[ir0n_ma1den]

I've been battling with this brown algae for months. I cannot find out what type it is but it seems like green spot algae but brown.

What is it, what causes it, and how can i get rid of it?

thanks

 

[KraKen]

It looks a bit like red algae which I had problem with a while ago but no only grows on the outflow of of my hob filter. I hear that it is encouraged by excess organic sin the water column so try doing more water changes and removing as much of it as you can. I also found that increasing lighting in the red spectrum helped becouse plants are more capable of using red light than red algae is.

Good luck.

 

[chagovatoloco]

Is that on the glass or on the plants? Read this

http://www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/

If it is on the glass it may be green dust algae.

 

[hoppycalif]

I recently found that BBA will grow on GSA on the glass. Your's looks a little like what I had.

 

[ir0n_ma1den]

Here is another picture:

Okay I have a 65W 6500K light, Filstar XP1, 1x maxijet 400, eco complete, full co2 system @ 2bps, temp around 73-76F

Dosing: EI method for the 29g tank

so 2x dashes of KNO3 and 1x pinch of PO4 alternating with 1x pinch of Micros

If you need any more information please ask.

No it is not fuzzy.

 

[chagovatoloco]

Are we doing weekly 50% water changes? How long is the photo period?

 

[ir0n_ma1den]

Yes I have been doing weekly water changes of 80% but will start doing 50% next WC.

 

[chagovatoloco]

I would clean the whole tank, knock every thing off the walls and decorations. Then immediately change the the water. Take all of the bad plants and wash them in a 20:1 bleach mixture, if they don't live through that they will not live, afterwards dip them in water heavily concentrated in prime. Put the tank back together and try not to let it get that bed ever again. As for the cause, how long are the lights on for and how do you measure your co2? Remember trying to measure co2 by bps is like putting you hand out the window of a car to see how fast it is going. Just trying to help, we'll get to the bottom of this

 

[HeyPK]

This looks to me like a soft algae that covers surfaces, and it is probably a mixture of bluegreen algae (Cyanobacteria). I have seen some Cyanobacterial mats that have a purple to brown color.

 

[Complexity]

Instead of a FTS, can you get a close up of the algae itself? What have you done about it so far, and what has been the algae's response? Have you tried to scape it off, and if so, how easy/hard is it to scrape off and how quickly does it return? How did the algae emerge; quickly or gradually?

This doesn't look like any kind of algae I've ever seen. If it was green, that would be different, but it looks very dark and you said it's a brown color. I'd suggest diatoms which are usually what gives the brown algae appearance, but that doesn't look like diatoms from what I can see.

Have you noticed any responses to it with your fish, inverts or snails? How are your fish doing? Everything healthy? Any recent deaths or illnesses? What are your water readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

A close up picture and more detailed info would be very helpful.

 

[ir0n_ma1den]

Today I did a 50% water change and scraped it off the front glass. It comes off easily with a razor blade and is definitley a reddish-purple color.

Before today I never did anything about it except hoping it would die off by itself.

It affects everything except my Bylxa and the fish/inverts

 

[Complexity]

You've got me stumped. I've never seen anything like that. Did it turn your water purple? Can't tell from the pics, but it looks that way.

The only red algae I know of is BBA, and that does not look like BBA.

I'm sorry I can't help. But I'll give you a free bump so maybe someone else will see this.

 

[KraKen]

Yup, looks just like the stuff I used to have (though mine was more red than purple ). If you have a microscope handy you could look at it under that to see if it's an algae or a bacteria. I had asumed that it was a kind of red algae like BBA but I'm not sure of that. Viewing it under a microscope would (dis)prove this theory.

Here's an article about controlling red algae, www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/red-algae.html