CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Basically all of my green plastic plants have started getting brown discoloration starting at the highest tip and gradually working down. How do I clean this stuff off. It's not soft like green algae, it's hard, you can't scrap it off.

it could either be brown algae or if its hard and doesnt come off the plants actually may be deteriorating. i know you said they were plastic but it is possible. i only have one tank with plastic plants in it and i never had a problem but the couple of small algae eaters are always attached to them so i would have to think they are keeping them clean.

It is brown algae. do you have any ideas as to what to do? It's really starting to spread..............

it all depends on what you have in the tank currently. i actually started to get alot of algae growth in my 15 gallon tank on the plants so i purchased a pair of otocinclus(sp?) also called dwarf sucker catfish. they are constantly attached to the plants and they are clean as can be now. they only grow to around 2 inches though so depending on what fish are in the tank that might not work. you may want to try a product called algae destroyer from your lfs. here in illinois both petsmart and petco carry it and after a few treatments it seems to clean up most of the algae.