New To Algae

[jarw101]

I have a tank that's 2 weeks old now. Have 2 Platies and 2 catfish. Last couple of days the i've noticed the gravel going green at the front of the tank and the water colour starting to change.

Is it best to do a water change and add a chemical to the tank or will the catfish do the job?

 

[Truck]

I have a tank that's 2 weeks old now. Have 2 Platies and 2 catfish. Last couple of days the i've noticed the gravel going green at the front of the tank and the water colour starting to change.

Is it best to do a water change and add a chemical to the tank or will the catfish do the job?

how long do you leave the lights on for? and is the tank in a window?

 

[jarw101]

the lights are on for like 8/9 hours on a timer and the tank is in the corner of the room, no direct sunlight and the blind is partially closed. I have a large plant grown on wood at the back of the tank, would that help?

 

[three-fingers]

The plant would help, but since it's attached to wood I'm guessing it's Java fern or Anubias - lovely easy to grow plants, great for a beginner, but they are slow growing so aren't great at combating algae.

Sounds like good lighting times .

Before it gets any worse, I would recommend adding a good few bunches of easy-to-grow plants, what species are recommended depends on your lighting . What lights does the tank have (type of bulb and wattage) ?

It would probably help to get a little more water flow in there too, what size of tank is it and what filter does it have? A small cheap powerhead and a lot of cheap plants could go a long way to warding off algae for good .

 

[jarw101]

the tank is a 48l interpet fish pod. it has the PF1 filter that came with it but its set on minimum. The lights are two 15w florescent lamps, one daylight, one cool blue moonlight.

only the daylight one used

I had a fighter in the tank (that's why the filter is on min) but he was too aggressive so he has now gone back to the LFS.

Perhaps move the filter speed up to medium?

 

[three-fingers]

Put the filter speed up full, the more flow the better to avoid algae. If you find the current is too strong, buy a piece of filter hose, cut some holes in it and attach it to the PF1, this will act like a spray bare and give you a more even flow of water around the tank that isnt very strong. Having said that, I know the fish pod filters aren't too strong, so you shouldn't need to do this.

It would also benefit you to but a small powerhead like this: http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/EHEIM-Compact-300-Aq...id=p3286.c0.m14

This is a just a small pump for extra water circulation (not a filter). A good turnover generally recommended for planted tanks is 10x the tanks volume per hour. Your filter isnt so bad, when at full blast it gives you about 7x. The 10x figure isnt needed, and loads of planted tanks run without it - but it certainly helps with avoiding algae.

Keeping both lights on during the day would be better for growing plants (more light, these tanks dont come with a lot of light), and turn them both off at night.

Another thing to remember is that you can replace the bulbs with ones of a higher wattage from the internet or anywhere that sells screw in florescent bulbs. It's a standard screw in fitting, so all that matters is that the glass bit of the bulb fits in. It would be better for plant growth if you replaced the blue one with a "daylight" or "cool white" bulb too, but this isnt totally needed.

You would be best to stick with "low light" and "easy" plants for now. I would recommend getting at at least 3 (more is better) bunches of plants from your LFS, they are usually only about £1.50 for a bunch. The two important things are making sure you know what species you are buying (LFS often sell plants that are totally unsuitable for most tanks), and then planting them right.

Species to look out for are Hygrophila polysperma, Bacopa monnieri and Bacopa caroliniana. There are loads more to look out for, those are just common LFS ones off the top of my head. See this list: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=84

You can also buy the plants on the net, if you are unsure about IDing the plants at the LFS . http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=298938

When planting, make sure you remove all lead weights and foam, and plant each stem an inch or two away from each other in the substrate .

 

[jarw101]

Thanks for the sound advice, i'll look in to it. Can algae feeders do a lot of the work?

 

[three-fingers]

I'm afraid not. Algae eaters are great fun to watch, and can sometimes help a little, but remember you will need to feed them special food too (they cant survive off the small amount of algae in the tank alone), and if you have an algae problem this will be feeding the algae too through fish poop.

Also as soon as they eat all the algae that they like (like brown diatoms), another less tasty algae will just grow in it's place.

They can help quite a bit in new set ups (as long as you choose an appropriate species) and can be useful at times, but wont solve an algae problem on their own.