Algae Problems

[mullit1978]

Hi all this is my first post on this forum! I have a new tank its a lifespace bow fronted smallish tank with 5 xray tetras, 1 target puffer, 1 albino loach, 1 small plec, 1 king tetra, 1 angel fish and a banjo catfish. the tank has now been running for around 3 weeks and there is an abundance of what i can only describe as brown stringy algae which seems to be starting life on almost any surface and the growing into a stringy mess. I have purchased the sucking loach as per advice from my pet shop and i have also time switched my light for a 12 on 12 off cycle. is there anything else i should be doing to get shot of this algae? my algae eaters are currently eating wafers, should i stop feeding them so they can eat the brown stuff?

 

[Mo_loves_fish]

first off you should have let you tank cycle, second there are many products out their that will help alage and they work, water changes also help alot

 

[Underwurlde]

Adding 'products' is not the answer IMO. They are only temporary cures and will not tackle the root problem, i.e. the cause of the algae.

useful stuff:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=106371
http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=211181

GL

Andy

 

[Spooky76]

Normally algae is caused by poorish water / rotting food / too much sunlight.

Is it in direct sunlight ? How long do you leave your light on ?

How often to you feed and what do you feed.

Personally, I would black out the tank for 24 hours and add a phosphate removing bag to the tank.

 

[shang hi]

firstly your your tank will still be cycling so dont be suprised if some of your fish just die. use a water testing kit (or get one from any good aquatic store for about £15/$20). algae is caused either because of too much sun light (keep light and sun light off the tank for a while, hold off the feeding for a few days). test the water for amonia, ph ect as your tank my spike with amonia, dont add any new fish for about 1 month.
now to keep control of the algae (do NOT use chemicles as they may harm your filter bacteria, as your tank will still be cycling this will be desarsteras for the inhabatense) a simple algae scraper for now could be helpful, regular 25% water changes every other day after scraping should do the trick for the algae.
a 10% water change daily should, i do say SHOULD keep amonia under control.
use http/www.nationalfishpharm.com will be of use aswell
hope this helps, and good luck with the fish

 

[Underwurlde]

I would not worry too much about cycling a tank with fish. Up until very recently this is what people did until the invention of fishless cycling. Now, since there is now knowledge that you can do this thing called fishless cycling, people then want to instantly abhor cycling with fish, but to be honest it can still be done and it can be done safely - all it means is that it is more work for you. People will also tell you that 'thou shalt have 0ppm levels of ammonia', however, if there are fish in the water then there will be ammonia in the water. Period. Unless you connect an ammonia removing pipe to their gills of course.

Cycling WITH fish:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355

Now to algae: The 'causes' of algae are many and varied, but I will say this: In isolation, algae is not caused by sunlight. It is not caused by phosphate. My tank has direct sunlight that I encourage and I actually add phosphates - I have no algae. My tank is planted. What enables algae (see the choice of words) is an excess of nutrients in the water. This must be so, because if there are no nutrients in the water then there would be no algae. Period. This is why people (myself included) advocate planted tanks - the plants suck up these nutrients and supress (for want of a better word) algae.

This does not mean that you have to have a planted tank to have an algae free tank, far from it. I would therefore make the assumption that the root of your algae is primarily the fact that the tank is not cycled yet and that the ammonia produced by your fish is not being filtered out yet by your immature filters. Ammonia is a very good source of nutrients - the excess nutreints I mention above. Again, as mentioned by other posters, food or more importantly rotting food is also another source of nutrients.

To this end then, get that filter cycled. Adopt a maintenance regime that includes regular gravel / sand / substrate vaccing (to remove fish food / poop).

Andy