Help me ger rid of my algae PLEASE!

[dskidmore]

stirring up dirty sand can indeed put alot of nutrients in the water. The choice of going bare bottom is a personal one though. Undisturbed sand, or sand with alot of detrivores in it should be just as good as bare bottom. Some people find bare bottom to be lower risk, as you can't accidentally stir it up and release stored waste, but many critters like digging in the sand, and may be stressed without it.

You may be able to just do some large water changes and wait it out if stiring up the sand is what did this.

 

[bickid]

I know that I need a better skimmer. If people could recommend a good HOB one (because I have no sump), that would be great. I really like the Prizm that I have now, but know that it is not powerful enough for my big tank as I originally bought it for my 30 gallon. I was looking at getting the same brand but in the PRO model that states that it's rated for tanks up to 300 gal. The LFS said that anything by Prizm, Backpack and SeaClone is not worth buying because they are not powerful enough for my size tank. I have heard only negative things about the SeaClone and good things about the Backpack and love my Prizm.

As far as the critters digging in my tank sand, the only thing that does is the dreaded flatworms that I am trying to kill. This might afford me the possibility of killing two birds with one stone.

I plan on sucking out most of the sand out tomorrow and will test for any trace of phosphate tomorrow night. Of course I will continue with the phosphate remover and my skimmer constantly going.

 

[Devilishturtles]

CPR Bakpak or a AquaC Remora would be a good choice for a skimmer.

Keep in mind that the idea of doing a bare bottom tank is preference only, IMO. If you like the sand, keep it! A regular gravel vac will keep your sand nice and clean. With regular maintence, sand is no harm at all.

Good luck with the flatworms and algae.

 

[Mghslowell]

does your tank get natural sunlight from a window? i had teh same problem with algea but it was because my tank eas infront of a window and the sun rose at 6am and my lights didnt turn on till 1030 . so it was getting 4 hours real sunlight through the tank.

 

[bickid]

Good idea Mghslowell!! I've always wondered if that might be a problem because my light time is kind of like yours. Here's how my apt. is set up and tell me if you think it is a problem.

The whole room is about 400-450 square feet and is rectangular in shape with the short walls on the north and south ends. The only light source comes from the south wall. There are 3 large panel windows that are all the same size and the middle one is a sliding door onto a deck. They take up about 75% of that wall. The tank is located at the opposite end of the room on the east wall perpendicular to the windows so that I only have 2ft. of tank facing the windows and 6ft. not directly facing them.

I pretty much get light all day but the direct light does not even come close to reaching the tank. My lights go on at 1:30 PM and go off at 12:30 AM but the tank gets indirect sunlight from sunrise until they go on. I have the lights on so late because I work swing shift and like to come home and relax by watching my fishtank when I get off work.

 

[dskidmore]

You could always try putting up some dark curtians or a blanket for a few weeks and see if it makes a diffrence.

 

[Mghslowell]

ill just tell you what i did

i was getting serious hair algea on my walls of teh tank and the sun was hitting the walls about 6 hours before the lights went on,.

so i took blue cardboard and fit them on the outside walls of my tank

back and 2 sides since i never view it anyway from there.

the blue reflects a nice ocean look in the tank and sin ce then

there has been no hair algea on my glass! and my snails can upkeep it very well now!