It's All Going Wrong :(

[Lizzie71]

Brief potted history of my tank. Tank is 34 litres (8 gallons), set up around 2 months ago. Cycled using mature media from a kind member of this site Current inhabitants 3 platys, 6 hengel's rasboras, 3 ottos. Plus 6 or 7 unexpected platy fry aged about 4 week (I bought all females but one was obviously already expecting )

Tank was fully cycled with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate and nitrate around 15-20 for weeks. But I have had a lot of algae growing, mainly horrible green hair algae and green spots on the glass. Ottos won't eat it (I bought them for that very purpose, but they aren't interested). Then today I did a test, and found I suddenly have 0.1 ammonia

I know I'm overstocked, and the platy fry are being taken to the lfs in the next week or so (if I can catch them lol) which should help. But what else can I do?

More specifically, is the ammonia causing the algae, or is the algae causing the ammonia? Is there anything I can do about the algae?

I have done a 1/3 water change today, done an algae scrape and also cleaned a load of gunk off the filter inlet to improve the flow. I've told my son to cut down to feeding once a day too until the ammonia is under control.

Am I doing the right thing? Anything else I could do?

 

[shang hi]

stress zyme will do the trick as it doesnt mask it it add extra bacteria that will eat it, maby a fry died and thats what caused the ammonia spike.

 

[Ian H]

stress zyme wont do a thing with the bacteria

you could get some bio-spira (US) to get an instant cycle though?

 

[shang hi]

stress zyme wont do a thing with the bacteria

you could get some bio-spira (US) to get an instant cycle though?

i've got to dispute that, they can't legaly say "contains live filter bacteria" unless it does it...... i was saying to use it as a top up, add a little bacteria to help manage everything. i use it every water change to balance anything out.

 

[Lizzie71]

I added something called filter start, is that the same thing?

 

[shang hi]

in a word.... no

im just kiding. it does what it says on the tin , bottle, container oh what ever its in

 

[backtotropical]

IMO it is very unlikely that any of these products actually contain any live bacteria, and even less likely that they will actually help your filter.

Your algae is most likely to be caused by your ammonia. Water changes are the key, short-term.

Long-term, find out why you have ammonia. If you have too big a load for your filter to cope with, maybe an extra filter is the answer?

In the first instance, i suggest that you do frequent water changes, remove as much algae as you can on a regular basis by hand and by cleaning the glass. Make sure the substrate and filters are kept clean, and make sure you dont leave any uneaten food in the tank.

You could also try reducing your lighting time slightly.

Chemicals can rectify your problem in the short-term, but unless you find the cause of the problem, it will re-occur.

Hope this helps.

Backtotropical

 

[Davo86]

as stated, i think the ammonia could possibly be caused by fry deaths that have gone unnoticed.

as for the algae problem, do you have a light on the tank? if so how long is it on for? Also you say you have cut down feeding to once per day, how often have you been feeding? Lastly do you know the levels of the nitrite and nitrate?

 

[Lizzie71]

Yes, undetected fry deaths are possible, in fact likely. I never counted them, they weren't in a breeding trap or anything, so one or two could easily have passed away. I have given it a good gravel vac today so hopefully that might help.

I need to replace part of my filter sponge. The bit that was sent to me as mature media has disintegrated really badly so I need to replace that (it makes up about 1/3 of the total sponge so hopefully I can change just that bit without doing any harm). I plan to get some more sponge when I go to the lfs with the fry.

I'll keep on top of the water changes over the next few days.

We were feeding twice a day. With the ottos, I have been putting a bit of courgette or cucumber in every so often too. Actually come to think of it there were some algae tablets in there which the ottos ignored, maybe they could be part of the problem?

 

[backtotropical]

I don't think fry deaths are likely to be the problem. They are too small to cause any real problem, and would almost certainly be eaten anyway.

Uneaten food however most probably is contributing to your problem. Make sure you remove it.

Also, feed only once per day, and only as much as your fish can consume in 2 minutes.

Replacing your filter sponge should be fine as you said, but i would leave it until you sort out your ammonia problem. It may have a negative effect on your ammonia situation if you do it just now as your filter is already not coping properly.

The ottos will like the courgette and cucumber, but again, make sure you remove any which is uneaten (within 12hrs is best).

Keep on top of the water changes and gravel vacs and you should see an improvement.

 

[Lizzie71]

Thanks everyone, I'll let you know how I get on