zalisfishies
New Member
Help!
Brown āalgaeā everywhere
I went away for a few weeks, with my tank in good condition, and since Iāve been back (2 weeks), I have not been able to get this sudden āalgaeā problem under control (idk if itās algae or not).
I have done 3 50% water changes since Iāve been back, trying to suck as much of it up as possible, and also cleaned all of the filter material & replaced the sponges. It seems like no matter how much I clean its just everywhere again right away.
I only cleaned it yesterday and itās everywhere!?
- I have reduced the light from 10 hours to 7 hours a day, which has made not difference.
- I have not been putting any liquid fertiliser in the water when Iāve done these 3 water changes.
- Nitrate levels are at 20ppm, which is high but thats what theyāve been consistently for over a year - never had this problem before.
- 0ppm Ammonia
- 0ppm Nitrite
- 20ppm gh
- The filter is running on the strongest setting - you can see in one of the photos how many particles are in the water where the filter water is pushing them around.
- Iāve had this tank for over a year, so itās not a cycling issue.
Only thing I can think of is:
Iāve had consistently low ph (5.5) and 0kh for around 6 months now.. the fish all seemed happy so i havent done anything drastic to raise it - Iāve been adding some sodium bicarbonate every water change to keep it from dropping lower, but have been scared to put too much in, so it hasnāt actually raised the kh or ph levels.
My plants are all looking terrible now, presumably because of not getting enough light from being covered in this dusty algae.
Please if you have any suggestions let me know! Itās ugly af and Iām scared itās bad for the fish with how much is in the water.
Brown āalgaeā everywhere
I went away for a few weeks, with my tank in good condition, and since Iāve been back (2 weeks), I have not been able to get this sudden āalgaeā problem under control (idk if itās algae or not).
I have done 3 50% water changes since Iāve been back, trying to suck as much of it up as possible, and also cleaned all of the filter material & replaced the sponges. It seems like no matter how much I clean its just everywhere again right away.
I only cleaned it yesterday and itās everywhere!?
- I have reduced the light from 10 hours to 7 hours a day, which has made not difference.
- I have not been putting any liquid fertiliser in the water when Iāve done these 3 water changes.
- Nitrate levels are at 20ppm, which is high but thats what theyāve been consistently for over a year - never had this problem before.
- 0ppm Ammonia
- 0ppm Nitrite
- 20ppm gh
- The filter is running on the strongest setting - you can see in one of the photos how many particles are in the water where the filter water is pushing them around.
- Iāve had this tank for over a year, so itās not a cycling issue.
Only thing I can think of is:
Iāve had consistently low ph (5.5) and 0kh for around 6 months now.. the fish all seemed happy so i havent done anything drastic to raise it - Iāve been adding some sodium bicarbonate every water change to keep it from dropping lower, but have been scared to put too much in, so it hasnāt actually raised the kh or ph levels.
My plants are all looking terrible now, presumably because of not getting enough light from being covered in this dusty algae.
Please if you have any suggestions let me know! Itās ugly af and Iām scared itās bad for the fish with how much is in the water.