Filters And Green Algea

[loll_l]

i have a very deep tank that requires good filteration... when i first set up my tank i used both an underground filter and a fluval power filter... i was told that there was no point in using both filters as just one of them on its own would work fine, but, seen as though i had already purchased both i decided to install them both as i didn't think it could do any harm.

after around a year using both filters and not having any problems the air pump for the underground filter broke... as i had been previously advised that one filter would do i decided not to replace the undergound filter and to just use the power filter... but.... since removing the underground filter i have started getting green algea all over my tank which had never happened before!!

is this just coincidence? or will re-installing an underground filter help to sort the green algea problem?

also... do algea eating fish eat this green algea (ie. clean the tank and prevent this from happening)

 

[loll_l]

ok... since writing this i have looked over a few other threads about algae and it seems that the algae is nothing to do with the type of filter i have installed... it seems like it must just be coincedence that the algae came at the same time that my underground filter packed in!

i am going to the pet shop in about an hour... i was going to buy a new underground filter but may not do now if this wont help me with my algae problem.

can somebody please confirm an underground filter wont help?

 

[smmetz]

Out of curiosity, I would test for ammonia. I think I read that some algae feed off ammonia. If your UG filter provided a lot of your bio-filtration, then you might have had (or still have) a mini-cylce. The good news is that you other filter already sure have bacteria in it - so if you have a mini-cylce, that bacteria should multiply and take care of any extra ammonia.

I have no experience with UG filters, but I hear they are not needed. I hear that about 1/year, you need to rip apart the whole tank to get the gunk out of the gravel. You might consider doing this, since you said it was set up for a year.

Since the UG filter has not been running for at least a day, almost all the good bacteria in the gravel are dead now due to a sudden lack of water flow. If it was my tank, I would just take out the UG filter.