How to Clean Brown Algae

When setting up an aquarium, it can take time for the water to reach the proper balance to sustain your fish and any other aquatic life. During the first few weeks of setting up an aquarium, you may notice a dark brown coating spreading across your aquarium glass and aquarium floor. These brown patches are brown algae, or diatoms, and require cleaning to remove.

  1. Causes

    • Brown algae can develop due to poor lighting and a buildup of silicates caused by using tap water high in silicate acid. Brown algae also can be produced due to low oxygen levels in aquarium water. An abundance of nutrients, which can build up in old water, can also lead to high brown algae production.

    Scraping

    • You can clean brown algae out of your aquarium by first transferring the fish and other plant life to another tank. Any large rocks or decorations should be removed and scrubbed with a small bristle brush and hot water. Drain the tank and use an aquarium scraper to scrape the brown algae from the glass.

    Vacuuming

    • Brown algae can accumulate in the gravel on the bottom of your aquarium tank. You can clean off the brown algae with an aquarium vacuum. Use the vacuum hose to suck up any brown algae in the gravel. Once you are sure all the brown algae at the bottom of the tank is removed, and all other traces of brown algae are gone, you can replace the cleaned rocks and decorations, refill the tank with water and return any fish and other aquatic life to the tank.

    Prevention

    • You can prevent the need for cleaning brown algae from your tank by changing 10 percent of your aquarium water on a weekly basis to maintain low levels of nutrients. Avoid overfeeding fish and other aquatic life, which can also raise nutrient levels. If you have fluorescent lighting beneath your aquarium hood, keep the light turned on for a maximum of 12 hours per day to keep brown algae production down. Add algae-eating fish to the aquarium water to keep brown algae from spreading. Check with your pet store when purchasing your algae-eating fish for ideas on the proper way to integrate your algae-eating fish into your aquarium.