Brown Algae all over plants

[Bur01014]

So just started a small 10 gallon planted tank. It has been running for 3 weeks now. It is using an already cycled filter. Anyways, i thought my plants were turning brown and dying.....I started rubbing them and the brown crap just came right off. I assume this is new tank sydrome stuff....is the brown algae going to kill my plants? Should i keep rubbing it off them or is that damaging the plants? People say it should go away on its own, but does that mean I don't need to clean it off glass and plants and just wait it out? Input would be appreciated!

[rookie]

grab a bn pleco i know they love algae i dont see why brown algae would be diffrent.

[Taurus]

It's probably diatoms. An Oto catfish would be a more suitable size for a 10 gallon.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/catfish/otocat.php

:22:

[rookie]

thanks for pointing that out taurus forgot it was a 10g

[Bur01014]

okay, lets say I don't want to add any more fish.....scrub it? wait it out? are plants being killed? add something to the water table?

I was thinking about throwing my bn pleco from my 55 in there and let him have an hour or two lunch break....or stay in it over night....

[Lab_Rat]

Brown algae is not a big deal, I just wipe it off my plants. It will go away once the tank is more established. My 29g is just starting to enter the brown algae phase. Not pretty but not as bad as a lot of other types of algae.

[EddyC]

Otos are definitely the best way to get rid of brown algae. If you don't wanna add any more fish though, just continue to GENTLY rub the algae off. If it is only diatoms (look for pics online to be sure), they'll kill themselves off when they use up all the silica in the water. Do you have sand? Diatoms tend to be more common when sand is used (sand contains a lot of silica).

As long as your plants are still growing and don't seem to be getting soggy or turning brown, they'll probably survive. Just do more frequent water changes and manually remove the accumulated algae until it runs its course.

[Lady Hobbs]

I hate that stuff! I had it all over my plants, too, and spent a couple hours a week cleaning off the leaves. It's annoying as heck but it does go away.

[Sharon]

I think we've all had it. I wiped it off, as I just couldn't stand to look at it! It won't hurt your plants though...

[DrNic]

It doesn't hurt the plants directly, but it does block the light to the plants so it can eventually kill the plants after a long exposure. An algae eater like a pleco, or oto will help. You could also try gouramis or plattys which are algae eaters as well.