Cleaning Algae

[Slough Shark]

I just cleaned all the brown algae off of the rocks in my 30 Gallon tank. It really clouded up the tank and I was wondering if it would be better if I cleaned it outside the tank next time? Or is it beneficial to keep the algae particles in the tank?

Thanks for any insight,

Taylor

[fshkpr4evr]

IMO, I would try to eliminate as much waste as possible from staying in the aquarium; thus I would clean them outside of the aquarium. More importantly though, why is there brown algae growing? Brown algae usually indicates insufficient lighting or the initial algae growth in a newly set-up aquarium. I would try to get green algae growing if you can which will benefit any algae eating fish you may have.

[jvision]

It's not a big deal. Next time you do a WC, just dig into the gravel a little. And, next time you scrub, do a WC immediately afterward - that'll suck up most of the suspended algae.

[Vallisneria]

I usually try to clean things that are easily removed out of the tank. But if I have to clean stuff in the tank then I do a water change afterwards.

[Jilly McJillerson]

someone once told me that if you scrape algae off of things and let it float away into the water small peices of it have ability to reattach themselves to other tank decorations as well as possibly the glass, filter etc. making the algae problem worse in the long run, so I always try to clean my stuff outside the tank. This may be an 'old wives tale', so feel free to correct me if I am wrong...

[patrick]

I would not worry about it. Brown algae tend to grow extra much in new tanks that have sand on the bottom because of the high levels of silica. This tank have only been up for a month or two right? Once the silica is depleted they die off. It could take a while though. Patience is your best friend here More light wont prevent the brown algae from growing, but it will encourage green algae instead which may take over.

[bottomdweller_fan]

I just cleaned all the brown algae off of the rocks in my 30 Gallon tank. It really clouded up the tank and I was wondering if it would be better if I cleaned it outside the tank next time? Or is it beneficial to keep the algae particles in the tank?

Thanks for any insight,

Taylor

Otocinclus do an incredible job of cleaning up brown algae, but if you are making this into a Bornean stream biotope, you may not want a group of otos increasing your bio load.

I look forward to hearing how setting up your biotope goes. I am planning to set up a 40 gallon for a Bornean stream biotope to contain Gastromyzon, Sewellia, and Beaufortia species.

Deborah

[Slough Shark]

Thanks for all of the replies guys, I am glad to hear it's not a big deal! I did do a WC afterwards, 'cause it's aquarist common sense that if your water is turbid, you should up the WCs. When I had a pleco in the tank, he did a good job of keeping the Brown Algae down, but when I decided to keep it biotope, I took him out and it flourished.

The tank is indeed quite young, only a couple of months. I left the algae alone for a long while to give the green algae a chance (and there was some growing when I got rid of the brown algae), so I'm hoping that the green stuff will take over soon, the lighting in the tank is moderate and I hope to get more plants in early-mid January.

Bottomdweller fan- I will keep you guys posted on the progress, which will be slow because the main fish for the tank are rare loaches I don't think you could call that tank a biotope with those loach species since all Beaufortia species are endemic to China and Viet Nam, and Sewellia stick to mainland Southeast Asia (many coming from the Mekong River basin), but I think you should go ahead and put them together and have a nice Hillie Loach community!

Thanks again guys,

Taylor