algae on glass
- Thread starter cmar
- Start date
well then again, a nitrate level at about 20 ppm is kinda high. how often do you change your water? and also how large is the tank/ I have a 25 gallon bio cube and I usually change the tank's water at least once every two weeks. I change almost every week if I can though.
Maybe someone near you sells astrea rugosa snails.While you fix the cause of the problem they will happily munch your algae.They can get to 3 or four inches across, thats a big snail with a big appetite, so make sure when the tank settles they have adequate food supply. Plus if they go to snail heaven you get left with an empty shell for hermits, and a beautiful 'trapdoor' which you can make into jewellery(google 'shiva eye')
i usually try to change @ 5 gall. twice a week, which would be @ 20% wkly, right? my test kit is an A.P.I., which goes as low as 0.0. the algae is just a filmy, mostly green, some brown. i do have some snails, and have added more, and they're doing a great job. what is a magfloat, and what do they cost? i've heard, and read that lights are usually only good for @ 6 mos., but i didn't know that they'd cause this! i also know that algae is common, but seriously, i could scrape every day with this stuff!
thanks to everyone for your help thus far!
thanks to everyone for your help thus far!
Excluding 0ppm. The API test, if I'm not mistaken, measures down to 0.25ppm then 0.00ppm., not the greatest resolution in my opinion (for example how would a PO4 level of 0.12ppm or 0.08ppm register with that test kit?, especially when the 0.25 and 0.00 reading look similar as it is). The 0ppm results you're getting are probably not accurate.
You may want to check your phosphates with a different test kit or device to get an accurate reading and detect lower levels of PO4 (such as being able to detect below 0.1ppm but above 0.0ppm. But even then, if you've got a lot of algae it could be utilizing the phosphate as quickly as it is produced in the tank (e.g., tank produces 0.5ppm of PO4 daily, algae in tank utilize 0.5ppm daily, thus a test kit might not detect any PO4...but it's there).
If you do get snails make sure you are actively trying to find and solve the problem rather than just covering it up.
