I feel bad, but I need help/advice

excuzzzeme said:
If you start adding chemicals and buffers you will open a Pandora's box and forever have problems. .
Click to expand...

I agree with new tanks. I was speaking in terms of established tank with bad algae problems.

GFO(phosban media) does work...buffering PH is not a bad thing and a necessary thing with GFO... we do this all the time in marine world.

So just to clear my last post up. I am speaking in terms of established tank having major algae problems.. not the new start up ...doing what I mentioned would probably slow cycle time.
 
Okay, I just ran a water test against my tank and these are the results:
Ammonia: ~0.6
pH: ~7.6
Nitrite: ~1.6

At the end of a fishless (yes i had fish at one point) the Ammonia, and Nitrites should be 0, and I should see Nitrates, correct?

So I just continue doing partial water changes and add little amounts of ammonia, or am I good for ammonia for now?
 
Just put a blanket over it and keep it entirely dark for a few days. In the case of brown algae, that will just have to be wiped away. That will go away in a few months. For stocking, I would suggest a Betta, and nothing more than that.
 
SharkBait said:
Okay, I just ran a water test against my tank and these are the results:
Ammonia: ~0.6
pH: ~7.6
Nitrite: ~1.6

At the end of a fishless (yes i had fish at one point) the Ammonia, and Nitrites should be 0, and I should see Nitrates, correct?

So I just continue doing partial water changes and add little amounts of ammonia, or am I good for ammonia for now?
Click to expand...

It's fine for the moment. Add enough ammonia to keep ammonia at 0.5. When that is dissappearing overnight, and nitrites are also down then you can do a huge water change and add fish. Partial water changes are unnecessary in a fishless cycle.

I have found that the canned bacteria, such as Cycle or Stability speed things up, though many on this forum disagree. I was careful to get ones with use by dates about 2 years in the future and I store it in the fridge.
 
Ok well there are some small guppies in the tank, the covering with a towel did work, but unfortunately I cannot move the tank to a non windowed area. Our apartment is pretty much all windows.

Without having to manually clean the algea off the tank (it's just the green stuff now, no more brown algea) what is the best way to tackle it?

I read somewhere that real plants can help combat algea? this true? The guppies do peck at the algea but they are pretty small and the algea seems to grow faster ;)

Or do I just wipe the inside down with a algea brush whenever it starts to grow? I'd like to see the fish in the tank, not the green walls! lol
 
Gimli said:
Ok well there are some small guppies in the tank, the covering with a towel did work, but unfortunately I cannot move the tank to a non windowed area. Our apartment is pretty much all windows.

Without having to manually clean the algae off the tank (it's just the green stuff now, no more brown algae) what is the best way to tackle it?

I read somewhere that real plants can help combat algae? this true? The guppies do peck at the algae but they are pretty small and the algae seems to grow faster ;)

Or do I just wipe the inside down with a algae brush whenever it starts to grow? I'd like to see the fish in the tank, not the green walls! lol
Click to expand...
Live plants use the same nutrients that algae uses to grow.So,if you have enough plants,they will out compete the algae for the nutrients,and thus starving off the algae.In a 3 gallon,you could have some java moss,java ferns,water sprite, and maybe some wisteria.All low light easy to care for plants.
Even if you can sucessfully keep plants in your tank,alage is pretty much a part of keeping an aquarium.So you will still need to clean the glass.If your algae is extremely bad,you may be overstocked,and/or over feeding.
 
I've had great results in the past with aquatic snails for algae control. I had ramshorn snails in my tanks and they cleaned it up very well. Suggestion- only get one snail, or run the risk of a snail population explosion. HTH.
 
Adding more livestock to a 3 gallon tank with an algae problem is not a good idea.
 
plants can easily complicate algae issues. there's a huge learning curve for planted tanks and it takes many people years of trying this and that and studying to get the balance right. also there's the whole feeding the plants deal. ferts are a necessity and can be quite confusing for a long time.

basically if you don't already know the chemistry behind a planted tank you will most likely experience an explosion of new algaes and eventually become an algae chemist... the rest of us with planted tanks have all experienced this for the most part.

your tank is small... adding more stock to compete with or eat algae most likely will be a daunting task. when it comes to algae under the wrong conditions resistance is futile. overcrowding is definitely the wrong conditions. a snail such as a nerite will definitely eat algae. green spot algae on the other hand as well as a bacterial bloom or algae in the water column will not be eaten by anyone you can put in there. to add to the impossibilities... if it eats algae it most likely needs a tank that has been established and stable for quite some time. this definitely goes for any snails and shrimp you could put in there.

phosban... ahhhh, the old school go to for algae. have fun with that one. i had a buddy who was switching out phosban sheets for months while covering windows with everything he had in his house. boy was that an adventure. i was getting calls about every three days frantically he always proclaimed "i'm losing it, i can't figure out why my water is always green, what do i do next" yet he refused to spend half of what he wasted on phosban in one shot to get a uv sterilizer for his tank. ofcourse he wound up breaking down his tank and selling his fish back... as many do.

anyway i'm sure you're not asking us to tell you all the things that wont or don't work so i'll save you from any more of my ramblings. check out the links. they'll help more than all the info here i presume...

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_algae.htm
http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Algae-Common-Types/3/
http://www.guitarfish.org/algae

good luck. most algae is not too harmful but it is stressful if that's not why you own fish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom