Algae

[mickywelsh]

hey guys. I sent up a new tank about 3 weeks ago, and recently ive notcied ive got loads of algae al over the front of the gravel. on the glass its like green and brown smears, and on the gravel its like green hairs and in the corner of the glass, theres a kind of brown hair??

Any idea's how and why its there??

From what i think, its not in direct sunlight, its near a window but the actual sunlight doesnt come through onto the tank??

Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[MartinD]

This is relatively normal for new tanks. It looks gross, but usually clears up within a month or two.

Is your tank planted? What kind of light do you have for the tank?... and how long is it on for?
Try reducing the amount of time the light is on - this will 'starve' the algae and help to clear it up faster.

Also, a planted tank will help reduce the amount of algae you have. Also, if you're not stocked yet, try a UV light
for a few hours a day - this kills off the algae very very quickly. But don't do it if you have - it'll kill the fish very
quickly too!

HTH

 

[mickywelsh]

its not a planted tank, its got a few fake plants in, but no live ones.

i have a couple of platy's and danios in atm, and i normally have the light on from about 8am to 8-9pm, but im cutting this right down now.

if i cut the light down, will this get rid of the algae, or will i still have to do something with it to get it out?? or will it just disappear??

 

[smmetz]

new tanks often go through phases where they get cloudy or green water, and grow excess algae on surfaces. Sometimes they just pass. Sometimes people try different things to fix it.

Here is my 8 step checklist on controlling algae:
How to keep a tropical fish tank clear and clean looking:

1. Do not place the tank where direct sunlight will shine on it.

2. Do not over-feed your fish. They will be fine with 1-2 feedings per day. The food should be all gone in 2-3 minutes.

3. Do not put too many fish in your tank. If unsure, the rule of thumb for small freshwater fish is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water maximum.

4. Do not leave your tank light on too much. For best results, get a timer for $5, and set the light to come on for 4-5 hours in morning, off for at least a couple hours, and 4-5 hours on in the evening. Algae needs light for a few hours to start photosynthesis, while other plants in your tank start using light right away. This lighting schedule takes advantage of that.

5. Maintain your tank. I recommend taking out 15-20% of the water weekly, and adding new water. Vacuum your gravel while taking water out. Treat the new water so it does not contain chlorine.

6. Try adding live plants to your tank. They will compete with algae for nutrients, reducing the algae in the tank. However, you need LOTS of fast growing plants in the tank for this approach to work.

7. You can manually clean algae from the walls and surfaces in your tank. The glass walls should only need a wipe every couple weeks in a healthy tank. Some fish eat algae on surfaces, which could eliminate this task altogether. Beware, these fish will not help with green water. They may in fact contribute to that problem due to the waste the fish produce, which feeds algae.

8. If all above steps don’t clear your water within a couple weeks, you may consider buying a UV filter. This will kill all free floating bacteria and algae.


This assumes your tank is cycled also, meaning it has no ammonia in it. Algae can feed off of ammonia I think. If you are unsure what cycling is, here is an old post that explains it fairly well:
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099[/URL]

I have also tried using phosphate absorbing filter media with some success in cotrolling algae.

Good luck!

edit: I should add, if you are thinking about getting an algae eating fish, please research it first. The "common pleco" often seen in stores needs at least a 75 gallon tank at adult size. It is not right to put them in a 10 or 20 gallon and think they will be fine. Remember, these fish can live for 20 years and get 16-24 inches. Having one live 2-3 years, only getting to 5 inches, and saying it had a good life, is like saying my 12 year old son, so grew to almost 4 feet, living in a closet that had plenty of elbow room, had a good life. Extreme comparison I know, but I just wanted to get the point across.

Anyway, that said, some fish can do a great job eating up that algae. I recommend a bristlenose pleco, as long as your tank is 20+ gallons and would not be overstocked with that fish in it also.

 

[raptorrex]

new tanks often go through phases where they get cloudy or green water, and grow excess algae on surfaces. Sometimes they just pass. Sometimes people try different things to fix it.

Here is my 8 step checklist on controlling algae:
How to keep a tropical fish tank clear and clean looking:

1. Do not place the tank where direct sunlight will shine on it.

2. Do not over-feed your fish. They will be fine with 1-2 feedings per day. The food should be all gone in 2-3 minutes.

3. Do not put too many fish in your tank. If unsure, the rule of thumb for small freshwater fish is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water maximum.

4. Do not leave your tank light on too much. For best results, get a timer for $5, and set the light to come on for 4-5 hours in morning, off for at least a couple hours, and 4-5 hours on in the evening. Algae needs light for a few hours to start photosynthesis, while other plants in your tank start using light right away. This lighting schedule takes advantage of that.

5. Maintain your tank. I recommend taking out 15-20% of the water weekly, and adding new water. Vacuum your gravel while taking water out. Treat the new water so it does not contain chlorine.

6. Try adding live plants to your tank. They will compete with algae for nutrients, reducing the algae in the tank. However, you need LOTS of fast growing plants in the tank for this approach to work.

7. You can manually clean algae from the walls and surfaces in your tank. The glass walls should only need a wipe every couple weeks in a healthy tank. Some fish eat algae on surfaces, which could eliminate this task altogether. Beware, these fish will not help with green water. They may in fact contribute to that problem due to the waste the fish produce, which feeds algae.

8. If all above steps don’t clear your water within a couple weeks, you may consider buying a UV filter. This will kill all free floating bacteria and algae.


This assumes your tank is cycled also, meaning it has no ammonia in it. Algae can feed off of ammonia I think. If you are unsure what cycling is, here is an old post that explains it fairly well:
<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/Tropical-Chat/10099/http-www-fishforums-net-index-php-showtopic-10099/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/Tropical-Chat/10099/http-www-fishforums-net-index-php-showtopic-10099/</a>

I have also tried using phosphate absorbing filter media with some success in cotrolling algae.

Good luck!

edit: I should add, if you are thinking about getting an algae eating fish, please research it first. The "common pleco" often seen in stores needs at least a 75 gallon tank at adult size. It is not right to put them in a 10 or 20 gallon and think they will be fine. Remember, these fish can live for 20 years and get 16-24 inches. Having one live 2-3 years, only getting to 5 inches, and saying it had a good life, is like saying my 12 year old son, so grew to almost 4 feet, living in a closet that had plenty of elbow room, had a good life. Extreme comparison I know, but I just wanted to get the point across.

Anyway, that said, some fish can do a great job eating up that algae. I recommend a bristlenose pleco, as long as your tank is 20+ gallons and would not be overstocked with that fish in it also.

top post, imho

 

[mickywelsh]

when you say in direct sunlight, its opposite my window, but the actual sunlight doesnt get to it, if you know what i mean, its in my bedroom at the back of the house and the sun is round the front of the house all day and the blinds are normally closed when it comes down out the back???

 

[raptorrex]

when you say in direct sunlight, its opposite my window, but the actual sunlight doesnt get to it, if you know what i mean, its in my bedroom at the back of the house and the sun is round the front of the house all day and the blinds are normally closed when it comes down out the back???

lol my newt tank never gets direct sunlight, but i still have algae problems.

 

[aaronnorth]

Brown algae is foud in new set-ups,

usually other forms of algae is caused by

high light,
too many nutrients
high phospates
low/ fluctuating co2

have a look at this ALGAE GUIDE

 

[Dave Spencer]

That was a pretty good post IMO too, smmetz, but I would like to take up on one of your points.

4. Do not leave your tank light on too much. For best results, get a timer for $5, and set the light to come on for 4-5 hours in morning, off for at least a couple hours, and 4-5 hours on in the evening. Algae needs light for a few hours to start photosynthesis, while other plants in your tank start using light right away. This lighting schedule takes advantage of that.

Algae is faster reacting than plants to any kind of fluctuations, including light. Algae is first to pearl when the lights are switched on, so this method is giving algae two head starts. Here are some more thoughts on the subject of a light break:

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Scientif...Lighting-Algae/

Aaron, you have given your thoughts on the causes of algae, but then linked to JamesC`s excellent algae article which does not support anything you say.

New tanks will generally see an ammonia spike that triggers the algae. Quite often, as mentioned, once the tank is cycled the algae may go of its own accord due to the conditions no longer being to its liking, but once it has bloomed, action normally needs to be taken to remove it. The brown diatoms often appear in new set ups. This could be due to silica leachates from the tank silicon sealant, new tank glass or substrate, to name some likely sources. Brown diatoms make themselves a nice little silica shell, so the early presence of silica may well encourage their growth. I recently added some more sand to an already established, 99.9% algae free tank, and saw some brown algae appear in that tank for the first time since it first few weeks of being set up.

Fortunately, brown diatoms are easy to remove with a little elbow grease and patience.

The green stuff that covers the glass lives something like a six week cycle, during which you may get a thick band of the stuff that eventually obscures your view in to the tank. If you have the patience to leave it, which isn`t easy to do, you will notice that it eventually starts to disappear of its own accord. Once it has mostly all gone, and only a small amount persists, wipe it all off and carry out a major water change. You should then find you can go weeks on end without having to wipe the glass. I have used this method successfully, twice.

When thinking of the causes of algae, think of:

Light
CO2
Ammonia

Dave.

 

[aaronnorth]

Aaron, you have given your thoughts on the causes of algae, but then linked to JamesC`s excellent algae article which does not support anything you say.

I just gave the link, didn't look at it fully

 

[Dave Spencer]

No worries, Aaron. It is a good algae guide to link to, IMO.

Dave.

 

[aaronnorth]

No worries, Aaron. It is a good algae guide to link to, IMO.

Dave.

I've just added it to my sig, i often reccomend it, it will be quicker in future & hopefully helpful to people looking at it.

 

[smmetz]

Dave Spencer, thanks for the education on the merits of having the lights off for a few hours. I will modify my list of recommendations accordingly.

Also, about the sunlight - I did mean the light shining directly through the window into the tank. I think indirect sunlight, like you described (mickeywelsh), will not have nearly as much affect on the algae.

 

[mickywelsh]

I think indirect sunlight, like you described (mickeywelsh), will not have nearly as much affect on the algae.

thanks for that smmetz.