Brown algae on glass ??

[WarDog]

Originally Posted by FishyFishy!

Id say for starters add a few more snails, clean the glass regularily and do a couple water changes to get those nitrates down a bit.

+1

I'd recommend Trochus snails, they do a somewhat decent job of the glass. Normally people have to clean the glass every 2 days or so to keep it sparkling clean... pretty normal. The Tunze glass cleaners are very good. I'd also recommend Salifert kits for Alk, NO3, CA, and Mg. A Hanna checker for PO4 will give you much more accuracy than Salifert, and that API kit will do just fine for Ammonia. I didn't even test for Nitrite after the cycle. Keep your lighting schedule at or under 10 hours a day. I also believe water changes of 10 - 20% every week, or 15 - 50% every 2 weeks is pretty standard and can do good. Opinions may vary, lol. Good luck.

[Animal-Chin]

Ya that glass algae is totally normal, just get a magnet cleaner and rub it off daily. I clean my glass every day after I feed. The only time I've never had some on my glass was when my tank went fallow for 2 months and I has no fish. My nitrates were at 0 and I didn't have a speck of algae, add a fish or two and back it comes.