guppies
- Thread starter saffi1220
- Start date
This isn't too hard to solve, don't worry.
1) Guppies are tropical, and all fish need a stable temperature, so a heater is really something you need. You can get 25 or 50w heaters fairly cheap at many pet stores, Wal-Mart, and aquarium stores.
2) Keeping the lights on 24/7 will stress your fish out, and, as you've seen, cause algae to bloom in the water. It's best to keep the lights on 6 to at the most 12 hours a day (if you don't have plants, a specific number of hours isn't too important, just try to be consistant with on/off times)
3) You're going to have to do water changes at least every two weeks no matter what. This is just part of keeping fish; many of us change up to 50% of the water once a week or even more often. More frequent water changes will cut down on the number of nutrients in the water and help with algae blooms as well.
To rid the tank of the green water (unicellular algae floating suspended in the water are what makes it green) you can do a water change followed by a three day blackout. No light should get to the tank - put paper/blankets around the sides of the tank, turn off the lights, and leave it dark for three days. The lack of light should kill off much of the algae.
At the end of the blackout, rinse the filter material in a bucket of water from the tank, do a water change, and start illuminating the tank for 10 hours or less per day.
1) Guppies are tropical, and all fish need a stable temperature, so a heater is really something you need. You can get 25 or 50w heaters fairly cheap at many pet stores, Wal-Mart, and aquarium stores.
2) Keeping the lights on 24/7 will stress your fish out, and, as you've seen, cause algae to bloom in the water. It's best to keep the lights on 6 to at the most 12 hours a day (if you don't have plants, a specific number of hours isn't too important, just try to be consistant with on/off times)
3) You're going to have to do water changes at least every two weeks no matter what. This is just part of keeping fish; many of us change up to 50% of the water once a week or even more often. More frequent water changes will cut down on the number of nutrients in the water and help with algae blooms as well.
To rid the tank of the green water (unicellular algae floating suspended in the water are what makes it green) you can do a water change followed by a three day blackout. No light should get to the tank - put paper/blankets around the sides of the tank, turn off the lights, and leave it dark for three days. The lack of light should kill off much of the algae.
At the end of the blackout, rinse the filter material in a bucket of water from the tank, do a water change, and start illuminating the tank for 10 hours or less per day.
Thank you. I have been wondering if I should get a heater for the tank and that has been why I leave the light on so much is for the warmth. I appreciate all the help I can get. For some reason, I thought the water should stay as is for a month or so. Now I know better! 
Guppies can also tolerate temperatures down into the mid 60's, so if you keep your house at 66F or higher they should be fine. I agree mostly with what Blinky said except that you should be doing at least 20% once a week water changes. I prefer to do them more in the range of 40-50%... but reguardless, they will cut down on nitrate levels which is one of the things the algae feeds on.
That's what I was trying to say PW - saffi1220 was saying they had to do water changes every two weeks to get rid of the green water, I wanted to illustrate that even without algae that was still going to have to happen, since most of us (myself included) do 50% at least once a week (or more). I'm definitely in favour of large, frequent water changes... so are my fish
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I haven't been able to do many water changes because of the babies and I am afraid I will suck them up. In fact that is how I discovered that I had babies, because I was cleaning the tank and saw one in my tube.
But I did go and get a heater and I will start using that so I can keep the light off and then do more frequent water changes.
Thanks everyone for your help.
But I did go and get a heater and I will start using that so I can keep the light off and then do more frequent water changes.
Thanks everyone for your help.