PH and Green Algae

[Pootspete]

Every week I go to my mum's house to do a 20% water change in her ten gallon which houses, two Serpaes, three Neons, and a couple of Cories. Whisper Filter and gravel. No plants platic or live.

My mum lives on the beach. The tank is not in direct sunlight and the blinds are drawn, but there is enough light that still gets in for normal human living and I assume fish living also.

It seems everytime I have to clean off the sides of the tank the green algae that accumulates in one weeks time. I take the PH reading which comes in at 6.0 before I do the weekly water change. Once I do the 20% change I get the PH to read close to 7.0 only to find out the following week that it reads once again at 6.0. Ammonia is 0, and the fish are not over fed.

I am wondering does the green algae have anything to do with the PH becoming so acidic each week?

Thanks for your replies!

 

[wetmanNY]

Not unless they're dying and decomposing. In fact the photosynthesizing the algae do is sucking carbon dioxide out of the system and raising pH!

Ask your mother to cut down on the amount of feed she's giving the fish. (I know I know, that's how moms are...) The extra food decomposing is adding CO2 to the system, which is driving down the pH. You should be rinsing out filter media (in tank water) each time you go. But you're doing that already, i'm sure.

With brilliant daylight in the room but no direct sun on the tank, and a pH under 7.0, well why not grow some plants after all? Take her some Java Fern: it's big and goodlooking and it will thrive...

BTW, how does she have such soft water at the beach in Ft. Lauderdale? Softener?

 

[Serrateeth_2002]

plant compete algae in light,CO2 and nitrates,from the looks of it,it is not ph that is increasing algae but the other way round.Algae feed on nitrates,a bit of light would be sufficient and CO2,simply speaking,more fish more algae,i think this goes only for green algae.