# Plants and brown algae.



## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

Ok, so I had a big sailfin in my tank a while ago, but he died of old age the poor bugger.

So I have had a brown algae bloom caused by the excessive nitrates (took me a day to realise the sailfin was dead as he always played dead and hid), low light (never needed one before for growing plants) and no plants because he always ripped them out, and of corse he wasn;t there to clean it all up.

I have since bought some plants:

Amazon Swords Small 10-12cm
Giant Ambulia Bunch
Java Fern (Microsorium pteropus) 
Anubias Nana - Miniature

And I bought a new light (NEC Triphosper Aquarium)

They have been in there a couple of weeks now, and the brown algae is starting to get controlled by the new BN I bought with the plants. I have some green algae growing on some of the rocks that used to have brown.

So all and all I thought it was going ok, BUT I know bugger all about plants in an aquarium, never had them much bah a couple of tanks and they never did real well, i just replaced them after a while.

Some of the broader leaf plants are getting some brown algae on them. What am I doing wrong ? nitrates are always between 15-25. phosphat i have no idea as its never something i tested. I would have thought the presence of grean algae in the tank was a good sign i was doing somehting right.. but apparently not if brown algae on the leaves is still happening.

Thanks for the help in advance.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

Do I need to remove the brown algae, I was under the impression it would die off under the new high light conditions.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Remove the algae because it inhibits the leaves taking up light.

Having plants is all about achieving a balance, and the balance may not be easy to achieve. When you have the balance, the plants will control the algae.

Too much light may be the #1 cause of algae in a planted tank unless you also have plants that will use it, the right balance of nutrients, etc. And often that means CO2.

First keep your nitrites as close to 15ppm all the time as possible.

Second, you have mixed low light and high light plants. Java/anubias really don't want much light and algae is the result. Whereas the sword and the ambulia (Limnophila indica) are plants that enjoy high light and rich substrate. You can try planting the java and anubias in the shade of the light lovers.

Need more info about your bulbs to decide about whether there is too much light or not.

I'd add a lot of plants. As much as it makes no sense to me, it is what I have been advised and it has worked for me to add plants.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

Its a mbuna tank is why I have been skittish on the plants.

Are the two high light plants going to do ok in high ph / hard water ?

Because the swords already have brown roots by the looks. The java and anubias look like there doing well actually with nice white roots still, I removed the algae on them this water change.

Will the ambulia still do ok if it is floating at the top of the tank ? as it seems like it likes to do this haha, I can't work out a way to hold it down using lead wieghts without breaking it. Its under a rock right now, but the floating pieces seem to be doing better.

The bulb is a 4 footer 36 watt NEC Triphophur, what else you need ?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I have no experience with the Limnophila...I have avoided it since I was avoiding CO2 and it has a rep as a plant needing high light. I do see one source recommending pH=7. Since you already have it and if you want to give it a try, I'd plant it in a pot (temporarily at least) of plant substrate. Does it have roots? If not, strip leaves from bottom half of the plant and coil the stem at the bottom of the pot. Sometimes to get a stem plant to root so it can withstand the tugging of the fish, I have to leave it in a fish-free tank for a couple weeks.

The others will do well in the high pH. I'd buy a bunch more sword plants. Or if you can get it, Hygrophila difformis (Wisteria) grows even better for me. You need something fast-growing and java/anubias are slow.

I am not familiar with the tube. Is it T8 or T5 or something else? What is the "color" or "Kelvin" number of the bulb? You are looking for something like 6500K or 6700K. There are also things like 10,000K daylight bulbs, and blue actinic bulbs, etc.

How many gallons is your tank? How deep is it?


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

its a T8 yer ,, will have to find the box.. think its in the garage.

its about 2 foot deep and 70 gal.


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## marcopolo146 (Feb 23, 2011)

I would get yourself a phosphate test kit and check the levels. 1 ppm is what I have read is good for planted tanks, anything much higher equals brown algae. I'm struggling to control brown algae myself and my phosphate levels are at 5 ppm. If your also using pfs it could be leaching silica into your tank which will cause brow algae.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

> I would get yourself a phosphate test kit and check the levels.


Yeah I might have to invest in one of those, got the rest why not that one i guess haha



> If your also using pfs it could be leaching silica into your tank which will cause brow algae.


Na, I am a bit old school with my old rocks substrate heh
Interesting about silica causing brown algae, thanks, will take that into account when i get the a substrate for my new tank. I am looking at a sand maybe in my 3 footer i picked up cheap.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

So if you do it the old way, which is watts per gallon, you have 1/2 watt per gallon which is very low. I think your swords and limnophila will struggle.

Also 2 feet is a very deep tank so the light may have difficulty reaching the plants at the bottom with enough strength to be effective.

If the plants don't grow, they can't outcompete the algae.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

So watt per gallon is talking about fluro light ? not some converted value ?

Like a 60 watt incandesant doesn't put out the light of a fluro 60 W

I don't see how I would fit enough fluros above my tank to give me the light needed LOL

I think I might be wrong on the 2 feet, its a fairly standard tank, I am metric system over here hehe , will go measure and convert.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

Depth is 450mm or 1.47637795 feet

Its a 37 Watt sorry.

*Here is the Info on the light:*

BR-HG and BR have been designed to produce the ideal brightness for viewing tropical fish and plant displays.

Brightness That Vividly Renders Colors

Tri-phosphor is used to show tropical plants and plant displays vividly.
Emits Light Needed for Growth of Aquatic Plants and Foliage Plants

BR-HG emit light energy of wavelengths 400 to 500 nm and 600 to 700 nm required for photosynthesis, and infrared rays for promoting photosynthesis.

*Model : *FL40SSBR/37 - HG










Category: I

Size Classification (W) : 40

Nominal Wattage (W)Ã£â‚¬â‚¬: 37

Dimension (mm) Width : 27.5

Dimension (mm) Length : 1,198

Total Luminous Flux (lm) : 1,920

Average Life (Hrs)Ã£â‚¬â‚¬: 20,000

Base : Med. Bipin (G13)


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Watts per gallon were used to give you a rough idea with T8's. But now with T5's and other types of bulbs, the calculation is more complex. A T5 with the same wattage gives you more light. Watts is really just how much power needed to run the bulb.

The color spectrum at the bottom is good info, but I still don't see the kelvin measurement of your bulb. Anyway it says it's good for plants, maybe email the manufacturer?

You want to decide if you want low-light low-tech plants which also mean you may not have to worry about special substrates and fertilizers. Or if you want to dive in, go high tech and maybe even add CO2 to your tank.

If you decide you need more light, you could add fixtures to get more bulbs, or go a different type of fixture and bulb...smaller with more output so you can fit more bulbs.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

kelvin eh ? tempreture tells you what exactly ?

Thanks for carifying the watt per gallon


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'm not an expert on Kelvin. But I know that 6500K or 6700K is good for plants and the reason is because the "color" of the light emitted is the "color" the plant can use most efficiently for photosynthesis.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

Ok, fair enough.

I cannot find kelvin anywhere for this bulb, it could be an australian thing not to include it anywhere, not sure.

When researching the bulb to use they said this one has the least amount of green in the spectrum for bulbs sold here in australia. I guess I will just have to wait and see how it goes. It does seem to be going on, except the big bushy fella, he gets algaeon him and I cannot really remove it easily because of his fine leaves... so i might lose that one I dunno, but he does have a lot of new growth thou.


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