Algae in fish tank

Buffythedebtslayer

Its driving me nuts. I think its called hair algae. does any one have any suggestions regarding cures?

Currently I have tried, leaving the lights most of the day, only feeding every second day, binned all the manky plants and restarting the tank with new plants(whislt taking care of the water chemisty) I also do 10% water changes. the water tests all come up ok

this has been going on since Christmas.

The two tanks downstairs are a 25G (two clown loaches, 2 key hole cichlids, some neons, 6 guppies two baby bn's to eat the algae!!) 20 G (six harlequins, six lemon tetras)


What I don't get is i have a 35G upstairs with four goldfish and a full grown BN- not the best set I know but they have no aglae and perfect water (regular 20% wc since I feel they are overstocked, I do think the 25G is over stocked also but the water tests don't show any problems)

the fish are all good, its just the tanks look awful. So any algae cures?

thanks
Buffy

lottylouj

are the tanks downstairs near any direct sun light? as this can increase algae growth.

Misty_Blue

lottylouj wrote: »

have you thought about buying a plec that eats the algae?

There are already two in the tank. :eek: Plecs don't touch hair algae generally, however.

Buffy - Is it the green, filamentous algae, or the black brush stuff?

Try decreasing the photo-period for longer, if you see what I mean. If it's the black brush algae you may need to do a full black out for several days.

Do you add CO2 for the plants? What results do you get for nitrite and nitrate?

Buffythedebtslayer

Its the horrible green stuff (I had the black stuff once *shudders* )

the one with the worst algae had three sides covered up.

Could I put a towel over it to completely black it out?

I will do my tests thursday night but they are always the palest colour on the test iyswim. even with the algae, neither tank is heavily planted - I don't add CO2 I probably should since my sword plants are disaster.

thanks for the prompt reply.

xx

Misty_Blue

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

Could I put a towel over it to completely black it out?

Black binliners work very well.

Chances are that there's a nutrient imbalance in the tank - high phosphates or nitrates perhaps. the plants that are there obviously aren't able to outcompete the algae. Adding more plants, especially very quick growing ones like hornwort or elodea will help. Also increasing the frequency and volume of the water changes (especially in view of the overstocking) should help.

Good luck. Algae is a nightmare, but you can get it under control.

robert_harper_2000

If the lights are over 12 months old they can lose the 'good' spectrum and it may be worth while changing them. It is usually down to too much light, as suggested are they in sunlight during the day - could you pull a curtain? Do you have the lights on all day and all evening? Try sticking them on in the evening. I think Cleanwater or sth is quite good at absorbing all the stuff algae lives off and can help reduce it but you may need to clean it off before and it should keep it down - if that makes sense lol

samanimals

How often do you fully clean out your tank .I have a tank with five large goldfish but still fully clean it out once a week .

Froglet

Sorry but you should NEVER clean out you tank fully.Even using dechlorinator,as you should,of course,it is way too much of a change in water chemistry and will shock the fish.Gravel cleaners take care of the rubbish in the substrate.Unless you have a bad ammonia or nitrate spike,in which case up to 50% is ok,you should be doing about 20% at a time.

I would suggest,Buffy that you do more than 10% at a time as your tanks are definitely overstocked.Plenty of plants as suggested too.Your 2 clowns should be in at least a 60 gallon tank,and more as they grow,mine are in a 4 ft tank and getting HUGE!!

For more help try here,a fantastic site,friendly people,and briliant advice

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/forum/index.php

ginvzt

Have you thought of getting Siamese algae eater? He did help our tank when we had problem with hair algae! We also got Rowa-phos product, that removes phosphate. We did manage to get rid of it in the end!!!!

Also, while cleaning tanks, I noticed that if you take out the plant from the water and let the algae dry out for a bit, once the plant got put back in the water, the algae turned pinkish ancd died off. (Unless your hair algae is different to mine!) Of course, the nutrients were released back to the water, so frequent water changes are needed. How about a bucket every night? Doesn't take long, but helps to cope with the problem. Also, remove all you can by hand, as when it dies the nutreints leak and feed the rest of it!

Oh, and we don't have lights on for more than 10-12 hours a day (couple of hours in the morning before we go to work and once we are back until we go to sleep). Lights are on the timer, so come on at the same time every day.

robert_harper_2000

timers are excellent and doing what you do on for a bit off for a bit then back on is the best way of doing it. Algae loves continious light

samanimals

I see what you mean froglet thanks but for me Gravel cleaners dont clean it well enough and i dont like to mix old water with fresh .It has not done my fish any harm as i have had them for years .

But i do agree with what your saying 50/50 is the best way its just my tank will not stay clean for some reason .Thanks