View Full Version : Algae Plauge
I have been struggling with this for a long time. I've bought Japanese algae eaters and snails but nothing works. I have to use and ice scraper to get it off the tank sides, its in my filters all over my plants and in my gravel. (Next thing it will be on the fish)
Its a 10gal tank with an UGF. I have three algae eaters and two snails in there but they aren't doing any good. This algae just keeps coming. It ooks terrible and I can't get rid of it. I hate to do this but I think I need to find something chemical to kill it. Does anyone know what I can use to kill this stuff for good?
125gJoe
12-29-2003, 5:09 PM
One of the main causes is too much light. Also, is the tank near a window where sunlight can get to it?
EDIT:
I should have left out the word "main" in my above statement. But, it is a contributing factor without a doubt.
Here's something to read:
http://www.hallman.org/plant/algae.html
No its in a dark little corner and with it being winter and all there is even less sunlight in the room. The lights were on a 10 hour period, then I dropped it down to six but it didn't help. I've put it back up to 10 again because of some live plants I got to try and get rid of the stuff.
OrionGirl
12-30-2003, 8:47 AM
Reduce the feeding. Algae must have nutrients to thrive, and overfeeding is their usual source. How many fish are in the tank other than the algae eaters? What water treatements are used? Frequency/size of water changes?
Are they flourescent bulbs or incandescent bulbs?
I would start doing water changes, small ones everyday for awhile. This really helped my tank reduce its nutrients. Now I make sure to do prompt water changes and feed small amounts of food.
2 or 3 things immediately jump out at me......
like OG said, what else is in the tank?
no one mentioned the filtration tho..... how long has the tank been setup?
honestly, have you been doing regular water changes? have you been vacuuming the substrate well?
do you have any other filtration? is the ug air-driven or powered?
this is one case where i actually might recommend a nitrate test and even possibly phosphates. you should also test your regular water parameters and post them, almost any kind of stuff in your water can be "fertilizer". for some reason tho, ammonia and nitrites seem more commonly associated with "green water", not object growing type algae.
if the tank has been setup awhile and you haven't been doing enuf maintenance along with probable over-feeding (even i do that) your ugf might have gone bad. this is just a guess and it might be something else tho, so post back some answers please. :)
Ok heres the info
The tank has been up and running for about 16 months. The algae became a big issue after about the 4th month which is when I got the algae eaters.
There are three algae eathers, each about 1 inch long one angel fish about 2 inches long and a couple of guppies. But they have only been in a week and will be moved out soon as well as the angel. I've actaully been slowly moving out the occupants of the tank to clearer waters.
The UGF is powered by an air pump and will be replaced when I can afford a new filter.
The ammonia is 0 and the nitrite is 0.1. These match the readings of my 5gal tank which does not have a problem.
I change about 40% of the water every weekend and do this by vaccuming the gravel. I rinse the filter media every two weeks and change the media every couple of months (whenever it doesn't rinse properly anymore)
The lights are incandescent. I've dropped feeding to once a day from twice a day and feed very little. (except when I spill :rolleyes: ) but that doesn't happen too aften.
The UGF system will be coming up once I got my new tank running properly. (readings for it are currently ammonia 0 and nitrite 0.1 as well but after some curious losses I'm waiting a little longer)
Would changing the gravel help any? I'd rather not use chemicals but I'm running out of options.
The lights could be a problem. Plants don't really like incandescent lights but algae sure does. Unless you have live plants you do not need the lights on for 10 hours a day. I would just have them on when you are home in the evening. If you do want live plants I would suggest going to walmart or home depot and getting some screw in compact flourescent bulbs. They cost about 10 dollars canadian for a 2 pack and are spirals with the ballast built into the bulb. They work great on my 10 gallon tank. Reduced feeding will also be a big help.
What kind of algae eaters are they?
TKOS
Will these bulbs screw in to the incandescent canopy? (25 watts if memory serves)
I have one live plant in there at the moment and would have moved it already but it went and started sprouting young plants so I wanted to wait until the little ones were a bit bigger before I put them through a move. (I don't know what kind of plant it is. It was a freebe)
They are Japanese Algae eaters.
Yes, those bulbs just crew right in. I had an incandescent top and put 2 in. The smaller Screw in CF are 13 watts each, so you even use less power and make less heat.
I have never heard of Japanese Algae Eaters. Do they have a solid black line on their side or is it more of a check pattern?
bozco
12-31-2003, 11:57 AM
When I first bought them they had black spots down their sides but as they grew a bit it turned into a solid line. Here is a picture, I think they might also be called Chinese algae eaters.
http://www.meijer.com/pet/images/fish/1a%5B1%5D.jpg
Yup, Chinese. As these guys age and grow they become very aggressive so you can only really have the one. Plus the older they get the less they eat algae.
Oh. Ok thanks. I have three tanks now so when they start to get nasty I can seperate them. Not very useful then are they if they stop eating algae.
Can someone suggest some small algae eaters for me then? And give me a little info about them?