Identifying Brown algae is fairly easy usually Brown algae will accumulate over everything including the glass and substrate. Brown algae usually resemble a fine dust ranging from light to deep brown.
Doing frequent water changes is one of the best ways to help remove brown algae. When you do change out water, it removes the nitrates and phosphates that the brown algae eats. Make sure to really get down in the substrate with a gravel vacuum. Fish waste falls down to the tank floor and sinks into the gravel.
Brown algae can be toxic, harmful and damaging to both the fish and plants that inhabit your fish tank, so it's important you do everything you can to keep it under control. Luckily there are certain ways you can avoid, reduce and get rid of brown algae.
Brown patches on the gravel or glass of the tank is a kind of film known as a Silica Algae or Brown Algae. Once established, it can rapidly coat most surfaces of the aquarium's interior with a thin, dark brown coating.
Brown algae is considered to be harmless to your fish – it won't kill them. In fact, brown algae could leave your fish healthier than ever! You see, the diatoms that make up brown algae actually consume CO2. They then release pure oxygen, which increases the dissolved oxygen levels in your tank.
If your tank decorations are coated with brown algae, soaking them in a bleach solution every few weeks will help. They'll need to be rinsed thoroughly with water or soaked in water for a few hours to neutralize the bleach before putting them back in the tank.
Municipal water treatment plants often use chemicals to treat algal blooms, such as copper sulfate and aluminum sulfate, or alum.
Brown algae develops in aquariums with high nitrates and sometimes those with high silicon levels. Brown algae can also take over the tank when the lighting is too high or too weak for the aquarium.
One of the ways they may consider getting rid of algae is to find some aquatic species that eat algae. Snails are one of the water-loving creatures that may be used. Nerite snails are the most efficient algae-eating snails for freshwater tanks. They eat many types of algae, including brown algae.
The presence of tannins is one cause of brown or yellow water that is usually not a problem. Tannins are present in driftwood, and over time they will leach into the aquarium water, staining it yellow to brown. Tannins lower the pH of the water and soften it. For some fish, this may be desirable and even recommended.
Using a solution of 5-10% bleach, dip the plants for a few minutes as needed to destroy the algae. Make sure they are thoroughly rinsed because bleach can kill your fish. Invest in a filter. Remember, if algae persist through regular water changes, you have to do more to combat the problem.
Change the water regularly to keep nutrients low and if you have plants, use a liquid fertiliser to actually strengthen the plants and help them to fight off algae naturally. If the tank contains no live plants then you can use nitrate and phosphate resins to soak up those spare nutrients and starve the algae.
If they are on your rocks, the single best Dino Eater I have come across is the Spiny Astraea Snail. These snails have been absolute machines in clearing my rocks of both Dino's & general algaes. They are not a fan of sand, so they will spend the majority of their time on your rocks, eating away the nasties.
Diatoms don't actually turn green, but they are probably dieing off and new green algae is coming up. Your tank will go through a lot of phases and algae is just one of them. In fact, it is one of those phases that never really goes away, you just learn how to control it.
Otocinclus Catfish
Like the hillstream loach, their mouths are ideal for eating diatom algae from flat surfaces, and you can find them usually hanging out on the aquarium glass or plant leaves.
Brown algae multiply by asexual and sexual reproduction; both the motile zoospores and gametes have two unequal flagella. Some seaweed species have gas-filled bladders (pneumatocysts), which keep photosynthetic parts of the algal thallus floating on or near the surface of the water.
Do these shrimp eat brown algae? Well yes! Not only do they eat soft, brown algae, but red cherry shrimps also love it. They seem to like consuming these algae accumulating on hard surfaces in the tank—for example, the plastic filter system or even the decorations.
Fish that clean ponds by eating algae and other debris include the common pleco, the mosquitofish, the Siamese algae eater and the grass carp. Be careful with carp, koi and other bottom feeders. While they eat algae, they can also make your pond look dirty.
If your tank is too small, the fish will be stressed and the tank will get dirty much faster. Your tank should not be overly large, however, or the fish will be uncomfortable and it will be much more space to keep clean.
There are a few reasons why these patches of rust might be turning up in your aquarium. The most common reason is that the tank was newly set up, but it could also be the result of poor tap water quality, certain substrates, or light and nutrient imbalances.
Algae produce oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis.
Saltwater. Some of the known types of fish to eat algae are Blennies and Tangs, but along with fish there are snails, crabs, and sea urchins who also eat algae. These species are known to eat red slime algae, green film algae, hair algae, diatoms, cyanobacteria, brown film algae, detritus, and microalgae.
There is no way to tell if a blue-green algal bloom is toxic just by looking at it. Adults, children, and animals should avoid contact with water with blue-green algae. Toxins can persist in the water after a bloom; watch for signs of recent blooms, such as green scum on the shoreline. When in doubt, stay out!