bluish-green algae coating

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jackdp

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Oct 19, 2002
Messages
869
Location
Lancaster, PA
I'm having a problem in my 15 gallon fresh tank with several different kinds of algae. I seem to have better luck keeping the algae down in my SW tank. There is a bluish-green slimy algae that coats my heater and the live plants in the tank. It is starting to choke out the live plants. I keep pulling clumps of it out and siphoning it away but it keeps coming back. Less of a problem but still unsightly, I have a hair algae that grows on the rocks and some decorations that has been there forever and I can't get it to stop. Where should I start to treat this? Thx for any info.
 
Well, the basic solution to algae problems is to remove the nutrients that they use to live. The first defense would be daily small water changes to get the nutrient level down in the tank.

If you have live plants then the algae is using nutrients the plants should be using, so you need to make the environment such that the plants suck all the nutrients out of the water and starve the algae. You can use fast growing plants like hygro and wisteria, or often high light without CO2 injection is the culprit. What kind of lighting do you have?
 
The lighting is just the normal output fluorescent that came with the 15 gal. hood. I don't inject CO2. What nutrients would I want to test for, nitrate and phosphate? I'm pretty sure my tapwater is high in phosphate (at least too high for my SW tank) so would some water changes with distilled or RO water help. To be honest, this problem has been around for awhile and I'm partly to blame for not keeping up with water changes and gravel cleaning while paying all the attention to my reef tank. Also, what a coincidence, I was just downstairs and "Tank Girl" was on TV...strange flick that one :) thx for the help.
 
Sounds like Cyanobacteria. Blue green slime. Only way I've ever gotten rid of it was with a round of Marycyn (antibiotic). I've had bouts of it at least 4 times and no lighting, water changes, or nutrient control helped for me.
 
I had a bout with it once only, though I have seen very tiny spots of it in my African tank. I got rid of mine with water changes, but there are so many factors to consider. I have relatively high phosphate in my tap, so if you use RO anyway for your salt, it would be relatively easy to mix that in with yoru water change water for the 10, since the amounts are manageable. Definitely test for nitrate and phosphate.

CC is right and in many cases antibiotics are the only way to beat it, esp. if it has gotten out of hand. It will likely upset your bio-filter if you use antibiotics, so watch for that.

"Tank Girl" was on TV...
I have a slightly radical look to me (or what used to be considered radical) but I am otherwise not much like the Lori Petty character! Her tanks and my tanks are very different... :lol:
 
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