Brown Algae Explosion

[Aus]

Originally Posted by yayagirl1209

If you've got the money and the space in the tank, try adding stem plants (wisteria, moneywort, bacopa caroliana, anachris) to help out compete the diatoms for nutrients.

^+1

The OP said it was killing leaves.. well, plants do grow new leaves. I pick the affected leaves off, or let the baby ramshorns clean the brown goo off.

[LittleWatty]

Ok... going to answer as many questions/comments as I can in one go.

Housing
What size is your tank? 6.6 gallon bookshelf
What temperature is your tank? stable 80F (can't get it much lower because of the heat)
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 10 Ghost shrimp (was 11 a few days ago)

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? New Life Spectrum pellets for the betta, and betta flakes for the shrimp (but I have stopped feeding the shrimp for the past week)
How often do you feed your betta fish? Right when I wake up in the morning (6am), then around dinner time. No extra food, and if there is, the shrimp get it.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? I've been doing it at 80% recently, because of the algae. Otherwse, I'd do 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? API Water Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
As of right now
Ammonia: 0 (it almost looks like it has a green tint, but on the color chart, its clearly yellow)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20ppm
pH:7.4-7.6

Originally Posted by Pogthefish

I know this sems irrelevant, but what saide of the room is the tank on? (north, south, east, west) and is it in sunlight? How long has it been setup?

I have east facing windows, and its in the kitchen on the north wall. It doesn't get much natural light, as I keep my blinds closed for the most part. Its been set up for about 2 months, I think.

Originally Posted by Aus

ETA: are you using sand as a substrate? Some sands leach a lot of silicate into the water, which encourages diatom bloom - if upping your water changes doesn't fix it in a few weeks, try changing the sand for something with less silica in it (LFS might help you there..)

Its mostly gravel, but I did mix in some Petco brand sand. There's not much, as most of it gets sucked up when I do my gravel vac.

Originally Posted by yayagirl1209

If you've got the money and the space in the tank, try adding stem plants (wisteria, moneywort, bacopa caroliana, anachris) to help out compete the diatoms for nutrients.

I've got wisteria, but it keeps melting on me. There are currently three planted stems that have yet to be affected by the algae/diatoms. I've also got compacta, water lily, java fern, banana plant, and a small sword (not microsword and not a baby amazon sword, no idea what it is). I've got some moneywort (or is it pennywort?), but its not in that tank, as its in quarantine for my 10 gallon. I have some small stems I might stick in there, though. As far as I know, no where near here sells bacopa caroliniana or anacharis.

[mahi]

I had a similar problem. I lost my amazon sword to these kind of algea.

The problem with diatomes is, that they feed of silicate. In some areas silicate is already in the tap water, which means water changes don't help much, because they will keep feeding the algea.

There are some bacteria, apparently, that digest the silicate into some silicate compound that can not be used by the diatomes. But those bacteria take a while to develop.

In my case I waited over a month and it still didn't get better. I finally added some silicate removing stuff to my filter and the problem stopped almost instantly! My plants are growing new leafs now and everything is looking much better.

If your plans are starting to look really bad, maybe that could be a solution for you?

Otherwise, most advice I found on the internet says to keep cleaning the tank and to just wait it out.

[LittleWatty]

Did a massive water change the other day to clean off as much algae as possible (two 90% changes in a row), and yesterday I bought a Tiger Nerite just to be sure that stuff doesn't come back. My ghosties just weren't doing a good enough job. They were far too slow, but I do know for sure that they were eating the stuff.

I've read that they like diatoms more than other algae, and I also know they have a huge bioload. The tank is cycled, and planted, so I'm hoping he doesn't send it over the edge. Its in Quarantine right now with a couple new plants for my 10 gallon.

Anyone know what the preferred method of adding calcium to the tank would be? I've heard calcium tablets (not Tums) from the pharmacy section or cuttlebones should work.

[Pogthefish]

TUms work, but they cloud the water. I put seashells in, but you have to get the amount right, and scrub them often then soak a day after scrubbing before adding. If not, the calcium levels fluxuate. They also raise the Ph though

[LittleWatty]

my PH is high enough... don't think sea shells will work then.

[Pogthefish]

mmkay. then idk, alot of calcium supplements will raise Ph