My tank is 3 weeks old and I have some anacharis, anubias, java fern,
african fern, and an amazon sword in there. Over the past few days I've
noticed a brown algae explosion. It's everywhere, on the gravel, glass, and
on the plant leaves now. Also the amazon sword is starting to wither. I
cleaned the glass but I don't know what to do about the coverage on the
leaves.

Will the problem go away once my tank fully cycles? Should I get algae
eating fish?

Tank is 26gallons, and I have a 15W fluorescent. It's probably inadequate,
can I just swap out the bulb with a higher wattage one or do I need a new
light thingy altogether?

Thanks if you can answer any of my questions.

-Iman

Iman Mostafavi wrote
Tank is 26gallons, and I have a 15W fluorescent. It's probably
inadequate...

Correct, you need more light. I'm trying to remember the dimensions on a 26
gallon... is that 30" or 36" long? Either way, upgrading to a twin strip
standard fluorescent still wouldn't get you the light you need. A 55 watt
compact fluorescent would be fine for the plants you have now if you want a
fairly low maintenance tank. If the tank is 36" long, you might want to
consider a 96 watt compact fluorescent.

kush

You probably don't have enough light to grow Amazon swords or anacharis. The
java fern and anubias will be fine, and probably the African fern will be okay,
too.

As for the algae...after your tank cycles, get three otocinclus. They'll take
care of it. It's common for new tanks to go through a stage where the brown
algae takes over, and it will probably go away on its own. But it's good to
have a few algae-eaters in a planted tank, and otos are small - perfect for a
26 gallon tank.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/