Algae

[tzimpfer]

Ok, sorry if this is basic but why do i have so much algae growing in my tank? I have some long flowing green algae forming on my fake plants and a lot of green algae forming on my rock and wood. In my tank currently i have 2 golden German rams, 1 powder blue gourami, and a bristle nose pleco. My tank is 29 gallows and my current temp is 82. My ph is at 7.6, ammonia, nitrate, and nitirtes are at 0. Any advice is very much appreciated.

 

[MegaZerino]

Ok, sorry if this is basic but why do i have so much algae growing in my tank? I have some long flowing green algae forming on my fake plants and a lot of green algae forming on my rock and wood. In my tank currently i have 2 golden German rams, 1 powder blue gourami, and a bristle nose pleco. My tank is 29 gallows and my current temp is 82. My ph is at 7.6, ammonia, nitrate, and nitirtes are at 0. Any advice is very much appreciated.

it could be that your leaving the light on too much, and with that kind of algae the only thing you can do is keep pulling as much of it out the tank as you can each time you see it and eventually it will just vanish and stop growing

 

[Fishy friend2]

Algae usually thrives in high light, and nutrient rich water so if you have you light on longer than 10 hours a day and don't have any live plants then you are most likely going to get excess amounts of algae

 

[cynic]

I would check that nitrate figure as i doubt its 0 and if you have fillament algae (the long stuff) you have co2 and nitrate issues. Its also a cow to get rid of.

I'm surprised the plec isn't eating his fill of the normal algae unless your overfeeding, again a popular algae cause (esp the long stuff)

Finally does the tank get a lot of strong natural light?

 

[tzimpfer]

Thanks for all the replies. The pleco is new and avoids my plants, just eats off the glass. This is the first week since my tank has been up (8 weeks) that my water levels have been decent but the algae just suddenly came on. My tank does not get any direct natural light but i do leave my light on for 12 hours.

What does it mean that it is a cow to get rid of?

 

[Fishy friend2]

12 hours is a bit too much and I would recommend that you have it on for more like 8 hours

 

[cynic]

Thanks for all the replies. The pleco is new and avoids my plants, just eats off the glass. This is the first week since my tank has been up (8 weeks) that my water levels have been decent but the algae just suddenly came on. My tank does not get any direct natural light but i do leave my light on for 12 hours.

What does it mean that it is a cow to get rid of?

If you don't cure the cause you will never be rid of it because even the tinyest piece can start again. Even then it is resiliant, something living at extreems always is.

 

[Jammiedodger]

It's called hair algae, if the plec doesn't get it I used to remove it by getting a long, thin stick and twirling it until it came loose

 

[Fishy friend2]

a stick will not help on newly developed hair algae mate

 

[Jammiedodger]

Don't knock it til' you've tried it ;-) I'm not saying it will solve a permanent problem, it's just easy to do to remove the bulk of it, don't want it clogging filter intakes or anything.

 

[Fishy friend2]

ive tried it..... it doesnt work

 

[Jammiedodger]

At the risk of going off topic..... so have I, and it did get rid of some large clumps Anyway, enough said, this is a pointless debate.