Algae problems

[Great Cornholio]

Hello, fishy people!

Have pity on the poor newbie for a sec...

I'm resident in an office where we have a fish tank which is communally maintained. We have 8 fish of various types, with a few large snails and a plecko. The fish have been in the tank for about 5 months.

We have an out-of-water filter, setup so the intake to this filter is sealed to the tube of a gravel filter. In other words, the water for the out-of-water filter is sucked through the gravel, under the grate, up the tube, and in to the over-water filter.

One person feeds the fish once per day.

We have made the following mistakes that I know of:

• The filter for the over-water system wasn't rinsed properly when it was first inserted.
• Several 40-50% water changes were performed before we knew better.
• The fish were overfed, probably quite a lot, for the first 3 months.

These have all been fixed in the last month or so, but we still have a major algae issue. Within a week after a change, the water is so cloudy that you can't see more than 3 or 4 inches in to the tank.

We've heard to start over after bleaching the gravel and the filter and everything... this sounds drastic. What else could we try?

 

[gixer]

is the tank in direct sunlight?
how long do u have the lights on for?
whats your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?
whats are the fish?
whats size is the tank?
whats filtration do you have?


sorry for all the q's but will be able to help more knowing some more answers

 

[Great Cornholio]

* The tank is not in direct sunlight, but it is in a generally bright environment. The tank light is on for about 8 hours /day, but overhead flourescents are constantly on. We're considering a completely opaque lid... sound like a good idea?

* We just got a new measuring system... perhaps I'll be able to test later today and get some numbers.

* Frankly, I dont' know what kind of fish they are, although they all eat voraciously and get along well. If you can't tell, the tank was set up by one person, who has left. Now, some less knowledgeable people (me) are in charge, and are trying to learn a few things.

* The tank is 30 gal.

* The under-gravel filter is connected to an out of water filter on the back of the tank. It may be called the Milleneum 2000.