# Help brown algae



## styderman (Jul 1, 2007)

I hate algae. This time its brown and its starting to cover my HC. I am very mad. my caboomba is shrivlling, or rather not opening up completely. its 20L 110W 6700K 8-9hrs pressureCO2, 1-2bps. Please help. all i got is iron and comprehesive plants supplement, and excel. there is only potassium at the store no nitrogen or phosphorous. I dont put anything in except excel a little bit. Is the algae there because i dont have enough nutrients to make the plants grow fast enought to grow out the algae? Is it my lack of fertilizer? What is it? Help me please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Usually brown algae (diatoms) is common in newly setup tanks... _How long has your tank been setup?_

You have a lot of light (5.5 wpg), all you need for your tank is 2-3wpg. Highlight combined with lack of ferts is going to cause more algae issues in the future. The cabomba is most likely shriviling due to a lack of ferts..._Have you done any tests to determine the amounts of N03, P04, KH etc in the water?_

To help your plants grow properly and to help reduce algea you need to be consistent with dosing ferts, water changes, light duration and C02 injection.

Make sure you have plenty if plant mass (heavily planted with fast growers) and adding algae eaters will help.

If you cannot find the proper ferts at your LFS, then order them on-line. You need micro nutrients along with N03, P04, potassium and a little iron.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

http://www.bestaquariumregulator.com/ferts.html is the cheapest place I have seen for fertilizers on line. You only need the KNO3 and KH2PO4 to go with the micronutrients you already dose. And, a half pound of each is enough to last you a very long time for that size tank.


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## Nevermore (Mar 26, 2007)

Something is definitely out of balance and you need to take care of that. There is not a lot of room for error if you're going to use high light. That said, Otocinclus are good algae eaters of diatoms. You might get a few to help out as you get everything back in balance with the ferts.


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## styderman (Jul 1, 2007)

So what do I Buy the combo pack? 1 lb KNO3, 1 lb K2SO4, ½ lb each of KH2PO4 and Plantex CSM+B 
or should I buy the kno3 and kh2po4 separtely. Do I need all that other stuff. O i took bio not chem in college so dont know the damn numbers. i assume phosphate, nitrogen, potassiuM(i read you dont need potassium if you dose the other stuff, correct me if Im wrong.) tell me what thos kh2p and k2s junk means i may try to go to a plant nursery? Since these are in the dry form can i get these fertilizers from plant nurserys or are they different from the aquarium ones? is it really that necessary to test the tank for potassium nitro, phos?. Aloha


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

_Rex's guide to dosing dry ferts_ will explain it all... http://rexgrigg.com/dosing.htm

_*From Rex's site_...

**KNO3* aka Potassium Nitrate is used to primarily dose nitrates or NO3. It does have the side effect of dosing a small amount of potassium.​
**KH2PO4* or Mono Potassium Phosphate is used for dosing phosphates or PO4.​
**K2SO4* or Potassium Sulfate is used for dosing potassium.​
**Plantex CSM+B* is a trace mineral mix.​
I personally recommend using test kits until you get use to things, the way your plants look under different conditions.

You can by dry ferts from lawn & garden stores, hardware stores etc. The only thing I have found is that usually sell them in 50lb bags, which is way too much.​


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## huunguyen (Jul 11, 2007)

turn off the light in a week, change water 30 % per day.


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