The Puffer Forum

I have this growing in my tank and was wondering how to stop it from growing? When we do water changes we wash it of every thing in the tank we also have a tank magnet that cleans the tank walls but was wondering if it can be stoped?

How long has the tank been set up?

If you can get Otocinclus for the tank, they will eat that algae. I have a tank where it's really taken over and it's looking very ugly, so I've just bought 2 Otos to see if they can get it under control, and so far they are working on it. I was a little hesitant as that's a puffer tank, but so far the puffer has ignored them.

I do not know if I have the same algae as you..

but i have one tank that this red/brown/iron colored algae was taking over...

First thing I did was take out some of the gravel...the algae liked to grow in the gravel along the outside edges...

Next, I realized that this tank was exposed to a lot of indirect sunlight..from both the back of the tank, the left side and to a lesser extent the front side.

So, I took really thick dark colored paper-made for making cards..and I put it up along the backside and the left side..I used this paper because the background that I did have on hand seemed to still let in light...but I am sure there are pretty backgrounds that do not let in light..

I also only turned on the light in this tank long enough to watch the fish eat and play (maybe an hour a day)..

Of course I left the front and right side without paper..because some light is good..

Within about two weeks the growth was stopped...I am sure there is still some in there living..but honestly, it sort of looks good on the decor in the tank...and while it is a nuisance I feel that algae is most likely a good part of that eco system (as long as it is not out of control-out of control growth says that there is something wrong)..I could be wrong on that though..

I have heard, but I am no expert, that overfeeding and left over food can boast algae growth...I am not sure about that because I do not think algae eats left over food So, maybe extra vacuuming would help????

i take all the plants from my puffer tank when i do water changes and drop them in my FW tank and all the mollies i have destroy the algae and seem to love it. then i just brush it off the tank walls and its good as new.

it dose get indirect sun because of my window but there is no where to put the tank as for as otos what are they and what do they look like? I have the tank at 1.018 sg will they live in that? But like I said before I clean the walls and decor with water changes I do weekly water changes but clean decor every other week and do vacume the gravel.the tank has been set up since late dec.

Ah well, I didn't realise this was a brackish tank we were talking about. Otocinclus are freshwater fish only, so that's out. Sorry. Not sure how to go about getting rid of it in a brackish tank, never had it in there before. Hopefully someone else will be able to give you some pointers on getting rid of it.

Your algae sounds like diatoms, and they rely on solublle silicates in the water. If you water is high in such, they are persistent. They can live in low light.

You will have to remove them manually.

my brown algae has gone now - but now i get a dark green algea - just on the gravel is like carpet????? - i can peel it off - any suggestions?

hali wrote:my brown algae has gone now - but now i get a dark green algea - just on the gravel is like carpet????? - i can peel it off - any suggestions?

paint scraper?? just joking ... don't do that or add bleach .. that is bad

mvbroadbill wrote:it dose get indirect sun because of my window but there is no where to put the tank as for as otos what are they and what do they look like? I have the tank at 1.018 sg will they live in that? But like I said before I clean the walls and decor with water changes I do weekly water changes but clean decor every other week and do vacume the gravel.the tank has been set up since late dec.

+1 to RTR for the diatoms. Manual removal and high water flow are the only ways to get rid of them and the water flow isn't a guarentee. I've been dealing with them too and there is no quick fix. They do have a tendency to show up at about 3 months post initial tank set up, something on the lines of new tank syndrome, and potentially can go away after a while. Otto cats are FW only, do not add them to that tank.

+1 to dad and RTR

so they should go away in time?I'll keep cleaning the tank for now and update this if there is a change thanks.

diatom algae = yuck, get a uv sterilizer. i had a bloom a week ago which was a real pain cause i cemented my live rock together so scrubbing it was a nightmare, i added a 2nd uv sterilizer after that headache and not seen it back as of yet.

what is that?And how do I use it?where are they sold?