Algae help please

[TwoTankAmin49]

I used to do plastic and some silk plants for the 1st year I kept fish. Then I got into live plants. My plastic ones always got algae. I just pulled them out of the tank and into a bucket with 5% bleach and 95% water (a 1-19 ratio). I put the plants into the bucket of bleach water and let them six for about 2 maybe 3 minutes max. This will kill the algae but will not remove it.

After the bleach dip I rinse the plants in my tap water which is from my well so I never use dechlor in my tanks, but I do have some for specific uses. One of these is to add the dechlor to another bucket of clean water and give the bleached plants a dip in that after the rinse and I dip for at least 30 seconds. I overdose the dechlor.

Then the plants go back into the tank. I actually do this with live plants as well. However, not all plants can handle this. The more delicately leaved plants may not, so do a test dip and see how the plant does in the next day after putting back into the tank (after rinsing and dechloring it). I find that a 90 second dip for most plants is fine and, for those thicker leaved plants like anubias I will dip for 2 minutes or a tad longer. Too long in the bleach will harm or kill plants.

When I return the plants the algae has often turned grey. A lot of my fish will then eat it. If not. it comes off within a few days as it is dead.

 

[jigsyboy]

Does anyone on the forum have, or not have, a problem with algae on plastic plants. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Or perhaps someone knows of an easy clean solution for this.
I remove the plants and rocks, soak them in very hot water for a while and then literally spend hours scrubbing after which they still aren't fully clean. I really hate that part of the fishkeeping maintenance.
The fish are quite happy with the unsightly algae, I tolerate it to a greater extent than my wife, but I don't like my wife nagging me to clean the plants as I hate the job .
No suggestions about changing the wife please

Hello I’ve got a 64 litre tank and it is overstocked with all my baby guppy’s that keep appearing and I don’t have live plants just plastic ones and a few ornaments which are all plastic, I don’t have a uv filter just a normal one but what I have started to do is pull the curtains and just have my blue light on mostly and since I have done that and a really good clean of everything and a good water change, my algae bloom has virtually gone, I’m new to this but it’s definitely working and I’ve now got around 50 baby guppy’s and not one has been eaten

 

[jigsyboy]

Hello I’ve got a 64 litre tank and it is overstocked with all my baby guppy’s that keep appearing and I don’t have live plants just plastic ones and a few ornaments which are all plastic, I don’t have a uv filter just a normal one but what I have started to do is pull the curtains and just have my blue light on mostly and since I have done that and a really good clean of everything and a good water change, my algae bloom has virtually gone, I’m new to this but it’s definitely working and I’ve now got around 50 baby guppy’s and not one has been eaten

 

[jigsyboy]

Hi, I'm new to this forum but have been keeping tropical fish for over 15 years, though I'm no expert. For me, my 3 foot tank is a nice think to have in the lounge. I keep small community fish and my tank has a external biological filter which is well matured. I made an effort years ago to have live plants but I didn't do a great job and plants got eaten and looked a mess so I now have plastic plants and plastic rocks etc. These look fine when new, but after a several months they are covered in algae and look awful. I maintain the tank regularly and don't mind cleaning the glass and gravel, doing partial water changes and filter and washing out sections of the canister filter media as recommended in my books always leaving a section so I don't wash away all the beneficial bacteria. The tank runs fine and fish mostly seem to die of old age, and the water stays nicely clear. My only gripe is that the plastic plants and rocks soon look dark green with algae and it is time consuming to clean it off, and it is never a perfect job, and It gets expensive to regularly buy new plastic plants. I'm looking for advice as to whether I need to invest in a UV steriliser to at least cut down on cleaning/replacing plastic plants and rocks. If this might help then any suggestions on makes models wattage etc for my 120 litre tank would be very helpful,.
Thank you