What causes brown algae?

[MikeInOrlando]

I have a very manageable algae problem, although I'm starting to get more and more small appearances of brown algae on my fake plants and on the glass surface of my tank. I had been putting off adding a pair of otos to my tank because, quite frankly, I was concerned that there wasn't enough algae to feed them, but I am seeing more and more of it, though I think it's still fairly manageable.

Thus, my question is two-fold.

One, what causes this stuff? I try to control my lighting, but with my work schedule, it's not entirely feasible. More often than not, I just let them go "au naturel" with the lighting. By this, I mean I have to flip the coin on whether when I go to work all day that I leave the light on the entire time, or, try to keep it more natural by just letting the light and dark of the room be what lights them. I choose the latter more often than not, so I'm not sure if that's what's causing this.

Two, is now a good time to add the otos, or do I still face the prospect of adding them and then starving them out? I'm getting it in small spots and on my fake plants, but not a WHOLE lot, that I can see, anyway.

 

[hitman12131976]

The algae could be a result of lights being on too long. But from what you say, you don't do this. The Otto's will eat the stuff, but if you don't have enough algae around, make sure you drop in an algae wafer every other night. I also give my Otto's a veggie every week. They seem to like that. Zucchini is their favorite.

 

[lucky777ca]

The brown algae (diatoms) is caused by the presence of silicates, in newly set-up tanks. In established tanks, this is often caused by nutrient-rich, low-light environments. Due to its ability to grow in low-light conditions, it is able to compete with the green algae that is normally seen in well-lit tanks.

Probably this is the cause the brown algae in your tank as you say that you leave the lights off and let the ambient light illuminate the tank.

If there is a problem with the nutrients, I would look into finding out what is causing this problem. I suggest to increase the frequency of water changes in order to reduce the nutrients in the water.

Increasing the lighting in the set-up would also remove the brown algae, but if there is a problem with nitrogenous wastes and phosphates in the water, it would also mean that there would be an increase in the growth of green algae.