AGH IM FED UP

[red_wall]

WITH STAGHORN ALGAE.

Yes I did see the other post about it, but I'm 100% sure that my algae isn't from neglect to my tank.

I do EVERYTHING right. Feed only the amount that my fish can eat, weekly 30% water changes.

I just don't understand how the algae can take over my whole freaking tank!

My lighting is only 30 watts(the bulb is about 4 years old though) for a 46 gallon tank.

No ferts in the tank as I was advised in a previous post to not use them along with upping the percentage of water that I remove with each change(it hasn't helped though :mad2:)

My parents are non-fishhobby-friendly so any upgrades will NOT come easy.

I just read something about algae using phosphates as a base for food, or something like that to where the more phosphates in your water, the more algae there will be. Could it be that there are a lot of phosphates in my water source, and me upping the percent of water replaced in each water change is giving the algae more base to grow on?

I've just noticed that my fake wood piece in my aquarium has lots of green algae on it, as well as brown algae(possibly diatoms? or dead green algae?)

Will activated carbon help?

Im just so annoyed with all this algae... its even growing on my substrate!
I'm honestly about to just give up

Please help :help:

[inkyjenn]

it sounds like your algae situation may be being exacerbated by your lighting situation. i dont have staghorn, but i do have black beard algae and that was started when i had very low light in my 55. have you tried googling a solution? what works on black beard algae is just regular old hydrogen peroxide (3%). i take a paint brush and dab it directly on the algae, let it set out of water for about5 minutes then put the plant back in the tank. the peroxide also seems to be effective against green hair algae. you might want to try it out on a plant and see what happens

[MrGoodbytes]

Algae can use phosphate at a lower nitrate to phosphate ratio than higher plants. If you suspect this is the cause, you should pick up a phosphate test kit from your lfs. If it turns out to be the problem (possible but I don't know how likely), you can act accordingly. If it isn't, at least you've ruled it out.

[bushwhacker]

get al-gone it works wont get rid of every thing but it wil help

[noodles62]

Al-gon = if it is what I think it is, it is very hard on your fish's gills.....I also am fighting staghorn algae and my husband keeps telling to buy the "chemicals".....don't do it!!! There must be a better/more fish friendly way to get rid of it. :wall:

[bikim4202005]

i notice i have about 40 tanks the only ones that get that green a are the ones that get sunlight

[phanmc]

30w over a 46g tank is not enough to grow plants, until you upgrade the lights you won't succeed with a planted tank.

[red_wall]

Al-gon = if it is what I think it is, it is very hard on your fish's gills.....I also am fighting staghorn algae and my husband keeps telling to buy the "chemicals".....don't do it!!! There must be a better/more fish friendly way to get rid of it. :wall:

I'm not using any chemicals to get rid of them. Chemicals don't get rid of them, its just a temporary solution to get them gone. The conditions in my tank are prime for staghorn. Getting rid of it with chemicals is only temporary at best if it doesn't wipe out my BB or fish, so thats DEFINITELY out.




30w over a 46g tank is not enough to grow plants, until you upgrade the lights you won't succeed with a planted tank.

my plants were growing fine with no staghorn for a very long time, about 3 months or so. All the sudden this stuff popped up - just a little at first, then it got out of control.

[Riiz]

Al-gone isnt a chemical you add, its a pouch with a resin in it. They work pretty well with green water, dont know about staghorn or bba.

[noodles62]

Al-gone isnt a chemical you add, its a pouch with a resin in it. They work pretty well with green water, dont know about staghorn or bba.

Thanks for that clarification.

[phanmc]

my plants were growing fine with no staghorn for a very long time, about 3 months or so. All the sudden this stuff popped up - just a little at first, then it got out of control.

3 months is not a long time. 30w is barely enough light for a 20g tank, it is not enough for a 50g tank. The fact that the bulb is 4yrs old makes it worse.

[red_wall]

Al-gone isnt a chemical you add, its a pouch with a resin in it. They work pretty well with green water, dont know about staghorn or bba.

Thank you for your clarification, but even then, I'm still trying to decide the problem that is giving my tank the staghorn algae. I don't want to have the pack of al-gone, then I run out and the staghorn come right back. Not to mention I am curious as to why all the sudden I'm getting massive amounts of it.


** EDIT


3 months is not a long time. 30w is barely enough light for a 20g tank, it is not enough for a 50g tank. The fact that the bulb is 4yrs old makes it worse.


I knew that it wasn't enough for my tank - WAY below the lighting average, but there aren't many 36'' T8 bulbs above 30 watts - and if they are, they're only up to about 45 watts or so(not that major of a change) Buying those expensive $240 kits just aren't in my budget(I have no budget, unless my parents decide to give me one hahaha)

Thank you for your help though - It is appreciated.

[MrGoodbytes]

Would you be able to buy some 36" shop lights and daylight T8 or T12 lamps to go in them? You plants would have a better chance to out-compete the algae for nutrients if they could use them up faster.