Damn Damn Damn Green Algea

[The_Priest]

I have a beautiful frontosa setup, i absolutely adore my fish and my tank, the only thing that detracts is the horrible smear type patterns that appear on the inside of the glass and the amount of algae on the glass surfaces. Rocks and decor dont appear to be affected that badly, i have no idea what to do, ive got algae eating plecos in and they dont seem to affect it in anyway, i clean it off and in a day or 2 its back.
My water clarity and my water paremeters are spot on and it is quite a mature tank, i also seem to have alot of sediment build up too, my phosphate levels are high and i have tried to use RO water, which is ok providing i do it every other day which destabilises the tank paremeters, i do not overfeed my fish , i have a good rena filstar external filter which in the past i have stuffed full of phosphate trappers but to no avail, i have no idea where it comes from, my lighing is only on for about 8 hrs or so and the tank is away from direct sunlight, help help help!

 

[Fish_Mike]

Green Algae often appears when water conditions are unstable. How often do you monitor water stats?

 

[Ethos]

If I were you...Well, atleast what I did, I bought a very large commen pleco. I had an algae problem too.
I have not seen algae since, but the plec does take up alot of room.
Its worth it though. I haven't used an algae product (Even a scraper) for a few months!
**Remember, I said Large**
(The bigger the mouth, the more area it can cover... Plus you can usually find a large commen someone/LFS wants to get rid of...)

 

[The_Priest]

I do water checks every other week, ammonia is 0, nitrites are hardly detectable, nitrate levels are safe,
I went to my LFS and they said to do 5 to 10% water change every other day or 2 for about a week, i tried this and it worked but the minuite i stopped doing them it came back, i think phosphates are a problem but i dont know to keep on top of them.

Thanks for your comments i like the pleco idea too.

 

[Luke & Penny]

i feel your pain with ya priest on this one, i get it aswell, ive took samples to my specialist lfs just to see if my testing was out, turns out alls ok with the water conditions.

 

[The_Priest]

thanks luke and penny ive got such a beautiful tank and im really proud of the fish i have, im thinking of upgrading my tank but am reluctant too all the time i cant solve this problem,
Thanks for your comments.

 

[lucky62]

I've used this product in the past , not sure if it's available in your area , maybe something similar is
http/www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/PhosGuard.html

phosphates in your [ tap] water supply ?




EDIT : I see you've tried something simlar already

 

[freddyk]

Perhaps you should try keeping your lights on only when you're viewing the tank, and just let the rooms ambient lighting suffice during the rest of the day. If you can't control the phosphates, at least you can control the lighting.

 

[The_Priest]

top idea freddyk ill give it a go.

 

[Fish_Dude619]

I have the same problem.....
I think I am just going to get a Pleco, sometimes it's so bad on the glass that I gotta scrap it off with a blade.

What kind of Pleco do you guys think would go good with Cichlids, and thats not to rare and not to expensive?

 

[The_Priest]

well the best would be a common, but they get huge, i have a rusty hes great but not that effective, i have just got in the last few days 2 gibbiceps, i know its a hell of a risk to put them with frontosas but they seem to be doiung ok, also if you can a slightly larger ancistrus they are great cheap but normally quite small and pretty, unfortuatly my frontosas devoured him within hours!
These fish from juviinill stage start from in my LFS £2.95 or less.

I find tho that a razor can scratch the galssm so i use a coarse sponge, i wish i could fund a solution!.....

 

[anvil63]

yeah if you could get a big enough Bushy nose to keep from being eaten that would be ideal. They work at least 10 times harder than common plecs especially compared to the larger commons who often lose much of their interest in algae.

Carl

If you were in the US I'd offer you one of my ancistrus I need to get rid of one. He's an albino and about 6" long.