I have a 60 litre tank with only 6 fish in it but I have had quite a lot of algae around the tank especially on the gravel where it is a brownish colour. I do a water change minimum every 2 weeks. Should I use algae remover liquid does anyone recommend it?
Should I use algae control
- Thread starter Owp
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BBradbury
Aquarium Advice Addict
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- May 24, 2011
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Hello Owp...
Putting chemicals into the tank water is never a good idea. A better way is to reduce the amount you feed the fish and change out more water, more often. This will reduce the nutrients in the tank and slow the growth of the algae.
Some algae is a good thing. You won't find a better water filter than forms of algae. It's also a food supplement for the fish.
B
Thankyou for the help I only feed them every 3 days but I will increase the amount of water changes i do I just don’t always have time because I have another tank too.
coralbandit
Aquarium Advice Addict
I agree with B.
More water changes .
Most chemicals have a negative effect one must prepared to deal with.For instance the algae remover may kill a lot of algae quickly which could easily foul your filter and kill or harm fish.Even they recommend water changes...
More water changes .
Most chemicals have a negative effect one must prepared to deal with.For instance the algae remover may kill a lot of algae quickly which could easily foul your filter and kill or harm fish.Even they recommend water changes...
Angellove78
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would get a stronger filter, and cut down on the lights. Vacuum the gravel clean the glass, and decorations. Light plays a big part in algae. Even sun light from windows. And if the 6 fish are gold fish!! than I'd diffently get a stronger filter. And get a little bottom feeder fish. Or 2.
The filter is very strong actually especially because I only have 4 white cloud minnows and 2 golden mountain minnows. They don’t produce much waste.
I will cut down on light levels from 10 hours to 8 hours. Thanks for the help
+1 on B and CB, don't use chemicals, find the reason for the algae as there's always a reason, lighting, excess nutrients, left over food , fish waste etc etc, I would do as they said by doing water changes weekly(25-30%), cut down on your lighting (what are you using for a light anyways) t8, t5, led just for example as that will help members on here determine if it's the light or helping with adjusting the light cycle, you said you're on a 10 hour right now I would go to 8, get your nitrates in check by doing more water changes with a thorough gravel vac to get them lower 5-25ppm, also excess food/waste can build up in the filter so that might need cleaned out (NEVER CLEAN MEDIA IN ANYTHING OTHER THAN TANK WATER YOU REMOVED FROM THE AQUARIUM) "sorry that's very important", but you can clean the plastic pieces in regular water, once you get the nitrates down to a reasonable level if you still see algae growth cut back to 6 hours, if that doesn't fix it then the light could be to strong for the tank.
Is the tank by a window to the outside where sun hits it? if so you might have to black out the tank on that side so the sun doesn't get into the tank, once you have a good balance of your water parameters /lighting the algae will clear up.
What is your nitrates at anyways?
Is the tank by a window to the outside where sun hits it? if so you might have to black out the tank on that side so the sun doesn't get into the tank, once you have a good balance of your water parameters /lighting the algae will clear up.
What is your nitrates at anyways?
I will decrease the light levels to 8 the light is not LED. Unfortunately I’ve ran out of test strips so couldn’t give you the nitrate reading but I’m due to do a water change today. I will also clean the filter media. The tank is not where sunlight can reach it, thanks for your help.
Test strips are very inaccurate I don't know what your funds are like but it being around Black Friday there still places that are running Black Friday sales and you might be able to get an API Master freshwater liquid test kit for pretty cheap, if not you might have a lfs (local fish store) near you that does water testing with the liquid test kit for free, if it's not a led it's probably most likely a t8 if it's a stock light that came with it, are they fluorescent tubes?
This is probably the most important thing to have when it comes to a fish tank
API FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT 800-Test Freshwater Aquarium Water Master Test Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NCI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_WgOgAbAGVCAEC
It's actually almost $15.00 off atm they are usually $35
Yes they are fluorescent tubes, I will look into the liquid test kits, I won’t be able to buy the one you’ve linked because I’m from the uk. Thanks for your help!
coralbandit
Aquarium Advice Addict
Here is a UK sale on the kit.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/API-Aquari...r=8-1&keywords=api+master+freshwater+test+kit
How old are the tubes in your light?Most fluorescent bulbs only have a 1 year life for shining proper spectrum.Then even though they light the light is not correct and can cause algae problems sometimes.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/API-Aquari...r=8-1&keywords=api+master+freshwater+test+kit
How old are the tubes in your light?Most fluorescent bulbs only have a 1 year life for shining proper spectrum.Then even though they light the light is not correct and can cause algae problems sometimes.
The lights are quite old actually the tank is second hand and it came with the light so it could be 3years+ old
coralbandit
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would look for a 7500k replacement if you want plants.
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