In over my head!

[thegarthok]

Hello Fish Heads!!!!

I'm new to this aquarium thing and have gotten myself in over my head but am determined to do this right! The health and safety of my fish is more important to me than how the tank looks. That being said...I'm lost. I'm realizing stocking is a lot more confusing process than I originally thought and I'm having a problem with algea. After a lot of useless meandering on the interwebs I found this site which seems to have some of the nicest most informative people fish-forum wise so I'm hoping you can help!

Here's what I have so far:

10 Gallon - "the algae problem"
Pop - 1 Betta, 2 Platys, 1 Mystery Snail
Filtration - AquaClear 30, 175 gph
Temp - 80 F

29 Gallon
Pop - 5 Albino Corys, 1 Dalmation Molly, 1 Silver Lyretail Molly
Filtration - Aqueon 30, 200 gph
Temp 80 f

I guess I start my forum presence by asking for help with the algae problem and ideas for stocking both tanks (I like activity!).

Thanks again everyone!

 

[fort384]

Moved to the getting started section. You will get more answers here.

Welcome to AA.

Let's start with the algae problem:

What kind of algae is it? (color?, appearance?)

What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH)?

How long has the tank been set up?

What kind of substrate do you have in the tank?

 

[ShadoeFox]

First question, how did you cycle your tank? Also, are you testing the water parameters with any sort of testing kit. (Most suggest the api master test liquid kit). If your Nitrites go wild, my understanding is that algae could go wild.

Also, how much are you feeding. excess feeding can also cause that problem.

Lastly, while it's never the best solution to just add fish you don't want to solve a problem, I find Oto's to be surprisingly personable, and very effective and cleaning algae. You might consider on for your tank... but only if you think you'd like them. I wouldn't do more than one in there though, they basically only eat algae so you don't want to accidentally starve anyone. (You do look to have the room in a ten gallon, though I"m not certain. Someone else will likely correct me if I'm under estimating your population.)

Snails, for the record, don't really eat Algae, from what I've discovered.

Looking at your stocking list, I'd bet on over feeding. If you haven't suffered major fish loss, and only one tank is having the algae problem, it'd be my guess. You got bottom feeders in your big guy and not the ten gallon.

 

[thegarthok]

RE:More info

The algea looks brownish green.

I honestly haven't tested the water. What is a good set to buy and what should I look for in my results?

This tank has been up and running for a few months now and I've never had a problem. It actually had the dalmation molly and 2 corys in it for awhile until I read how much room the molly actually needed and the new 29 gallon I bought was done cycling.

 

[ShadoeFox]

I, and most folks around here use the API master freshwater test kit. You can find it online for about twenty to twenty five dollars and it's very good. You also get to feel like a mad scientist!

 

[thegarthok]

Ok, I'm going to out and buy the tester. Get some readings, and I'll get back to you all.

Should I come back here or start a new thread? (Etiquette ftw )

 

[ShadoeFox]

They moved the thread to getting started, so stick to this thread. No reason to clutter the place up. The rest of us will do that

 

[mudraker]

The brownish / green almost makes me think you have diatoms (brown) and perhaps some type algae also.

What is the texture of the algae?

Diatoms are brown (as are some types of algae) but are very common with new tanks and will gradually die out as the tank matures, a few weeks to a few months.

What kind of light do you have and how long are they on for?

Algae is caused by nutrient imbalance in the tank, but too much light (which is a nutrient) is a common culprit.

 

[thegarthok]

Testing Done/Lights/Algae Texture

Ok folks, I'm finished with my mad scientist work and here are my results:

10 Gallon
pH - 7.6
High pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.25ppm
Nitrite - between 0.0 and 0.25ppm
Nitrate - between 40ppm and 80ppm, looks closer to 40ppm

I typically have my lights on 10-12 hours.

The algae doesn't have much texture at all. It comes right off the side and is so fine that I can't really feel anything between my fingers.

Thanks again for your help everyone!