Algae on my sand

Jamie

Jamie

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Jul 27, 2003
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Hello All,

A few months ago I started up my 150 again. I decided to go with a sand substrate (playsand from HomeDepot), three large pieces of Malaysian driftwood, and lots of fake, but natural looking, plants. I think the aquascape turned out great, with one major problem...algae. This tank is home to two breeding convicts(2-3"), three of their young (1/2" ea which won't let any other broods survive), two zebra loaches, and a large common pleco (about 12"...he out grew my father-in-law's tank). As you can see, the tank isn't over stalked, and I don't overfeed. FWIW, I've got a 30 gallon sump with 9 gallons of bioballs for filtration under my tank.

I assumed my problem had to do with my lighting as this tank used to be home to a live planted tank and had 300 watts, 6500K, of PC lighting over it. The algae was going nuts...covering everything...glass, plants, rocks, driftwood, and sand. From what I can tell, it's just regular ol' green algae, the kind that normally would grow on your glass...but on steroids. It stays close to the surface of what it grows on and starts out as a thin film and over time will get thicker. If I let it go too long it actually will get thick enough to look like spinach when I remove it. In order to clean the tank to a respectable level, I pulled everything out, hosed it down, cleaned the glass, and put everything back in. My Python has a hard time with the sand since it will vaccuum up the sand along with any debris. This is an all day affair. In hopes to reduce algal growth, I disconnected two of my bulbs, knocking down my wattage to 150 watts.

Well, the algae still flourished, I tried to keep up with it but ultimately I had to do the big breakdown again. After another all day affair, I changed my lighting completely. I went to HomeDepot, got a workshop light kit, 80 watts of T12 bulbs, 3000K, and waited to see. Well, upon inspection of the sand, it seemed the algae was still growing. The problem with this algae is that I can get it off my galss and decorations...but when I try to remove it from the sand, it just breaks up and ends up spreading out more. I decided to black the tank out for a week and see if the algae in the sand kicks the bucket. I am currently on day 3.

Now after this long winded senario...does anyone have any input for my situation. I know algae needs both light and nutrients. My water is clean and now I am cutting off the light completely. I just can't get rid of the algae that grows on the sand...any suggestions? Could the sand itself be the culprit?
 
ok i do not know a whole lot about large amounts of algae due to my snails and plecostomas.... but how long do you leave your lights on each day? Also, you may want to get snails or another algae eater type... making sure sucking up any sand wont hurt em.
 
Sand alge

I think you problem lies in the sand not the light. Play sand contains large amounts of silicates. also the black out might kill the alge and everything else in your tank. When the alge dies it will decompose sending your Nitrites through the roof. here is a cut and past of a good alge faq.

Not all algae in the aquarium is necessarily 'bad' - a certain amount is inevitable where there is water, light and nutrients. However, some types of algae are certainly a nuisance, if for no other reason than looking unsightly.

The control or prevention of different algae types is primarily about nutrient control, and the amount of light. There are therefore some general guidelines which can be followed to help minimise algae:

# Avoid direct sunlight falling on the tank, especially for prolonged periods. Unfortunately, despite the pleasant rippling light effects provided by sunlight, the rich lighting spectrum of the sun is likely to mean a constant battle against algae in most setups.
# Do not leave lighting on for more than 10-12 hours a day. Longer periods are likely to favour algal growth, rather than promote plant growth.
# Minimise nutrient levels with frequent water changes. In particular, it may help to keep nitrates, phosphates and silicates low if you have a persistant problem - either by the use of reverse osmosis (RO) or deionised (DI) water, or specific adsorption resins (e.g. API Phos-Zorb). However, note that although high levels of such nutrients may encourage algae, it is not generally possible to completely eliminate algae by attempting to reduce them, as algae can survive at levels below those which can be measured by a hobbyist test kit.
Phosphate adsorbing resin and test kit
# Consider adding algae eating fish if appropriate to the setup. These include: suckermouth catfish (e.g. Ancistrus, Peckoltia and Otocinclus species), the Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus siamensis) and mollies.
# Note that in planted tanks (which is not really the same as tanks with a few plants in!), the most effective way to control algae growth is to plant heavily and promote vigorous plant growth of several different species, to out-compete the algae for nutrients. The management of a planted aquarium is beyond the scope of this article, and will be the subject of a future article, but an important nutrient with regard to plant versus algae growth in a planted tank is Iron, and controlling levels of this nutrient is likely to be important.
 
Hmmm, I've been having trouble with some of the common green algae myself lately. But I think I'm getting a handle on it.

The blackout should help a lot, or at least it always has for me, but a full week is a bit overkill. 5 days should be tons.

Do a big water change after the blackout.

Is your tank still planted as it is in your sig? You only mention fake plants in your post.

I'm surprised that you still had a problem at 80w, but maybe the reset from the blackout will change it.

For me in a planted tank, fighting algae has always been an issue of cranking up CO2 or decreasing lighting. Nutrient balance plays a role, of course.

Are you certain that this is normal green spot-style algae and not blue-green algae (BGA)? If it's BGA, the blackout will knock it out completely after about 3 full days, but it will come back unless NO3 is supplied, again, assuming planted.

In general, looks like you're doing it right... :)
 
The problem is not the play sand, I keep it in all of my planted tanks and absolutely no problems with algea growing on it. Its probably lighting, excessive feeding, and inadaqute amounts of water changes. Step up your water changes to at least 50% a week if not more, feed less, only have the light on for a max of 10hrs a day.
 
Play sand

I use play sand in planted tanks too but thats planted tanks. the plants starve the alge of nutrients i thought the tanks in ? didnt have live plants.
 
try adding real plants

im not sure if it will work for you but it did work for all of my tanks..
had such problems before, the water was even getting green due to excessive amounts of algae. after adding plants, the water became clear in about 5 days without water change. i think the algae had a hard time competing with the plants over nutrients in the water.. not sure though :dance2:
 
true

thats true more water changes, less light time, (including direct sunlight) and live plants. that should solve the problems also marine labs make an alge remover that works great you can pick it up at any LPS it is a white bottle with a green lable. But use it sparingly
 
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