Algae Taking Over My Tank!

[MHunt]

Getting rid of algae is a bit of a black art. Most algae is caused by an excess of nutrients, nitrate mainly, but posphates and excess lighting can cause algae blooms. I've had tanks that were infested with algae, for it to simply disappear, well balanced tanks eventually get to a state where algae simply isn't produced. There are loads of suggestions above for getting rid of it, manual scraping is the simplest, I believe the CAE is an algae eater in name only and doesn't actually do that well against algae. Plecs are good, BN's are smallish and are pretty good at clearing algae. shrimps are better at clearing hair algae.

Of course the best solution is to to find the cause and try and eliminate that first.

 

[21rm]

hey all as ive said above i've had this exact same long stringy algae in one of my tanks, and i treat this tank no differently to my others. the only difference is the fact that this tank doesnt have a proper flouresent light like the rest of my tanks. I have to use an ordinary desk lamp to light it. I said earlier in this post that the agae hasnt been there for ahwile and just while writin this i remembered that i changed lights a couple weeks ago on the lamp when bulb blew. the lap used a normal bulb, but now i one of them eco energy efficient lights in it, and no algae.
the lighting was def to blame for the algae, as the algae only grew on the side of the tank that the lamp was placed, and this was true when i moved the lamp to the opposite site of tank

 

[Truck]

and also if your using the wrong spectrum of lighting for what you need, that can encourage algae growth.

as has been said

excess:
nitrates
phosphorous
and light are the main contributors to algae

 

[eggy]

half the tank is now clean but the purple waffle is going to die if i don't take it out (purple waffle is a Amphibious plant which are usually sold in pet shops not sold as an amphibious plant so poeple just keep comin back for more cuase thay can't understand why there plant keeps dying!).

 

[Truck]

Never even heard of it! i doubt its aquatic

 

[eggy]

it's not aquatic but can be used in fish tanks for about a week and i take out for the week-ends and then re-plant it in the tank the next week.

 

[Truck]

it will rot, cause ammonia spikes etc, so why put it in if not aquatic, seems like common sense to me

 

[21rm]

I just googled that purple waffle, and got a few sites bout it. it was described as bein a land plant sometimes sold as aquatic. The sites showed a range of plants that are completely terrestrial, being sold as aquatic in some stores. Makes you wonder how some stores actually have business lol

 

[eggy]

i didn't know it wasn't aquatic what i bought it, know every time i see it being sold in stores i say extremely loudly "these smart money hungry theives are pretty smart trying to sell this rubbish, it isn't even aquatic!!!" just so EVERYONE can hear me.

 

[21rm]

LOL

 

[Dave Spencer]

and also if your using the wrong spectrum of lighting for what you need, that can encourage algae growth.

as has been said

excess:
nitrates
phosphorous
and light are the main contributors to algae

Have a read of the Estimative Index sticky in the planted forum.

Dave.

 

[eggy]

thanks dave i'll probably get a new light for my tank and not a desktop lamp with an 40 watt bulb!


and i'll get som cheap curtins to fix the sun problem

 

[Dave Spencer]

Hopefully, you now realise that excess nitrates and phosphates do not cause algae. I would look at a carbon deficiency/instability. If you have a small tank, try dosing Flourish Excel or easycarbo as a form of organic carbon.

Dave.

 

[eggy]

dave, could these products you speak of at all harm my fish?

anyway my filter has been upgraded to a much better model and the airation is amazing! (though i had to move my goldfish cuase it has an air bladder problem and wasn't doing to well with the strong currunt)

 

[waterdrop]

No, when used in the kind of amounts recommended by the manufacturer or for discouraging algae as sometimes discussed in the planted tank forum, liquid carbons will not harm your fish.

~~waterdrop~~