Green algae question.

[msouth468]

I have a 29g aquarium with 6 Dalmatian mollies and a Cory cat. There are 5 plants that I can't identify (wal-mart bulbs) and a piece of driftwood. The lighting is a 20watt plant bulb (I decided to try it out to see if my plants would benefit). Filtration is a plain old wisper30 power filter. I keep the temp at 78 degrees.

I do a water change about every 3rd week. I clean the inside of the glass and vacuum the gravel bed (no special plant substrate just plain old rock). About 1 week after this some green algae forms on the glass. And when the 3rd week comes around there is a fair amount on the glass, though nothing to be alarmed about. The water has a slight, really slight, green tint to it (probably tannins from the driftwood).

I was just wondering if anyone knew what might be causing this? And, is there a snail or small fish that I could put in there to feed off of it?

Water paramiters are

PH = 7.5
Amon = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 20ppm
TDS = 100

I don't have KH or GH readings as I haven't gotten my test kits in the mail.

[msouth468]

bump once

[cindy2715]

Do you have the tank in front of a window where it is getting a lot of light. I used to have a tank in front sliding glass doors and it grew algae faster than others that were not in the direct sunlight.

[echoofformless]

Otocinclus catfish are great algae eaters. I keep at least one in every tank. They keep brown and green algae well under control. But they won't eat hair algae or beard algae.


If you're only getting a small amount of algae and it's nothing you can't control with a little normal maintenance, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You could get the nitrates a little lower if you want. You could also test for phosphates. Those can help algae to grow.


If you're growing plants I would suggest far more wattage than what you're using. Most plants need at least 2 watts per gallon, otherwise they have trouble with nutrient uptake...which is how plants outcompete algae.

[jparnell]

My Otos and amano shrimp do a great job keeping the algae down... my otos are actually fat! I also have a ton of snails.

Have had algae problems in the past... turns out it was because I wasn't dosing the right nutrients for the plants. I think I've got it nailed down now, as I haven't had any real problems for at least 6 months... plants are growing like crazy. Then again, I also do water changes every week (forces me to make sure I actually properly maintain the tank). I make it part of my plant maintenance routine - prune the plants back, do water change. Works well. And there's no way I could go longer than a week without pruning the plants... they'd overgrow!

There are some really great sites around on plants and nutrients ( http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_dosage_calc.htm), and check out the planted forum.

[fishieperson321]

First of all, for a 29 gallon tank, you need a Whisper30 AND a Whisper 40. The key is to circulate the tanks volume 10 to 15 times an hour. So a 10 gallon tank needs at least a 100-150 GPH filter. Is the filter working??? Is the Bio-Bag full??? If it isn't working or if it has excessive overflow around the WonderTube, the algae that you scrape off is going back into the tank or is never going into the filter. Please update your filtration. What kind of fish do you have??? Maybe you should get an algae eater.

[msouth468]

First of all, for a 29 gallon tank, you need a Whisper30 AND a Whisper 40. The key is to circulate the tanks volume 10 to 15 times an hour. So a 10 gallon tank needs at least a 100-150 GPH filter. Is the filter working??? Is the Bio-Bag full??? If it isn't working or if it has excessive overflow around the WonderTube, the algae that you scrape off is going back into the tank or is never going into the filter. Please update your filtration. What kind of fish do you have??? Maybe you should get an algae eater.

What is that all about?



Anyway, thanks echoofformless, I will look into that Otocinclus catfish and upping my wattage.