Hi all
Am having issues with some stubborn algae in my african dwarf frog tank. It's a 6 and a bit gallon heavily planted tank with 3 ADF's and some neocaridina shrimp (maybe 10 max). They've been in here for coming up to a year and the algae issue started about 3 months ago?
It's that annoying string algae that seems to get everywhere. I use a toothbrush to manually remove from the glass, decor, and plants. I've tried blackouts for a week which help but then it comes back. I've tried Flourish Excel which helps but again it comes back. I don't overfeed the tank, the frogs get live food and I feed via a pipette so there's very little, if any, wastage. Feeding routine is usually 3 days followed by either 1 or 2 days of no food. I also don't supplement the shrimps diet given how much algae there is.
The tank was quite mulmy at one point so I vacuumed it thoroughly which helped but I can't seem to get rid of the algae completely.
Lights are routinely on for 7 hours a day if I'm not doing a blackout, and the tank is next to my other nano tank which gets no algae whatsoever! The light is the one that came with the tank (Superfish Quadro 40).
Maintenance routine is 70% water change every 7 days, that's also when I scrub everything to try and get rid of the algae.
I did wonder if perhaps lack of water circulation might be allowing the algae to thrive, as it's worse on the opposite corner to where the filter is. I didn't use the filter that came with the tank as the outlet is big enough for a frog to get sucked in so I didn’t trust it. The filter is actually rated for a 30g, I swapped it over when I downsized, and added some tubing on the outlet to calm the flow down. Without the tubing the frogs get blown around all over the place as it's so powerful so it's definitely needed.
I've attached some pics of it today, this is after a 4 day blackout and treatment with Flourish Excel. It's still hanging on stubbornly. Because the tank has amphibians I'm not sure about trying other chemical treatments, I've heard Flourish isn't even that good for them so I've been trying to avoid dosing as much as possible.
Just wondering if anyone has any other ideas? Would running an air pump in the worst-affected corner help?
Am having issues with some stubborn algae in my african dwarf frog tank. It's a 6 and a bit gallon heavily planted tank with 3 ADF's and some neocaridina shrimp (maybe 10 max). They've been in here for coming up to a year and the algae issue started about 3 months ago?
It's that annoying string algae that seems to get everywhere. I use a toothbrush to manually remove from the glass, decor, and plants. I've tried blackouts for a week which help but then it comes back. I've tried Flourish Excel which helps but again it comes back. I don't overfeed the tank, the frogs get live food and I feed via a pipette so there's very little, if any, wastage. Feeding routine is usually 3 days followed by either 1 or 2 days of no food. I also don't supplement the shrimps diet given how much algae there is.
The tank was quite mulmy at one point so I vacuumed it thoroughly which helped but I can't seem to get rid of the algae completely.
Lights are routinely on for 7 hours a day if I'm not doing a blackout, and the tank is next to my other nano tank which gets no algae whatsoever! The light is the one that came with the tank (Superfish Quadro 40).
Maintenance routine is 70% water change every 7 days, that's also when I scrub everything to try and get rid of the algae.
I did wonder if perhaps lack of water circulation might be allowing the algae to thrive, as it's worse on the opposite corner to where the filter is. I didn't use the filter that came with the tank as the outlet is big enough for a frog to get sucked in so I didn’t trust it. The filter is actually rated for a 30g, I swapped it over when I downsized, and added some tubing on the outlet to calm the flow down. Without the tubing the frogs get blown around all over the place as it's so powerful so it's definitely needed.
I've attached some pics of it today, this is after a 4 day blackout and treatment with Flourish Excel. It's still hanging on stubbornly. Because the tank has amphibians I'm not sure about trying other chemical treatments, I've heard Flourish isn't even that good for them so I've been trying to avoid dosing as much as possible.
Just wondering if anyone has any other ideas? Would running an air pump in the worst-affected corner help?
