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## fishking

Thanks for your answer. But otos are no no for me...My adult angels will make a meal out of them. What about normal suckers? I got 2 of them but they are more interested in eating my dried foods than algae

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## StanChung

For an empty tank with angels and brown algae, a pleco is the real deal.
A six inch fella can clean your tank very quickly and you won't have recurring problem.
It can be even the cheapest one. they are very hardworking.
I personally like the bristlenose pleco for this kind of municipal work.  :Grin: 
[but after awhile you start collecting exotic plecos not for their cleaning ability so be forewarned!  :Laughing: ]

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## Blue Whale

Do read Stan's comment. The important thing here is *A* PLECO. One is enough.
Next job is to choose which type. Maybe you have one of your choice but do post it here to ask for further comments.
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish,%20Plecoctomus.htm

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## stormhawk

> Thanks for your answer. But otos are no no for me...My adult angels will make a meal out of them. What about normal suckers? I got 2 of them but they are more interested in eating my dried foods than algae


The cheap sailfin pleco will usually ignore the algae if you feed dried foods to the fishes. The bristlenose pleco is a good algae eater like what Stan has said. It's cheap and the juveniles sold in the LFS are great "workers".  :Grin:

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## kenkenstomp

> I take it that you understand what I'm getting at regarding increased aeration for tanks with green water. Oddly I never said anything about a show tank, nor about grooming fish. That is another debatable issue however.


When one wants to groom fish for competition, one has a grooming tank. Otherwise, one has a display tank (which I assume most hobbyists fall witjhin this category). So, how can that be debatable ? *scratch head*





> Okay, so in your experience, when is green water too green? You stated yourself in the day, fish can get "oxygen burn" and at night they might not get enough oxygen from tanks with "green water that is too green", so why put them through the suffering in the first place?


If you have the answer to the first question, then you have the answer to the second.

In my case, I don't have to worry about it for 2 weeks after water change. 2 weeks is a long time to go without water change.  :Jump for joy: 

No oxygen burn nor fish deaths so far during the last 4 months that I have green water. Touch wood.






> Unless your fish are benefiting directly from it, i.e. taking the green water as food, I don't see how it can be beneficial to the goldfish. The presence of green water itself means that there's an overload of organic nutrients in the water and excess lighting for the tank.


Let me clarify I do not wish to go the way of debating whether green water is better than clear water (or vice versa) of grooming goldfish. I merely shared my experience with other goldfish hobbyists concerning how they groom their goldfish, of which some use green water.

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## Shadow

ok guys we have been debate it for so long but we for got the most important think. what kind of tank that bro libra04ts have (unless I miss it)? Maybe it is gold fish tank or maybe it is planted tank. Either way we approach it differently.

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## stormhawk

> When one wants to groom fish for competition, one has a grooming tank. Otherwise, one has a display tank (which I assume most hobbyists fall witjhin this category). So, how can that be debatable ? *scratch head*


Debatable in terms of how one sets up a "grooming tank" as you put it, and how one displays his/her fishes. 




> If you have the answer to the first question, then you have the answer to the second.


The answer however lies with you, but you have not answered my question directly. A guideline regarding the concentration of green water based on the intensity of the "green" colour might be useful for others who wish to try your green water method.




> In my case, I don't have to worry about it for 2 weeks after water change. 2 weeks is a long time to go without water change.


Try 1 month. Some fishes actually love "dirty" water. I have some species that do not like water changes and actually love high nitrate levels. No idea for goldfish but I figure if you have green water, the water is basically nitrate rich.




> No oxygen burn nor fish deaths so far during the last 4 months that I have green water. Touch wood.


Well, never forget Murphy's Law. I ignored it once and lost a big bunch of expensive fish due to some fouled-up fish food that I forgot to give a smell-test beforehand. I'd advise you to check on them though.




> Let me clarify I do not wish to go the way of debating whether green water is better than clear water (or vice versa) of grooming goldfish. I merely shared my experience with other goldfish hobbyists concerning how they groom their goldfish, of which some use green water.


Point noted, so let's move along.  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

Another post to add on, I found to my surprise, that _Stiphodon_ gobies will actually feed on BGA. A Japanese goby keeper managed to catch his gobies in action clearing up all sorts of algae, including hair algae, brown algae, green algae and the dreaded BGA, and he considers a heavy growth of algae to be conducive for the well-being of these gobies.

So perhaps one more algae-eating fish for libra04ts to consider using.

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## kenkenstomp

> ...
> The answer however lies with you, but you have not answered my question directly. A guideline regarding the concentration of green water based on the intensity of the "green" colour might be useful for others who wish to try your green water method.
> 
> ...


To me, it's very difficult to describe different intensities of color in words. Actually, I have benefitted from a picture on another forum which shows different intensities of green water and when to perform water change. I tried searching for it previously but did not succeed. Once I find it again, I'll post it up.  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

That would be good. I only culture the green muck when I have tiny fry with puny mouths.  :Laughing:

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## fishking

Hmmm..if bristlenose can work, then maybe I will get it next week. Just bought a whip tail pleco from a fellow bro yesterday....but this morning discovered dead with bloated belly in my tank...eh...did I do something wrong??. :Embarassed: 

could it be because it ate tubifex worms instead of brown algae? So sad to have killed it. It was quite nice looking.

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## stormhawk

The tubifex probably killed it via an infection, or it was already sick when you got it, but you should create a separate thread in the Catfish section for the pleco fans to help you out with issues regarding whip tails.

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## wasabi8888

> Yup, normal Otos or any bristlenose pleco, the cheaper ones will be good enough. Those helicopter plecos, Rineloricaria and Farlowella are just as good too for brown algae. 
> 
> The use of Nerite snails helps too.


Just use 1 Nerite snail. I have 1 snail per 2 feet tank. never have brown algae ever in my 2 years. Ask Nicholas or Johannes. My water is very clear and I keep a high bioload of plecos and cories and tetras. My plecos have poo that can cover 1/4 of the tank. I never scrub my tank ever. Having more than 1 snail may cause breeding (not sure whether they breed like the rest of the snails).

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## Navanod

> Just use 1 Nerite snail. I have 1 snail per 2 feet tank. never have brown algae ever in my 2 years. Ask Nicholas or Johannes. My water is very clear and I keep a high bioload of plecos and cories and tetras. My plecos have poo that can cover 1/4 of the tank. I never scrub my tank ever. Having more than 1 snail may cause breeding (not sure whether they breed like the rest of the snails).


Nerites cannot breed in freshwater but they will lay white oval eggs all over the place

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## Shaihulud

One bad thing about those sailfin plecos is that they will suck on the slime of slow moving fish like goldfish or angels, I like bristlenose though, hear that they are safe, though I am no longer keeping goldies or angels

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## fishking

Hmm..Went to 328 and bought a L190 yesterday....I put it in a 2 feet tank housing my goldfish. My silicon in the tank is covered with greenish algae. Last night, it actually started working on the tank. This morning when I woke up, I saw the green algae on the silicon greatly reduced!!...so happy..

So before I went to work, I put it in my 6ft tank...now waiting to go home to check if it has done its job in my 6ft tank or not...hahaha

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## kenkenstomp

Goldfish is even better than any pleco at that. Lol ...

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## stormhawk

> Just use 1 Nerite snail. I have 1 snail per 2 feet tank. never have brown algae ever in my 2 years. Ask Nicholas or Johannes. My water is very clear and I keep a high bioload of plecos and cories and tetras. My plecos have poo that can cover 1/4 of the tank. I never scrub my tank ever. Having more than 1 snail may cause breeding (not sure whether they breed like the rest of the snails).


I got an army of Nerites in my main tank and they can't even keep the brown algae at bay.  :Knockout: 

You must have one hardworking specimen right there.  :Laughing: 

For some reason they rather graze on other surfaces than the tank wall. I might have to consider getting one of those Stiphodon gobies instead of a Bristlenose.

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## StanChung

Nerites can even clear BBA IME but too bad they like to lay eggs everywhere.
Garra's like _G. flavatra_ and _G. rufa_ can be used to clear brown algae as they're not shy. Use to play with them as they like to nibble on my hands.

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