My tank is ugly

[sansouci01]

My 20 gallon tank is going through what many on this site call the ugly stage. It's been running for about 2 months. The diatom problem is slowly fading and now some green algea is appearing along with what I think is hair algea. Is all of this just part of a new tank maturing or is this something that I have to take care of before it gets out of hand. All my water parameters are good and I do weekly water changes. I'm running a protein skimmer along with a HOB filter with chemi-pure elite. I have some snails, a serpent star, 2 clowns, and 2 small chromis. All seem to be doing just fine. Its just that the tank doesn't look very good

 

[Tkey3425]

using tap or RO/DI water?

 

[sansouci01]

Only ro/di

 

[Tkey3425]

could be there are nitrates or phosphates present in your tank water

 

[Sniperhank]

Besides algae growth being part of a normal tank life cycle, I would believe your issue is being fueled by feeding too much.

 

[sansouci01]

All my water parameters are 0ppm. I feed every other day. Water changes weekly..

 

[Criptix]

High ph and direct light are the only things I can think of.With my betta tank,I know not the same)I had a big algae problem until I removed the light source.CUC can help too.Good luck!

 

[Tkey3425]

All my water parameters are 0ppm. I feed every other day. Water changes weekly..

There has to be something present for the algae to be growing. My tank only grows algae if my nitrates get too high. what test kit are you using? also are you testing for phosphates?

 

[woody390]

Yeah I agree algae can't grow with no nutrients. How often do you clean hob filter? Could be stock that's a fair bit for a 20

 

[Jonnypro]

What kind of sand did you use? And how did you wash it out. At the 2month stage I had the same thing. I washed my sand out with tap water and did not let it dry before putting it in the tank. Tap water has a lot of ppm.

 

[sansouci01]

I used live sand so no rinsing.