utahcutter
Aquarium Advice Regular
My tanks been running four five months and is now battling with algae. Which I didn't mind, but now it is starting to smell. What can I do to help it out.thanks,
ashley
algae
- Thread starter utahcutter
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
My tanks been running four five months and is now battling with algae. Which I didn't mind, but now it is starting to smell. What can I do to help it out.thanks,
ashley
S
steve-s
Guest
Tell us a little more about your tank set up, water source and fish load. It will make pinpointing your algae problem much easier 
It will usually be the source water or feedings.
Cheers
Steve
It will usually be the source water or feedings.
Cheers
Steve
utahcutter
Aquarium Advice Regular
my tank is 80 gal. fish only. i have a yellow tang, a blue chromis damsel, and a sleeper goby. just the three fish. i have been trying not to turn the light on as much. i'm using a sandman filter, and a rio powerhead, which are both big enough for the tank. as far as water is concerned, our house is on well water, so i've used that and added salt to it. the tanks has been running nice and clean up until a couple of weeks ago. is the sandman filter a problem? i haven't seen them very often in stores, and don't know of many others who use them. i used to work at an lfs and that is all we used, and they seemed to work great. should i perhaps look into adding a protein skimmer. also i am cutting back on the flake food.
S
steve-s
Guest
That type of HOB is not the best idea. Make sure you keep the media rinsed fairly often or it will clog and greatly reduce the flow. The carbon plate will be the biggest culprit. I would also question the GPH with the one PH. You should be at about 600-800 GPH for the FO tank.
Well water is most likely the cause. The reason you have seen an increase recently is usually due to warm weather causing higher soluable silicates in the water than normal. If possible I would suggest getting the LFS to test for copper, silicates and phosphates. If it yields anything, a PO4 granular sponge would help (except with the copper).
The skimmer will always help remove DOC from the water eliminating many of the algaes food sources but IMO in an FO tank with only 3 fish is not going to really benefit you much. If you are going to spend on anything, I would suggest a planted refugium. If the water checks out, do more water changes. If the water has the elements mentioned above, go with a PO4 sponge.
Cheers
Steve
Well water is most likely the cause. The reason you have seen an increase recently is usually due to warm weather causing higher soluable silicates in the water than normal. If possible I would suggest getting the LFS to test for copper, silicates and phosphates. If it yields anything, a PO4 granular sponge would help (except with the copper).
The skimmer will always help remove DOC from the water eliminating many of the algaes food sources but IMO in an FO tank with only 3 fish is not going to really benefit you much. If you are going to spend on anything, I would suggest a planted refugium. If the water checks out, do more water changes. If the water has the elements mentioned above, go with a PO4 sponge.
Cheers
Steve
Similar threads
