Help - Am I overgrown with algae or worse?

[Southwestern]

I'm definitely still a beginner. My 100g tank has been up for about 4 months now. My rocks have grown "fur" all over them and my plants don't do well. The plants actually look like they are growing algae on them as well (if they aren't turning brown). There is algae or something on the gravel itself.

The water tests okay.

I have: 2 parrots, 1 severum, 2 angels, 4 loaches and one small pleco. Everyone gets along well.

Here are photos. If you have time, tell me what you think... about any of it. Your help is much appreciated!

 

[rufioman]

Most likely algae.

 

[Plague]

oh boy you have cyanobacteria >.< that is very hard to kill.

what are you parameters? how many hours of lighting? Type of bulbs and wattage? do you over feed? how much water do you change and do you do it weekly? Do you use fertilizers? what kind? CO2?

 

[toosie]

Have you tested your nitrates? I think you might find they are too low. Do you does any ferts or use co2?

 

[Southwestern]

oh boy you have cyanobacteria >.< that is very hard to kill.

what are you parameters? how many hours of lighting? Type of bulbs and wattage? do you over feed? how much water do you change and do you do it weekly? Do you use fertilizers? what kind? CO2?

My last test earlier today was... Ammonia = 0, Nitrites = 0, Nitrates = 10.0.

Bulbs... I think T5 (?), long white tubes, and for 6-7 hours/day. It gets indirect light during the day as well but not much.

I don't think I overfeed. I only feed once a day and the food is gone in under two minutes.

I change 80% every 7-10 days. I just go all out and do a huge drain and replace. Bad?

I have Flourish tabs in the substrate but those were installed over 2 months ago. I use Flourish Excel.

Excuse the language but am I screwed? I have no idea what the right course of action is.

Thanks!

 

[Plague]

Nah you are not screwed. It is fixable. I had bad case of cyano myself.


This is what I did:
Did 40% water changes bi weekly to keep nitrates at a minimum
fed less almost 3-4 times a week
did a total black out for a week

My problem was that I over fed and had a lot of hours with light on. Also the sun would hit my tank indirectly. I kept the curtains closed so my room stays dark in order to combat that. I also didn't dose any ferts for that week. I removed the ornaments with algae on it and scrubbed it clean and tried to take it off plants.

Here is a pic of my cyano: (btw that used to be micro swords but they got engulfed in the cyano)

 

[Southwestern]

Yes, that rock/ornament in the back looks similar. I have a big tank - 4.5 feet long with three LARGE slabs of rocks. Oy.

Doesn't blacking out the tank hurt the fish? Like sticking them in a dark room for a week?

 

[Plague]

Nah fish don't need light. We only use light for aesthetic purposes or plant growth. They will eat and go about their business with or without light.

 

[Southwestern]

Just to be sure....

I should cut out light for a week --- which kills the algae...

Feed every other day during this

Then, remove everything covered with the algae (which is EVERYTHING) and scrub it off....

And start again.

Sound about right?

 

[Plague]

When you scrub off the rocks and ornaments do it in tank water. If I'm not mistaken some of your beneficial bacteria live on these surfaces. So you don't want to kill them.

Make sure you try to clean the plants, you don't need to take the plants out though. The cyano itself should be easy to remove. Simply rubbing my finger on the plant would cause the cyano to fall off.

See if anyone else says something different. Maybe some better methods out there. Most people won't suggest algaecide though.