First off, I am new to fish keeping. I never thought it would be so fun and rewarding! I started with a ten Gallon tank for three little Goldfish, but have recently moved them into a thirty Gallon tank. What great personalities they have! Anyway, I am starting to get a build up of Brown Algae on the filter, fake plants and aquarium glass. I bought an algae scrubber for the glass, but how do I get it off the plants and filter? I perform weekly 10-15% water changes with treated water and aquarium salt. I have been feeding store-bought flakes and pellets, with the occassional freeze-dried Brine Shrimp and Peas. I just placed an order for Pro-Gold pellets and Krill. Just wanted some input on cleaning the algae, and feeding tips. Generally, I feed twice a day (flakes and pellets), substituting with the shrimp and peas about once or twice a week. I never thought I would have interest in Fish, but in my opinion, Goldfish are great pets. I look forward to seeing them after work and at night! Also, I keep the aqaurium lights on a timer for 8 hours a day, and an air pump with a bubble strip (not sure if that is the correct terminology) constantly. Thank you in advance!

Goldies are a surprisingly nice hobby.

My goldies eat the brown algae off the bottom and decorations in their tank.

I'm trying to get brown and green algae to grow and cover one side wall of the tank.

What's your filtration. I noted when I went to food with higher food value, like pro-gold that the nitrates go up very quickly. I do a 50% or more water change twice a week now with three goldies in a 30 Gal tank.

Maybe a hydrogen peroxide soak of the plastic plants would clean them. Just a thought.

Welcome to Koko's!

Hi! I too get a fair bit of brown algae in my tank - the scrubber works well for the glass, but i find that evry other week i just have to take all the fake plants out and give them a good scrub. a toothbrush works suprisingly well! same for the outside of my filters. things that can affect brown algae groth are not enough light, and too many nitrates, so that might be something worth looking at to try and reduce its growth. i think it's an ongoing battle in my opinion!!

An ordinary paper towel will remove the brown i keep the green algae though it is a good biological filtration system and it provides a snack for the fish.

I will try the toothbrush and hydrogen peroxide. I test my water weekly, and all of my readings are good.

I also just scrub the brown algae off the decorations in my goldie tank. But for smaller pieces, I put them in my shrimp tank that also contains 2 otos. It is amazing that overnight, the decorations that I drop in are picked clean of all traces of brown algae, and the shrimp and otos had a grand feast!!

My filter is a Tertra Whisper. What else can I do to keep them healthy and happy?