New To Tanks And Plants - 75 Gallon

[osikorn]

I am new to aquariums and I jumped from a 10 gallon tank to a 75 gallon due to a great tag sale opportunity. I love the tank! It was going really well for a month or so.

There is gravel substrate.
Lighting is: aquarays brand 40w

The fish in the tank currently are: mollys guppies, platys, glass cat fish, one shrimp, two algea eaters, a loach, a snail, baby blue lobster.

Plants in the tank are 2 spider ferns and two "aquatic blend" from petco.

About two weeks ago I made a horrible mistake and cleaned the filter thinking this was the right thing to do. Clearly I was wrong and I hang my head in shame. Now I am trying to fix the plague I have caused in my ecosystem.

I have been doing daily water changes to lower the ammonia, the ph level is hovering at 7.6, nitrates are at 0 and nitrites are near 0.

I feed the fish tropical fish flakes.
I haven't tried any fertilizers.

My delema is algae. It's everywhere!! I took Ll the toys out yesterday and washed them as the were covered with algae. My water changes are removing green water. It smells bad too.

Is there a plant that helps kill algae?
Are my plants causing algae?
What am I doing wrong? (other than my one huge error)
Am I doing the right thing for my plants?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

It's difficult to say really, I take it you didn't cycle the tank before adding stock or did you clean your filter media in tap water? All you can do is daily water changes like 50%. Keep a close eye on the fish or move them to another tank while the ammonia is high. The only way to plant a tank without getting algae and a quick stock is to plant very heavily but that's not an option, I'd switch off the lighting for a couple of days, keep doing water changes and keep checking ammonia. Also lower the photo period to like 6 hours a day. You can clean your filter but if you do then do it in the tank water you are taking out but you only really do that if it's clogging your filter and affecting flow.

 

[fivecheebs]

Take a look at the algae guide at James' Planted Tank You should first get an idea of what algae it is that you are combating.

First thing to do though, is give it a good clean, then a large water change, followed by lots of water changes, as many as possible, which you are already doing anyway.