Algae On Sand

[bullit]

As per title i have algae growing on the sand in my tank. My water is fine so the only thing i can put it down to is to much sunlight? Ive shortened the time the lights are on but its not really done much. Is it bad to have in the tank?

cheers

 

[chrisbassist]

Algae is more of an aesthetic thing. We get rid of it because we don't like the look. It grows because it will feed on the ammonia from the fish. So having it will mean the filter won't need to work so hard.

 

[bullit]

but i like the look of clean sand lol

 

[chrisbassist]

Yup, so you have a couple ofchoices.

Get somthing which will sift through the sand.

Change your vac technique.

 

[bullit]

it might help if i had a vac then lol. any recommendations?

edit. i suppose i can use my sypthon when doing water changes. is that what pretty much the vac is or are they electric?

 

[Ben M]

i had a sudden vision of a fish with a vacuum cleaner then. you can get electric or syphon gravel vacs. i prefer the manual (syphon) ones, as they can't go wrong. a manual gravel vac is just some tubing with a fat tube on the end for sucking up rubbish. if you make fast circles with the end of the vac about an inch above the sand then it should lift off the debris without taking up the sand. stirring the sand regularly should also prevent this problem. or you could get some Malaysian trumpet snails or corys to stir the sand up, but don't just get the fish for the job, you have to like them as well. if you'd like to get some corys, then if you post your stocking and tank size then we could tell you which species would be suitable.

cheers

 

[bullit]

heres the list buddy

2 x FM. male
1 x geo
1 x blue eyed
1 x chromide

hoplo catfish
Bristle nose
6 tiger barbs

I suppose my hoplo does some stirring. To be honest im quite new to the fish keeping and didnt realise that cleaning the substrate was part of the maintenance. Its been fine for since christmas and only recently its started to grow. Ill give it a go tomoz. cheers

 

[Ben M]

hi, i don't think corys would be suitable for your tank, as they are best not kept with cichlids. but you could get some Malaysian trumpet snails. mattlee is selling some ATM, see link: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/324899-mts-malaysian-trumpet-snails/.

i have bought some off someone on a different forum, and they should arrive tomorrow, so i'll let you know what i think of them. i've read that they're great for mixing the sand though.

 

[bullit]

Cheers buddy. Well i cleaned the sand and added some more aswell. Ill see how long it stays clean for.