Introducing my tank

[Kamdavid]

Hello-

This is my first post regarding my new(ish) tank. I’ve included three pictures.

It’s a planted freshwater aquarium, I’m using fluval stratum under the gravel for the plants. It’s been running for a month now , and all of a sudden , if you can see , EVERYTHING is covered in algae! I do my water changes , etc, but the algae is going out of control. I have a Pleco is there somewhere but he’s not doing his job. He’s fired!

The plants - 1 Anubis , bunch of hornwort(which is growing like crazy let me tell you) and the other two...maybe onion bulbs? Which keep flowering ?

On to the fish ..... three mollies , 1 male two females. How come he is not trying to breed with them , at all? I want fry! I had one other male but he died. I did see him try to breed...

Any suggestions ? It’s appreciated.

 

[Fishmanic]

what size tank is it?

 

[Kamdavid]

what size tank is it?

It’s a 20 g. I wiped down all glass today and did a 35 percent water change also.

 

[utahfish]

Hello-

This is my first post regarding my new(ish) tank. I’ve included three pictures.

It’s a planted freshwater aquarium, I’m using fluval stratum under the gravel for the plants. It’s been running for a month now , and all of a sudden , if you can see , EVERYTHING is covered in algae! I do my water changes , etc, but the algae is going out of control. I have a Pleco is there somewhere but he’s not doing his job. He’s fired!

The plants - 1 Anubis , bunch of hornwort(which is growing like crazy let me tell you) and the other two...maybe onion bulbs? Which keep flowering ?

On to the fish ..... three mollies , 1 male two females. How come he is not trying to breed with them , at all? I want fry! I had one other male but he died. I did see him try to breed...

Any suggestions ? It’s appreciated.

How long are your lights on, how many lumens are your lights how often do you feed and how often do you do water changes. Also whats your phosphate and nitrate levels? Also plecos dont eat a ton of algae they munch on wood.

 

[utahfish]

How long are your lights on, how many lumens are your lights how often do you feed and how often do you do water changes. Also whats your phosphate and nitrate levels? Also plecos dont eat a ton of algae they munch on wood.

Reason i ask because excess phosphates and/or nitrates can lead to algae, combined with excess light can add to more algae.

 

[Kamdavid]

Reason i ask because excess phosphates and/or nitrates can lead to algae, combined with excess light can add to more algae.

Haven’t tested phosphates or nitrates yet. And don’t know lumen levels. I’ll have to see if I can find it tomorrow. Lights are on 10 to 12 hours sometimes ..?

 

[utahfish]

Haven’t tested phosphates or nitrates yet. And don’t know lumen levels. I’ll have to see if I can find it tomorrow. Lights are on 10 to 12 hours sometimes ..?

Decrease the time your lights are on. Id drop it down to 8 even 7. Algae needs 8 continuous hours of light to grow where as plants dont. I keep my lights on for 7 hours and make sure no other light from the room gets in. Decreasing feeding can also decrease algae, excess nutrients from food that plants dont use feed the algae. Try feeding once every other day or even every 3 days. Try to get a test for your nitrates and phosphates. Nitrates and phosphates are macro nutrients for plants but in excess will feed algae. If your using local tap water check your city website water quality, some municipal water will be high in nitrates and phosphates. High phosphates can especially cause algae. I suspect in your set up its too long length if time lights are on at too high intensity plus excess nutrients.

 

[Kamdavid]

Decrease the time your lights are on. Id drop it down to 8 even 7. Algae needs 8 continuous hours of light to grow where as plants dont. I keep my lights on for 7 hours and make sure no other light from the room gets in. Decreasing feeding can also decrease algae, excess nutrients from food that plants dont use feed the algae. Try feeding once every other day or even every 3 days. Try to get a test for your nitrates and phosphates. Nitrates and phosphates are macro nutrients for plants but in excess will feed algae. If your using local tap water check your city website water quality, some municipal water will be high in nitrates and phosphates. High phosphates can especially cause algae. I suspect in your set up its too long length if time lights are on at too high intensity plus excess nutrients.

Ok I will look into all that. I feed once a day, just enough to where the food doesn’t drop to the bottom. The fish can go every other day ?

 

[utahfish]

Ok I will look into all that. I feed once a day, just enough to where the food doesn’t drop to the bottom. The fish can go every other day ?

Yup. Fish are opportunity eaters, they will eat in the wild when the opportunity presents itself. The fish food companies say feed twice daily because they want to sell more food. I feed my fish 3 times a week. A couple weeks ago i was gone a week fed them before i left and when i got back and they were fine. Every other day is fine. Also wuth your lights set it up on a timer so that it comes on the same time and goes off the same time everyday, not only will the fish appreciate this but so will the plants. Play with the timing of your light to see whats best, if at 8 hours you still get a ton of algae if you drop it to 7 and the plants start suffering then go 7.5 or back to 8 and check your nutrients. Its a tricky balance between light and a bunch of different nutrients and if either is off algae will take advantage.

 

[Kamdavid]

Ok I don’t have the lights on a timer but will set that up tomorrow. And I’m not using any liquid nutrients for the plants , just the fluval stratum, and they are growing wonderfully. Like I mentioned the hornwort I trim once a week. It reaches the top , I cut it in half , then have to trim it again. The amazon sword is doing well now too. I’ll start at 8 hours on the timer for the plants.

do you happen to know about the mollies I question about ?

 

[Kamdavid]

And another thing , I’m looking for a good carpet plant for the tank, but how easy is it to clean with the carpet plant In there if it takes over ?

 

[Fishmanic]

@Kamdavid
You might consider entering your tank in our Tank of the Month contest. Entry period start on April first. Look for banner at top of the forums announcing the contest.

 

[Kamdavid]

@Kamdavid
You might consider entering your tank in our Tank of the Month contest. Entry period start on April first. Look for banner at top of the forums announcing the contest.

Will do thanks!

 

[utahfish]

Ok I don’t have the lights on a timer but will set that up tomorrow. And I’m not using any liquid nutrients for the plants , just the fluval stratum, and they are growing wonderfully. Like I mentioned the hornwort I trim once a week. It reaches the top , I cut it in half , then have to trim it again. The amazon sword is doing well now too. I’ll start at 8 hours on the timer for the plants.

do you happen to know about the mollies I question about ?

If you arent adding any fertilizers than check your local water levels. Some local water will be high in phosphates and nitrates. The high nitrates can be minimized by the plants absorbing them but even though phosphate is a macro nutrient plants dont need a lot so if your local water is high in phosphates its going to cause algae. Sometimes also with nutrient rich substrates like stratum the initial boost if nutrients can cause algae blooms especially with excess light. Floating plants can help in two ways by absorbing excess nutrients and shading the other plants decreasing algae.

 

[Kamdavid]

If you arent adding any fertilizers than check your local water levels. Some local water will be high in phosphates and nitrates. The high nitrates can be minimized by the plants absorbing them but even though phosphate is a macro nutrient plants dont need a lot so if your local water is high in phosphates its going to cause algae. Sometimes also with nutrient rich substrates like stratum the initial boost if nutrients can cause algae blooms especially with excess light. Floating plants can help in two ways by absorbing excess nutrients and shading the other plants decreasing algae.

Ok I’ll give it a look ! Thanks for the information on that.