# Brown Slimy algae???



## Carlos1583 (Jul 7, 2006)

I mentioned in another thread a while ago about some brown, slimy algae that won't go away. Well, its moved into the new 75 gallon tank and I dont know what to do with it. I know the tank is still relatively new but I have a good amount of healthy plants and it seems to just grow on any plant, new or old, healthy or not. Could it be Rhizoclonium?? I'm also dealing with this whitish, scum on the surface of the water. Any ideas what that is? I do weekly water changes and also don't feed everyday. Nitrates are at 10ppm, nitrite 0, ammonia 0. I have some pictures of it but aside from cutting down photoperiod (which is only 6 hours with 3 hour midday burst) and not doing any ferts (EI dosing), I don't know what this is or how else to rid of it. I would appreciate any advice/tips...thanks.


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## NoSvOrAx (Nov 11, 2006)

Excel will kill it. You can tell when its dying when it turns whitish.


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## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

I'm having a problem with that algae as well but I did a few things that seem to be working: 
1. Replace old PC bulbs
2. Sucking out most of it with an airline tube so the flow wont pull up your plants.
3. Frequent water changes.
4. Dosing excel to the affect plants while they're out of the water.(some of my excel was old and didnt work so check that too)
5. Blocking as many sources of natural sunlight as possible.

I notice that your tank is right infront of a window. I think for starters you could either move the tank or place a background on it so the sunlight doesnt promote more algae growth and you should be dosing ferts and co2 so your plants can outcompete the algae.


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## Carlos1583 (Jul 7, 2006)

Thanks for the replies. I ran out of excel and neither petco or petsmart carries it so I am going to have to order it online. 

Felf808: I did consider some of the things you mentioned. The light is a brand new t5 tek so I would hope the bulbs are not old already. I have been trying to manually remove as much as I can and removing affected plants. I do weekly, sometimes biweekly water changes and as soon as the excel comes in, I will start dosing it with the filter to let it stay with the algae. Since its a huge tank and have no where else to put it, I can't move it. BUT, I did place a black background (should have done it from the start) and hopefully it will help. The only sunlight that comes in is from the top but its more like a shimmering effect (almost like a moonlight). Hopefully within the next few weeks, it will go away. On a positive note, I added 5 otos and already some of the brown algae is slowly going away. Maybe they were hungry and are eating it but who knows.


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## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

Carlos1583 said:


> Thanks for the replies. I ran out of excel and neither petco or petsmart carries it so I am going to have to order it online.
> 
> Felf808: I did consider some of the things you mentioned. The light is a brand new t5 tek so I would hope the bulbs are not old already. I have been trying to manually remove as much as I can and removing affected plants. I do weekly, sometimes biweekly water changes and as soon as the excel comes in, I will start dosing it with the filter to let it stay with the algae. Since its a huge tank and have no where else to put it, I can't move it. BUT, I did place a black background (should have done it from the start) and hopefully it will help. The only sunlight that comes in is from the top but its more like a shimmering effect (almost like a moonlight). Hopefully within the next few weeks, it will go away. On a positive note, I added 5 otos and already some of the brown algae is slowly going away. Maybe they were hungry and are eating it but who knows.


Someone mentioned that cherry shrimp will eat it as well but I have a feeling that any shrimp will eat it if there is a large number of them and a limited amount of food. I'm sure your otos were helping at least a little bit; they are the best algae eaters you can have IMO. Another thing that is pretty important is the placement of your filter intake and output tubes and it looks a bit oddly placed in the pictures.


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## Carlos1583 (Jul 7, 2006)

I have the intake tubes in the back towards halfway between the middle and the end of the tank (one for each half). The output sprays are at the end but one is vertical and facing towards the middle of the front glass and the other is horizontal towards the surface. I tried having the spray bars horizontal on each end and it kept creating a vortex in the middle due to the strong current. Any other ideas on how to place it? Thanks..


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## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

The intake should be alright where it is as long as there arent too many stem plants or hardscape pieces in the way. The only other things that I can suggest would be to fill in those empty spots with more plants or lower your temperature depending on what it's at right now. I have very few algae problems when the temperature is 72 and below but that almost never happens in Hawaii


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## Carlos1583 (Jul 7, 2006)

never thought about lowering the temp...will give that a try. I have noticed some of the algae go away some more without doing anything. It still comes back on some plants but I'll keep removing as much as I can


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