algae explosion

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BigFishSmallPond

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Hello! =] bout 2 weeks ago my 45 gallon just suddenly got greener and greener til u couild barely see ANYTHING inside. Normally i do weekly water changes but since this has started i been doing them every three days or so. I have lots of rock in the tank (its an mbuna tank) and it had gotten quite green. I wasnt scrubbing it during water changes (this could be a lot of work) and the green only seemed to get worse. Yesterday i seperated my pregnant cichlid and did a HUGE water change. I pulled out most of the rocks and decorations. I cleaned out the intake of the filter and rinsed its sponge in tank water(it was DISGUSTING and turned the water DARK green) The water looks MUCH cleaner now and seems to be staying that way.(the next day). Now this only started occuring the last few weeks and the last few weeks it has gotten quite sunny (27 degrees +) and my living room probably starts to get light at 5-6 am. My lights are on at 8 off at 8. Duz this mean my tank is getting light from 5 or soin the morning to 8 at night? Is this the reason for my overgrowing tank? Perhaps should i set my timer for 6 am and go 6am-6pm? my other tanks that go on at 8-8 are all crystal clear and so was this one till recently. One is in a corner in my dining room and stays shady the other in my office/theater that stay dark ALL day(its the clearest of em all).

Thanks for any info u can provide. =]
 
The algae is probable bloomed because of all the light; i find if i put a towel over my main tank after i turn the lights off at night it stops the tank getting too much light in the morning and i've never had any algae since(last time i had it, it was a year ago), maybe you should try this? It'll help you keep a more accurate track on how much light the tank gets too.
 
thanks! ya thats what we've been doing now. But i was thinking if i cut the light to turn on at 6 instead it would "rise" with the sun and solve the issue. Then i would just put the towel on from like 6-8 when it gets dark. Fish tank doesnt look as good in the middle of the living room with a blanket draped over it. hehe But if thats what it takes...

-ak
 
Thats ok, glad to help :D its not a great idea i know but it does the job even if it means having a towel/blanket on your tank most of the time.
 
You might also want to rinse your filter media on a more regular basis (I do mine on each water change once a week) and make sure you clean the impeller as well.
 
just rinse the media in some syphoned tank water and it will be absolutely fine ;)
Edit: Ah, you mean changing the filter media altogether ? Depending on what type of filter you have, don't change all the media / sponges at the same time. Just do one part at a time.
 

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