Brownish colour on the subrate

[wktay]

Hey, two days ago, I pour some trace element, liquid iron and fertilizer in my two feet tank.

Now, the subsrate ("soil")is half covered with brownish ???. Not sure if it is alage.

Can anyone help? if it is alage, is there any alage eater which can control this brownish alage?

[Allen_1971]

If it is brown algae, try using Otos... they are quite good at removing that...

[tawauboy]

----------------
Hey, two days ago, I pour some trace element, liquid iron and fertilizer in my two feet tank.
----------------

when you say pour, can you quantify 'pour'.

[wktay]

Pour: 5ml of each solution

[tawauboy]

are you dosing based on instructions given?
what is your tank size and available lighting?

[wktay]

Yes, but add a bit more only

It is a 2 feet tank with 36W PL.

Lighting from 12pm-4pm, 6pm-10pm.

In the tank, there are 3 otos, but not eating brown stuff...

[vinz]

How old is your tank? And how much plants do you have?

The instructions on the bottles generally assume you have certain amount of plants and that the tank is mature and stable.

Newly planted plants take some time to get up to speed, from a few days up to a few weeks.

Tanks with more plants need more fert, less plants, less fert.

Start with a lower dosage, as low as half the recommended dosage. See how the tank responds (i.e. plants grow better? any new algae, etc). Adjust accordingly.

I find that sometimes the brown stuff come in when there's excess iron. Stop or reduce the iron for now, especially if your normal fert already has some iron in it. What fert brand are you using anyway?

[TTL]

My 2ft used to hv this brown algae which is a BIG headache, till I had to tear down the tank and thrown away the plants.

Now I adopt a policy is to add drops of fertiliser aft water change lesser then the instruction & when the plants show sign of weakening.

the only way maybe is to adopt a 3day lights off period and hv a good scrab, the brown stuff will spread in due course. After the scrab, increase another 36W of light.

Afterall I think brown algae is due to water rich in nutrients but not enough lights for the plants to eat it.?[]