Algae problems

[Plan-B]

I have three tanks that have been up and running for 4-5 months now. In all three tanks I see signs of brown algae and in the 15-gallon there is green algae (not cyanobacteria) growing on the fake plants near the surface. I would like to fix any water quality problems that cause this and also look at short-term cures.

Here is some tank info.

5.5-gallon
2 x 25W incandescent
1 x betta
Ammonia – 0
NitrIte – 0
NitrAte – <5
PH – 8
GH – 180
KH – 120

15-gallon tall
1 x 8W florescent
8 x neons
2 x albino corys
Ammonia – 0
NitrIte – 0
NitrAte – 5/10
PH – 8
GH – 180
KH – 110

90-gallon
1 x 32W florescent
2 x angles
Ammonia – 0
NitrIte – 0
NitrAte - <5
PH – 8
GH – 180
KH – 90

NOTE: Fake plants and gravel in all three. This was the first GH/KH I’ve taken so I’m not sure if the readings are stable but the rest seem to be. I do 20% water change and gravel vac every 8 to 10 days.

I really have no ideas on how to fix this long-term but for the short-term I am thinking of moving the corys to the 90 and then stocking all three tanks with a couple ottos. I’ve heard their fragile fish and really should be kept with live plants and I’m not sure how they would fair my water conditions. And then maybe plants might help. Anyone know of some nice looking, low light plants?

A month ago I had three nice, clean looking tanks and now I don’t. If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

 

[blue_ram]

What brand nitrate tester do you use? Some brand report nitrate as nitrate-nitrogen, rather than nitrate-ion. If so, your reading is off by a factor of 4.4; i.e. the actual nitrate present is 4.4 time greater than your reading. But, if your nitrate reading is correct, then adding plants may not do much for you.

Check your phosphate reading. Use Hagen, Hache, or Lamotte test kit for this. Hagen is much cheaper (~$8 vs. ~$50), and gives fairly accurate results. Check to make sure that phosphate is barely detectable (less than .5mg/L).

Also, how many hours do you have the lights on? Try to keep the lights on no more than 10 hours a day.

I really have no ideas on how to fix this long-term but for the short-term I am thinking of moving the corys to the 90 and then stocking all three tanks with a couple ottos. I’ve heard their fragile fish and really should be kept with live plants and I’m not sure how they would fair my water conditions.

Otos don't need live plants. They do need algae. I'm not sure how they will do in 5.5g, but they'll be fine in larger aquariums. Otos are pretty hardy...well, at least those that survive are. I usually lose about 1/3 of the otos that I buy in the first week. Those that survive are pretty hardy.

And then maybe plants might help. Anyone know of some nice looking, low light plants?

Even if you have a very bright room, I'm not sure any plants would survive in your 90g, except for Anubias Barteri. Java Fern may survive, if your room were bright enough.

The brown algae are really diatoms. They are found in low light, high silicate environment. For your 5.5g and 90g, try silicate removing resin as a temporary solution. Try it on the 5.5g first, to make sure that it works. You could also add otos to your 90g, but they won't/can't remove all the algae. Beside, they'll starve if they do!

For your 15g, try phosphate removing resin. You could also add Anubias, Java Fern, Crypt Wendtii, and Java Moss in conjunction with otos. But if you do add live plants, don't use phosphate removing resin!

 

[Angry_Platy]

Brown algae=not enough light.

Green algae=too much light.....

I had green algae in all my tanks....I also had the lights on from 7am to 10pm....15 hours....

I cut back my lighting to 8 hours a day in each tank.....did an algae scraping....that was 6 weeks ago...slight algae now but nowhere near as bad as what I would have had in just one week...

Thanks semper for helping me with that

 

[freddyk]

Yup, there is nothing wrong with your parameters, and Chooklet summed it all up with lighting.
Incandescent lighting is awful in the first place, and the others have very weak lighting, so healthy green algae won't grow so well. If you can add more lighting then the algae will grow green. Green algae is much easier to take care of with algae eating live stock, and doesn't look as bad where it does grow. I don't think you will have much luck with plants, as your lighting is quite weak

 

[sylvia]

Duck weed would grow But it floats and can be a pain in the @$$ to get rid of later...