Stress and Algae

[JakeVS]

Hey,

I have a 20G freshwater setup. I was overly occupied with issues arising in my life and managed to neglect my weekly water changes for about 2 weeks, near the end of this had some relatively major algae growth (dark growth on fake plants and other structures) which has coincided with what seems to be fairly serious stress issues in the gold gourami and 4 rosy barbs in my tank. the fish are very aware of any movement in the room and will generally hide in the back corner of the tank if there are any quick movements outside the tank. up until now the barbs were very curious of people and the gourami was shy, but less jumpy.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on how to reduce both the level of stress and algae in my tank.

Thanks,
Jake

 

[BigJim]

Welcome to AA!

Can you post your water parameters? I'm doubting the algae is causing any stress issues. My guess is that your water quality isn't the greatest. Try a large PWC (50%-75%) and see if things improve.

 

[JakeVS]

Well, to my surprise the obvious answer worked. thank you very much for pointing that out to me. as my water conditions have improved so have my fish. more importantly i have learned to think more critically about the issues and not go strait to the visible changes in my tank.