Algae in aquarium

[jc102]

Hey guys,

I have a 10 gallon aquarium that just finished cycling a few weeks ago and I am seeing a lot of algae in the tank. I've never had an algae problem and I have no idea how to deal with it.

I removed one of the decorations that was really bad when I did a water change and I scrubbed it down with a new (clean) brush. I got a lot of it off, but there is still large spots that won't come clean.

I decided to leave this out of the tank because it looks ugly. Any advice on how to clean this and how to prevent it from happening again in the future?


image album upload

 

[MrBetta]

Your tank is new, that's normal. I had problems with algae and diatoms but it goes away after a couple of weeks. As long as it's not an algae bloom. Do you have live plants? I'd suggest plant some. They do not only take out excess nutrients but they also help balance ecosystem in your tank.

 

[jc102]

Your tank is new, that's normal. I had problems with algae and diatoms but it goes away after a couple of weeks. As long as it's not an algae bloom. Do you have live plants? I'd suggest plant some. They do not only take out excess nutrients but they also help balance ecosystem in your tank.

Thanks for the advice. I've had my tank since February and it took months to cycle. I've never had any real plants. I am using the basic gravel that you would find at the pet store, but it's the GlowFish brand so it glows under the blue LED light. I don't see any algae on the sides of the tank or anything and the water is mostly clear.

 

[MrBetta]

Give it sometime, it will go away. You can also put algae eaters to help get rid some of the algae. Algae although it looks ugly but it also indicates you got a healthy aquarium. Try putting some live,easy to care plants. You'll be amazed how your tank can get crystal clear. I assume your tank is away from direct sunlight unless it does you may have to make adjustments. Below is my heavily planted tank but after a few weeks of my tank being cycled i did encountered algae and even diatoms/brown algae. So i added fast growing plants and just continue with pwc everyweek but just lately im doing pwc every 2 weeks now. And maybe slowly just doing it monthly.

 

[jc102]

Give it sometime, it will go away. You can also put algae eaters to help get rid some of the algae. Algae although it looks ugly but it also indicates you got a healthy aquarium. Try putting some live,easy to care plants. You'll be amazed how your tank can get crystal clear. I assume your tank is away from direct sunlight unless it does you may have to make adjustments. Below is my heavily planted tank but after a few weeks of my tank being cycled i did encountered algae and even diatoms/brown algae. So i added fast growing plants and just continue with pwc everyweek but just lately im doing pwc every 2 weeks now. And maybe slowly just doing it monthly.View attachment 299701

Okay, thanks! I'll try using live plants in my tank. Will they thrive with the standard gravel or do I need something else? That's a very nice tank btw!

 

[MrBetta]

@jc102 Thanks! Im just using a standard gravel. You can dose fertizers or use root tabs if you want but its just optional. I dose mine with excel & iron one's a week. Excel also helps get rid of algae.