Calling It A Day.

specks · Jan 16, 2006

Sorry for the double post, realised too late that I was in the catfish section instead of chit chat. Anyway I want to say thanks to the people here who have tried to help me & have posted answers to my questions. I have decided to give up on my tank as my algae problem just wont go away. I do not have the time needed to maintain my tank since this problem arrived. I spent several hours on Xmas day stripping the tank to get it looking clean again, the family were all enjoying themselves & I was up to my elbows in fishy water. It will be nice to have a bit more free time to myself but I will miss my little fishy friends, especially my corys. It will be good to have my bookcase back when I get to move the tank out.
Thanks again for all the advice.
specks.

:fish:

Ginge · Jan 16, 2006

specks said:
Sorry for the double post, realised too late that I was in the catfish section instead of chit chat. Anyway I want to say thanks to the people here who have tried to help me & have posted answers to my questions. I have decided to give up on my tank as my algae problem just wont go away. I do not have the time needed to maintain my tank since this problem arrived. I spent several hours on Xmas day stripping the tank to get it looking clean again, the family were all enjoying themselves & I was up to my elbows in fishy water. It will be nice to have a bit more free time to myself but I will miss my little fishy friends, especially my corys. It will be good to have my bookcase back when I get to move the tank out.
Thanks again for all the advice.
specks.

Bye specks have fun whatever you do ever think yo will get in the hobby again???

PlecMama · Jan 16, 2006

Aww don't go, just start again and try to get off to a good start. I know what you mean, we spend all our free time tending tanks, but I guess we'd only be sitting on the computers or in front of the TV if we weren't here.

gggooo · Jan 16, 2006

have u got a pleaco

timmystood · Jan 16, 2006

Why don't you move your tank to a darker place where algae will struggle to go???

DON'T GO!

specks · Jan 17, 2006

Its not practical to move the tank, its not in bright light now & in the summer months I left the blinds down during the day. The only darker place in the house would be the hallway & theres not enough room there.

No gggooo I do not have a pleco.

:fish:

Squid · Jan 17, 2006

You said in the other post about gardening.. yeeech.. i'd rather eat the algae myself than do any of that.

gggooo · Jan 17, 2006

specks said:
No gggooo I do not have a pleco.

thats all you need is a pleaco
:nod:

love_fish · Jan 17, 2006

Well, I dont know what size tank you have, but if you cant fit a bristlenose pleco, than go with otos. THey'll eat the algea right up, and love you for it too.

rdd1952 · Jan 17, 2006

Sorry to hear that your having such a problem and we would hate to see you give up. Have you identified the type algae you have? Certain types can be treated in different ways. The worst is blue green algae which isn't really an algae at all but a bacteria. It is the most dificult to get rid of but it can be done. A 3 day black out will usually rid the tank completely. That means covering the tank completely for 3 days so that it gets absolutely no light. Also I have heard that treating the tank with Maracyn (not Maracyn 2) will work too. I have used the black out method successfully. If may eventually come back though if you don't figure out what was causing it such as too much light (looks like from your older thread that's not the problem) or overfeeding (a major cause of algae).

If it's one of the other types, there is almost certainly an algae eater that will help clean it up. Siamese algae eaters, otos, amano shrimp and plecos all will do a good job depending once again on whet type algae it is. I hope you change you mind and maybe start over. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Discomafia · Jan 17, 2006

Is algae the only reason you are giving up the hobby? What is the size of your tank? Have you identified what sort of algae it is? How many watts of lighting do you have? What about plants, and planting density? How heavily is your tank planted? Do you use fertilizers? What about CO2? How many % w/c every week?

Try using a timer and changing your light period to 4 hours on/4 off/4 on or 5/2/5... The "siesta" theory has been proven effective in cutting down on algae, as the break seems to disrupt their growth, but not the plants. DIY CO2 isn't expensive, will take an hour the most to construct, and a few minutes every week to change the mixture.

If you add more fast growing plants, the algae will be at a disadvantage because of the lack of nutrients in the water. I'm sure that if your plants got less light, and more CO2, you'll see a change in the amount of algae noticed. If you try this for a month, more plants, less light and more C02, you won't be so quick to call it a day.

Don't give up this great hobby just because of algae. You could try keeping African cichlids, large/agressive S.A cichlids, or other fishes that just don't go well with plants.

specks · Jan 20, 2006

Sorry to have taken so long to reply to your suggestions, my internet has been down for a couple of days (again ). I phoned my internet supplier & told them to shove it where the sun dont shine & I signed up with another company ( cheaper too ).
Discomafia...My tank is a juwel Rio 180. It has the lights that were provided in the package. I have plastic & silk plants as I didn't have any luck with real ones & it was costing me a fortune to keep buying new. I normally do about 20% water changes although since the algae has been so bad I sometimes do larger ones. I did try a 4on...4off...4on with the lighting but it made no difference. I now leave them off while we are out during the day & have them on in the evenings. Dont fancy changing my fish, my son in law has cichlids & they dont do much for me. I prefer my cories & my very friendly mollies & platties.
rdd1952...I dont know what type of algae I have. I am going to give your blackout idea a go. What I have decided to do is blackout next Thurs, Fri & Saturday, then I will do a good clean up of the glass, gravel vac etc. on Sunday as I will have some free time then. Am cosidering ottos, I have already have some bottom dwellers ( 5 cories & 4 kuhli loaches ) so do you think this would be ok? How many would you suggest? I believe they like to be in groups.
Squid...I love gardening although it all looks neglected at the moment. All through the spring & summer of 2004 I was housebound & last summer I really didnt feel like tackling such a big clean up but I really cant wait to get going again now.

:fish: