Please help, major algae problem!

[jstolz]

Hi Everyone! I'm so glad I found this site! I've been having a problem with my freshwater aquarium for about a year now (!) and I'm hoping someone can help me. I have a 75 gallon tank with an Emperor filter with biowheels. I've had this aquarium for over 10 years and never had a problem - the tank was always clear, I had beautiful fish that even had many babies! It was easy to care for, cleaned it every 2 weeks or so, never added chemicals except Prime water conditioner at water changes. About a year ago, my fluorescent lighting hood broke, so I upgraded to an LED light. That's when the problems started. After a couple of weeks, the tank developed green hair algae. I put some algae destroyer in it, and the algae cleared up, but the fish started struggling. I tested the water and the pH was really low. I bought pH neutral regulator, then the algae exploded. I was struggling to keep the pH normal, and the water clear, but one by one all of my fish died. The fish store guy recommended product after product, but each one caused a new problem (phosphates, nitrates, pH spikes, algae, etc.). It's been about a year now, I've tried everything that any person who works in a fish store has told me, spent hundreds of dollars on chemicals, filtration media, etc, and still have a mess of a tank. I vacuum the tank, and 2 days later there are blobs of clearish greenish stuff all over. The water is never clear, and turns green if I don't clean it every 2 days or so. I've cut back on light, cut out the food, changed filter media 100 times, with no luck. Right now I have Algone packets, charcoal filter media, and am using algae destroyer and blue/green algae remover. I have one catfish and 2 plecos left (I think they would survive a meteor hitting the earth at this point) and I'm at my wits end. I love my tank, always did, but now it's such a struggle! I need professional advice. If anyone can help, and had the patience to read this whole story, I would really appreciate your advice.
Thank you in advance, and sorry for the long post (it would've been longer had I listed everything I've done!)
Jenn

 

[Toad]

Stop adding chemicals. It's just causing you more problems that solving anything. You should not be replacing filter media all at once or it can crash your tank, killing your fish and cause bacterial blooms.

How long are your lights on a day? Is it a planted tank? Do you have pictures of the algae?

I would say try a three day black out first and go from there. Having lights on a timer and having them on for no more than 3-4 hrs at a time can help as well, but it's hard to get a clear idea until we know what type of algae it is

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[Brookster123]

Oh geez. I'm sorry Jenn, that sounds like a major let down. These quick fixes can be nothing more than quick problems. Most likely the intensity in lighting change brought on some green algae. While aesthetically displeasing. It is actually ok in your aquarium. What is not ok is alagaeicide and most of the other crap the pet store guy sold.

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[Brookster123]

Losing fish sucks. You have to regain control of the tank. Seems like you had a pretty good handle on parameters for a while so maybe flush it out and regain balance

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[Ingy]

Oh geez. I'm sorry Jenn, that sounds like a major let down. These quick fixes can be nothing more than quick problems. Most likely the intensity in lighting change brought on some green algae. While aesthetically displeasing. It is actually ok in your aquarium. What is not ok is alagaeicide and most of the other crap the pet store guy sold.

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I agree here, wholeheartedly. In fact, I think it's understated. Aquariums WANT plants (including algae) in them. The nitrogen cycle isn't complete until the nitrate is converted to plant life.
So you need more aesthetically pleasing plants to harness the new spectrum of light added and outgrow the algae.
Plants are the only efficient and simple method of reducing nitrates to 0. Water changes are 80% ineffective (assuming a 20% WC) and resins are an expensive hassle.
And as mentioned, algaecides, or any other 'cide is poison to an aquarium.

Best thing is fish love plants, be it for hiding or eating.

 

[jstolz]

Thank you!

Thank you everyone so much for your replies! I like the idea of adding plants, I will certainly give it a go. I cleaned the tank again last night and didn't add any chemicals, and will cut way back on light. I tried leaving the lights off for about a week a few months ago, but then I got these orangish clear blobs of stuff EVERYWHERE. Do you think I have a bacterial problem as well as an algae problem? If so, how do I fix that?

 

[Brookster123]

Do you have snails?

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[Ingy]

The blobs sound like decaying food. Perhaps you're over feeding. The plecos don't really need food as they will eat the algae.

 

[jstolz]

No snails...

 

[jstolz]

Now water is just cloudy

Hi everyone, thank you again for helping me! I stopped all chemicals, added some new filter pads and also added some live plants. The algae seems to be under control so far!! Everything is looking good, except the water is cloudy with a whitish haze. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Jenn