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Re: NFC: Brown algae




Terry,

Good news and bad news about brown algae.  First of all it is fairly easy to 
control or get rid of it.  Brown algae is usually, but not exclusively, a 
diatom.  Diatoms require silica in the water to reproduce and grow.  They 
are an algae with a shell made from silicas.  So the easiest way to control 
them or get rid of them is to remove the silica, which is found in most tap 
water.  So, controling the source of the water is one way to remove them.  
As of now, every time you do a water change, you are adding fresh silica 
into the system for the diatoms to use to grow.  Before I get yelled at, I 
am not proposing that you stop doing water changes.  I am simply stating 
what is occuring, and why the brown algae won't seem to go away.  So as long 
as there is a source of silica, a source of fertilizer, and a light source 
you will have brown algae.

The above statements are making an assumption that you are dealing with 
diatoms, which are often refered to as brown algae.  There are other algae 
which are much less common which do have a brown shade.

Kevin





>From: "nickel55" <nickel55 at worldnet_att.net>
>Reply-To: nfc at actwin_com
>To: <nfc at actwin_com>
>Subject: NFC: Brown algae
>Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 23:26:44 -0400
>
>                                    I set my tank up back in early August, 
>by the end of September it had gone through the nitrogen cycle, thats the 
>good news. But then I started to notice brown algae on the glass, which 
>spread to just about everything else.  I have been reading about this type 
>of algae on the net but I wanted to know if anyone has any good ideas about 
>getting it to go away. I read that after awhile it may go away on it's own. 
>I do 20 per cent water changes every week and try to keep up on cleaning 
>away the algae. I probably should use some real plants, all the plants I 
>have now are artificial. I have read that Otocinclus catfish eat this type 
>of algae, but I really want to keep my tank all native fish, which it is 
>now, so using some tropical isn't where I'm leaning, and without a heater 
>they would be belly up soon I guess.  Too bad bullheads don't like this 
>stuff, because the two I have sure seem to eat everything else.
>                                                                            
>Terry
>
>
>
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