Can alge affect ammonia levels?

[Pawtrekker]

Hey guys, I was wondering, I have a 20 gal planted freshwater tank and for the past few weeks I've noticed that I was getting quite a bit of alge growth in my tank. I clean my tank regularly and it is not near a window but my hood light is on most of the day (I have only had the tank running a little over a month, plus cycle). Anyways, after noticing the alge growth I tested my water and realized that my ammonia was a bit higher than normal (probably around .50ppm or 1.00ppm I don't really remember) So I did a water change but when I tested it again (probably about a week later) it had gotter a little higher. My alge was also spreading too. Since none of the fish I had ate alge (a friend of mine told me corys ate alge but it didn't take me long to figure out that they didn't) I finally decided to go get me an alge eater. I did A LOT of research on what alge eater I should get since I wanted one that wouldn't harm my live plants. Finally, I decided to get a Bristlenose Pleco but of course none of the LFS carried them. Long story short, I was finally able to find a place that would order one for me but they said it may take them a month or so to get a hold of one. (The most promising offer I'd gotten) I took the offer but that still didn't solve my alge problem so I decided to just go down to one of the LFS and find a decent alge eater to add to my tank until I get my pleco. So I went to the store and found these cute little Ottos. I had read that they were good alge eaters so I decided to get two. These little guys were in my tank less than a week and the alge in my tank has already been greatly reduced! I was so surprised at how fast and how much these little guys ate. Anyways, I notice my Neon tetras (I have 3 of hem and they have not been schooling together much at all recently) wer schooling together and looking quite happy. I wondered if there had been a change in my ammonia levels so I checked today and it was at 0!!! I couldn't believe it!

So, my question is, did my ammonia levels have anything to do with the alge growth? Did taking away the alge reduce my ammonia for some reason? Also, I have a 2.5 gal betta tank that was sitting near a window for a little while now and it NEVER got alge. Why didn't my betta tank get ange? I am very confused here and would love some answers.

If you actually made it this far, thanks for reading this horribly long post of mine.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

IMO the algae in no way caused your ammo spike. My guess would be that maybe your aquarium wasn't fully cycled just yet? The fact that you added 2 ottos and they survived tells me that your ammo was on its way down anyway. Otto's are really touchy at first intro to an aquarists tank due to them being wild caught and being shipped around they're in a fairly weakened state by the time we receive them. So sounds like your problems solved anyway! Glad to hear it. Good luck n keep us updated.

 

[Pawtrekker]

Maybe you're right. My tank was cycled but I may have accidentally messed up my biological filter because I was vacuuming out the aquarium every week for a while there. Not because it was that dirty I just figured that was what I was supposed to do. Then I heard someone of this forum say that you were only supposed to actually vacuum once every couple of weeks so I stopped vacuuming my aquarium out every week. That was about two weeks before I bought my ottos so maybe it just took my biological filter a little while to come back. I was really worried about adding ottos when I knew my ammonia had been high but I needed to get my alge down so I went ahead and bought them, making sure I acclimated them very slowly.
Thanks for answering my question.

 

[LyndaB]

Excess food in the tank will also cause algae growth. You might want to see if you're overfeeding the tank.

Many fishkeepers do water changes/gravel vacs weekly. If you have a very large tank, you should consider only vaccuuming half of the substrate per week, but other than that, you can definitely do it weekly with no ill effects.

 

[Pawtrekker]

I really don't think I am over-feeding. I am only feeding once a day and my fish eat every bit I give them. I am doing water changed weekly but I think I will start vacuuming once every other week or so. I just wanted to see if anyone might have any idea why my ammonia suddenly went down like that. Maybe it wasn't finished cycling yet like Cichlid Kid said I just thought it was weird. ;D