# Brown algae/light period advice ?



## Goose157 (9 Mar 2018)

Hi,
After reading on the forums about light periods i decided to shorten my light period to 8 hrs a day from 10 and after everything looking ok now on the second week i have started to notice brown spotty/dusty algae on the tips of older leaves!!! Oh no!....should i just increase the light period - say an hour and see what happens?? Or does this mean something else is going on....
I have a 20 uk gallon 18watt led co2 fe set up dosing ei at recommend level. I do 1 50% water change per week - is this enough??
One thing i am concerned about is i have two small internal filters combined flow around 740 Ltr an hour (optimal manufactures figures!) - so that needs sorting regardless ...
Any help/advice  appreciated....cheers... Chris


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## Matty123 (9 Mar 2018)

Goose157 said:


> Hi,
> After reading on the forums about light periods i decided to shorten my light period to 8 hrs a day from 10 and after everything looking ok now on the second week i have started to notice brown spotty/dusty algae on the tips of older leaves!!! Oh no!....should i just increase the light period - say an hour and see what happens?? Or does this mean something else is going on....
> I have a 20 uk gallon 18watt led co2 fe set up dosing ei at recommend level.
> One thing i am concerned about is i have two small internal filters combined flow around 720 Ltr an hour (optimal manufactures figures!) - so that needs sorting regardless ...
> Any help/advice  appreciated....cheers... Chris



Most likely Diatoms. You were right to reduce the extent of the lighting period to 8 hours as 10 hours is excessive. Reduce your lighting period to 6 hours and reduce your light intensity to the lowest setting or 15% intensity if your lighting is dimmable. You’ll hear a whole raft of suggestions that it’s down to silicates and not enough lighting and too much ferts. Do not delude yourself as it is simply down to too much lighting (too long a duration or intensity)! With this recommendation also ensure your levels of co2 is good (30-40ppm or a 1 drop in PH) and so is your flow/dissipation of nutrients. Do a couple of big water changes each week for a couple of weeks to ensure your tank is top top and your filters are ‘clean’ (especially mechanical media) to keep any pesky ammonia at bay. Keep your lighting low for a few weeks which will improve the general health of your plants. With this you could add some Ottos which do a marvellous job of gobbling up the Diatoms but treating the cause is obviously a whole lot better. 

Good luck and keep us informed to how your get on 

Kind regards 
Matty 


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## Goose157 (9 Mar 2018)

Thank you for this info .... my normal water change day is tomorrow so will do as normal....and then plan one on  Say Wednesday.....my lights do dim so will crank down too....should i continue with same ferts  ?? - currently 20 ml macro 20 ml micro alternate days ... Friday no Fert ....
Cheers
Chris


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## Matty123 (9 Mar 2018)

Yep. Keep giving them plants the first aid they need. Continue with your regular dosing. Also dose x2 amounts of Easycarbo/Excel/ other liquid carbon... I had this issue a few times until I FINALLY accepted my lighting was the cause and thanks to the guys on here pointed me in the right direction each occasion but I was deluded that I needed megawatts of light to get good plant growth! Another learning curve achieved! 


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## Goose157 (9 Mar 2018)

I was told i was under the 1 watt/gal minimum ....but to be honest the tank burns your eyeballs out in the evenings so how the big bad boy lighting set ups must look i cannot imagine! Lol....i do think i need more flow but have been reluctant as this is my only tank and is is home to my 4/5 year old angel....i dont think he would appreciate being blasted around!!...
I am planning to get a bigger tank in the not too distant future....Slowly want to get some bits n’ bobs  for it over time to spread the cost....anyway thanks for the advice ...cheers


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## Matty123 (9 Mar 2018)

Happy to help. It’s surprising how little lighting you need when nutrients and general tank husbandry is good for good  plant growth. My LED is 1.2 watts but is startling and very very powerful at 100% intensity and I only use it on less than 50% with good results and even better results in aspects of algae if I use it nearer to 70-100% If you keep your lighting down you can get away with having just ‘ok’ flow. Your plants will grow but they just take a little longer to do so but they’ll be healthier for it as they won’t ‘be rushed’ and stressed to grow. It’s when we use high light that need to have things spot on as otherwise you’re just an algae thread away from disaster! Yeah best to wait until your angel has swam over/under the rainbow bridge before you set up a new tank with desirable high tec gear. Forgot to point out that you’ll fair much better with a big external so put that on your shopping list with your new set up as internals are fiddly messy and limited. I take it they are pointed in the same direction and not pointed against each other? 


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## Goose157 (9 Mar 2018)

Good point ....to be honest the growth in my tank since i have been using this light / ferts and co2 is bonkers....actually growing too quickly.....i see now that controlling is a skill i need to learn....this is why i am really enjoying planted....so many variables...and now problems...just a hiccup i hope in me learning curve....
I would like to keep my fishes happy - and experiment more in another set up ideally.....but it will take time to gather the kit....i hope to get it sorted  in the next few months - until i do its a juggling act fishes/light.flow/ferts/co2.....lol....

all the best Chris


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## Matty123 (9 Mar 2018)

Just keep the lighting low and rest will flow and the algae will go 


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## Goose157 (9 Mar 2018)




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## ian_m (10 Mar 2018)

Light say 4-6 hours at reduced level for a couple of weeks and diatoms will not appear with a new tank. New tank with too much light symptoms.

The diatoms will be scoffed in a matter of days by Otto's which is what I did.

Just keep that light intensity and timing under control or else you will algea'ise everything. Also check CO2 is optimal all over the tank by placing drop checker all around the tank and verify it is acceptably green at lights on.


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## Goose157 (10 Mar 2018)

Thanks for the advice, i have set the lights at approx 50% and the 5 house a day.....and if i get the chance will pop to the local maidenhead aquatics - last time i went in sure i saw ottos for sale....
How many would you recommend for a 90ltr.....??
The tanks mates are 1 large Angel....6 cardinal’s , three cherry barbs and 3 zebra snails...
Cheers
Chris


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## Goose157 (10 Mar 2018)

By the way just done my weekly 50% water change...the brown stuff sort of peels off easily and becomes a mushy brown blob - sucked up with the vac!...
Cheers


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## Matty123 (10 Mar 2018)

Goose157 said:


> By the way just done my weekly 50% water change...the brown stuff sort of peels off easily and becomes a mushy brown blob - sucked up with the vac!...
> Cheers



Yeah it’s definitely diatoms then mate if it can be easily removed and has a slimy texture. If you can remove quite a bit of it manually then more the better and if its quite a bit just do a partial water whilst siphoning the debris out of the tank so to keep organic waste to a minimum. But as you have a vac even more user friendly! But you can not beat partial water changes to improve things. It might sound a bit extreme and as bit OCD but it’s an obsession I’ve adopted because the cleaner you can keep your tank the better the outcome of your tank will be with any potential ammonia levels kept nearer to zero as possible with rotting veg matter. 


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## Tim Harrison (10 Mar 2018)

Goose157 said:


> last time i went in sure i saw ottos for sale....
> How many would you recommend for a 90ltr.....??


The usual advice is the more the merrier.
However, I've never had that much success getting otos to feed on anything other than Aufwuchs, so I tend to keep 1 for every 30 or so litres tank capacity; that way they have enough to eat.


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## Goose157 (10 Mar 2018)

Cheers and managed to get most of it removed had a few stubborn patches  - so i remove the offending leaves....also moved one of the internal filters to create a better flow around the tank...so fingers crossed !
The tank looks pretty clean now...(window light only lol)...lights will come on around 12-5 pm only with new settings...
Chris


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## Matty123 (10 Mar 2018)

Goose157 said:


> Cheers and managed to get most of it removed had a few stubborn patches  - so i remove the offending leaves....also moved one of the internal filters to create a better flow around the tank...so fingers crossed !
> The tank looks pretty clean now...(window light only lol)...lights will come on around 12-5 pm only with new settings...
> Chris



Sounds good 


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## Goose157 (10 Mar 2018)

Well been to the shop no otto’s bloody cant believe it! Mind you i was very tempted to get my self a canister filter lol but held off ....they had a fx6 £239 ....and oase 600 thermo about the same.....lol....getting something soon....anyway thanks for the help....and going next week to wharf aquatics with my son....he raves about the place so looking forward to that and will buy hopefully 1 or 2 otto’s perhaps...lol might walk out with a tank who knows! I am itching to get a decent set up probably shrimp only and scape it from scratch....Cheers


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## tam (10 Mar 2018)

Otos like to live as a group - I've five in my 70L - I'd have more but you do often lose a couple when they first arrive. I'd buy a few more than you want. Worst case you'll need to add a bit of food for them now and then so no hardship to have more than you need to eat algae.


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## Matty123 (10 Mar 2018)

Goose157 said:


> Well been to the shop no otto’s bloody cant believe it! Mind you i was very tempted to get my self a canister filter lol but held off ....they had a fx6 £239 ....and oase 600 thermo about the same.....lol....getting something soon....anyway thanks for the help....and going next week to wharf aquatics with my son....he raves about the place so looking forward to that and will buy hopefully 1 or 2 otto’s perhaps...lol might walk out with a tank who knows! I am itching to get a decent set up probably shrimp only and scape it from scratch....Cheers



Ha ha! Exciting times, maybe not for your wallet mind! Yeah if you go with Ottos you need to keep them in groups of 4-6 for your size of tank. As Tam says you need to feed them with an alternative (algae wafer etc) when they’ve scoffed the diatoms. They are very attractive fish so when their job is done they’ll still grace any planted tank 


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## Goose157 (10 Mar 2018)

Hey thanks i thought 2 would be enough!....and yes i see in the near future severe pain in the wallet department! Lol....as they say you cant take it with you......just don’t tell the Mrs! Ha ha....
Chris


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## Goose157 (10 Mar 2018)

Hey p.s like the contract picture... mine is boring....need to change ..me thinks....


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## Matty123 (10 Mar 2018)

Well if you buy a big enough tank you could request to be buried in it on the ‘big day’ a bit like Snow White or Lenin the soviet leader and still take it with you! Obviously they’d need to remove the water prior to plonking you in as you don’t wanna encourage another diatom bloom! And you’d probably wanna mention it to the Mrs. about it first Lol  


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## Goose157 (10 Mar 2018)

tam said:


> Otos like to live as a group - I've five in my 70L - I'd have more but you do often lose a couple when they first arrive. I'd buy a few more than you want. Worst case you'll need to add a bit of food for them now and then so no hardship to have more than you need to eat algae.


5 ....what other tank mates?? .. i am always a bit on the lean side when it comes to fish....as I prefer a quieter set up...like to see shoaling in big tanks but really don’t want to over crowd my humble set up....
Chris...


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## Goose157 (10 Mar 2018)

Matty123 said:


> Well if you buy a big enough tank you could request to be buried in it on the ‘big day’ a bit like Snow White or Lenin the soviet leader and still take it with you! Obviously they’d need to remove the water prior to plonking you in as you don’t wanna encourage another diatom bloom! And you’d probably wanna mention it to the Mrs. about it first Lol
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Lol.....my Mrs puts up with a lot with me but she’s bonkers too.....so we both need locking up....anyway...wonder if i can talk her into an aquascaper 1800!! (In my dreams) my be for my 60th bd......!!! Ha ha....until then i am so wanting a 280-300 4 footer!....


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## Matty123 (10 Mar 2018)

Goose157 said:


> Lol.....my Mrs puts up with a lot with me but she’s bonkers too.....so we both need locking up....anyway...wonder if i can talk her into an aquascaper 1800!! (In my dreams) my be for my 60th bd......!!! Ha ha....until then i am so wanting a 280-300 4 footer!....



I started with a 6 footer when I got into the ‘hobby’ on a serious note 2p years ago then went down to a five footer then a 4 footer and now I’m left with a Fluval F-90! So I’m buggered now if I wanna be buried in it as it only measures around 3 feet long and me being over six foot I ought to have retained my original mausoleum/tank for my departure over the rainbow bridge!  


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## Goose157 (10 Mar 2018)

If i had the chance i would like 2 or three tanks... mainly planted.....i love the jungle type/natural the most....aquascapes are beautiful but sort of very clinical - great to see but somehow artificial (if there is such a thing when - all tanks are) ...i just feel at home watching my tank evolve....not without its problems....the sodding brown goo....on the whole though its something I don’t think i will every not do - if you know what i mean....sort of routine....daft as it sounds i get excited on the way home from work looking forward to seeing how the tanks doing....(this is sounding more and more like i am some weirdo! Lol) anyway....
Chris


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## Matty123 (10 Mar 2018)

Apparently this ‘hobby’ is a peaceful and relaxing pastime but I’ve only just started to see that after 20 years! I’ve learnt a lot over the past 2 years after experiencing every sodding issue under the sun/surface relating to this hobby but I got there in the end and indeed I do look forward to seeing my tank especially after a days graft at work. I’ve spent a a small fortune on this set up and my poor lounge laminate flooring bears witness to my bad experiences but with time I’ll compliment my lovely set up with some new solid oak flooring which ought to appease the other half so not all bad in the end! 


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## tam (10 Mar 2018)

Goose157 said:


> 5 ....what other tank mates?? .. i am always a bit on the lean side when it comes to fish....as I prefer a quieter set up...like to see shoaling in big tanks but really don’t want to over crowd my humble set up....
> Chris...



At the moment just 7 ember tetra and a big fat ancient kuhli loach. The otos are quite chilled. They all gather for dinner in the evening and some mornings do some shoaling/wiggling when the sun hits that is fun to watch. The rest of the time they just shuffle about eating and aren't necessarily too visible. I'm thinking of adding some Habrosus cories to the bottom - some of the otos are meant to hang out with corys in the wild - but LFS hasn't had any in stock for months


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## Goose157 (11 Mar 2018)

Yes thats same here but next week all being well going to a well rated shop ....hopefully they will have stock...cheers


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## Goose157 (11 Mar 2018)

Just back from the garden centre run with mrs.....they had otto’s but i could not buy as we were out for the day and not good for the little chaps !!! But i know where to buy - Brookfield’s Nottingham area....
Anyway bought a circ pump Oase 500ltr - very happy - silent and really gets the flow going!! Hopefully short light period and extra flow should get things back on track......


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## peaches (12 Jun 2018)

You know, if I had known about all this being too much light, I wouldnt have upgraded my lighting.  A few years since when I was on the forum it seemed as if everyone was saying you didnt have enough light.  Im not criticising, dont get me wrong, when I ask and people make suggestions, I make adjustments.


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