I have had fish for many years...no means an expert but have never had this sort of problem before. My 5 gallon tank is constantly covered in a brownish/black algae. The first 4 years, no problems and suddenly last yr, it began. I have thoroughly cleaned it, have even used bleach and let it sit empty for months and the stuff still comes back after about 3 days. I have thrown all decorations away and bought new and switched out the gravel..even tried glass rocks on the bottom. The only thing I have never replaced is the filter unit. I can't keep doing a water change every 2 days. I have tested the water before the algae appears and after and everything is normal or safe...nitrites, nitrates, hardness, alkalinity and ph. I am on well water if that makes any difference. I am really at a loss and short of throwing away the entire tank and all accessories and starting over, I dont know what to do. Any help would be thoroughly appreciated.
What is wrong with my tank?
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bluerose
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Oftentimes screwing around with algae is pretty useless... just one spore can bring it back. What you have sounds like BBA/brush algae-- I have some of it on my anubias. Flourish Excel will kill it but will also melt other plants so it can be tricky (I killed all of my anacharis while dosing it...). Hydrogen peroxide also works, but will kill most plants. If you search the planted tank section there are a couple of extensive threads on the stuff...
Not sure if this would work with BBA-- have you tried a dark-out? (covering the tank for several days, no lights)
Any imbalance of nutrients can bring on algae... so actually fussing with water etc might not have helped any. The algae is probably also in your filter, which is why it keeps coming back, but bleaching the filter isn't such a hot idea IMHO.
I rub off what I can during PWCs and let the shrimp deal with the rest... it's mostly on my anubias and nowhere else, so I let it be.
Not sure if this would work with BBA-- have you tried a dark-out? (covering the tank for several days, no lights)
Any imbalance of nutrients can bring on algae... so actually fussing with water etc might not have helped any. The algae is probably also in your filter, which is why it keeps coming back, but bleaching the filter isn't such a hot idea IMHO.
I rub off what I can during PWCs and let the shrimp deal with the rest... it's mostly on my anubias and nowhere else, so I let it be.
Will the flourish excel harm the fish? Do I need to removed the artificial plants before I use it...I have no live ones. Perhaps I'll try some peroxide first since I have that on hand at the moment.
I have never tried to cover the tank as I use the tank light as our night light. Could that be speeding the problem along?
I have never bleached the filter but the thought did cross my mind..not the actual filter, but the unit.
I'll read on the other threads about it and see what I can find before I chunk the whole tank into the garbage.
I have never tried to cover the tank as I use the tank light as our night light. Could that be speeding the problem along?
I have never bleached the filter but the thought did cross my mind..not the actual filter, but the unit.
I'll read on the other threads about it and see what I can find before I chunk the whole tank into the garbage.
marchmaxima
Aquarium Advice Addict
IMO, bleaching your filter has potential for disaster and not the way to tackle the problem. Most of us have a bit of algae of some type in our tanks. As bluerose said it is caused by having an oversupply of nutrients in your water. Algae feed on the nutrients, so long term, you'll need to find out which nutrient is in abundance and cut off the supply.
Three things to start:
No more than 11 hours of light. No direct sunlight. If your plants need more light, give them brighter lamps (measured in lumens) not longer hours of lighting
Keep phosphates and nitrates at a minimum. Do this through water changes and never feed fish or fertilize plants with anything that contains phosphates
Don't over-fertilize plants or overfeed fish.
First thing to do is identify the algae you're dealing with. Brownish/black algae could be diatoms (common in every new tank), BBA (black beard algae) or something else. Can you identify which it is? If not, can you post a picture?
Here's a description of common types of algae. It might help you identify it.
Algae control in the aquarium
Three things to start:
No more than 11 hours of light. No direct sunlight. If your plants need more light, give them brighter lamps (measured in lumens) not longer hours of lighting
Keep phosphates and nitrates at a minimum. Do this through water changes and never feed fish or fertilize plants with anything that contains phosphates
Don't over-fertilize plants or overfeed fish.
First thing to do is identify the algae you're dealing with. Brownish/black algae could be diatoms (common in every new tank), BBA (black beard algae) or something else. Can you identify which it is? If not, can you post a picture?
Here's a description of common types of algae. It might help you identify it.
Algae control in the aquarium
jcarlilesiu
Aquarium Advice Addict
If it is brown and slick, I would guess diatoms. Since you keep "reinitializing" your tank, or adding new elements to it, or cleaning it, you might be actually doing more bad than good.
Diatoms are naturally occuring, and usually pop up in new tanks. They will fade over time.
Keep an eye on your tests and let the tank run a course for a little bit. If it continues to get worse, no harm done. If it subsides, then all good. Sometimes very small changes or adjustments are the best with a keen eye for a while afterward before making more adjustments.
Diatoms are naturally occuring, and usually pop up in new tanks. They will fade over time.
Keep an eye on your tests and let the tank run a course for a little bit. If it continues to get worse, no harm done. If it subsides, then all good. Sometimes very small changes or adjustments are the best with a keen eye for a while afterward before making more adjustments.
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
This also can be blue-green algae (which is actually a bacteria, and may be brown to black - so also known as black/red slime algae). BGA tends to form thick sheets that is tightly stuck to everything, and have a characteristic foul odor.
In a non-planted tank, I think the best thing to try first is a blackout. Remove as much of the algae as possible, then totally blackout the tank. For BGA (or BBA) you'll need 4-7 days to kill the stuff. Make sure you do a large pwc before & after the blackout, as dead algae can pollute your tank (and some BGA contains toxins).
The other thing you can try is Excel "overdose". Since you only have fake plants, you don't have to worry about them melting! The usual regeime is to use the "initial dose" everyday for 5-7 days. People have not reported problems with this, but I've emailed Seachem & they would not vouch for total safety of this treatment.
You may also use hydrogen peroxide to kill BBA or BGA. This is more dangerous and people have reported fish death. If you were to do it, I would suggest moving the fish to a temporary container during treatment.
Once you killed all the algae, then you would need to correct the root cause of the algae outbreak .... which usu. involve limiting light & nutrients.
In a non-planted tank, I think the best thing to try first is a blackout. Remove as much of the algae as possible, then totally blackout the tank. For BGA (or BBA) you'll need 4-7 days to kill the stuff. Make sure you do a large pwc before & after the blackout, as dead algae can pollute your tank (and some BGA contains toxins).
The other thing you can try is Excel "overdose". Since you only have fake plants, you don't have to worry about them melting! The usual regeime is to use the "initial dose" everyday for 5-7 days. People have not reported problems with this, but I've emailed Seachem & they would not vouch for total safety of this treatment.
You may also use hydrogen peroxide to kill BBA or BGA. This is more dangerous and people have reported fish death. If you were to do it, I would suggest moving the fish to a temporary container during treatment.
Once you killed all the algae, then you would need to correct the root cause of the algae outbreak .... which usu. involve limiting light & nutrients.
Thanks to everyone that replied. I was actually having success with peroxide and for the first time, didn't have to change my tank in a week. I did a partial water change on sunday and installed a filter (I had thrown my last one out before trying the peroxide) and now, two days later, my water is turning green and whatever algae it is, is coming back. I am uploading some pictures currently and will post if I can figure it out. I dont know what I am doing wrong but it looks like blackout and excel are my last options.
missileman
Aquarium Advice FINatic
to post pictures you have to click "reply" on the last post. You can't post pics from the quick reply window.
Scroll down to additional options and you will see a button "manage attachments" click on that button and you can browse for your pics.
Once you upload your pics you can close that window and then submit your reply. Sounds complicated but once you have done it its not that bad.
You can actually post a pic from quick reply with insert image but you have to host the image somwhere else like photobucket.com
Scroll down to additional options and you will see a button "manage attachments" click on that button and you can browse for your pics.
Once you upload your pics you can close that window and then submit your reply. Sounds complicated but once you have done it its not that bad.
You can actually post a pic from quick reply with insert image but you have to host the image somwhere else like photobucket.com
Here's some photos. This was the tank after one week of not cleaning it and right when I first posted.
This is today, two days after doing a partial water change and installing a new filter. I did the water change b/c the water was starting to get a green tint to it.
This is today, two days after doing a partial water change and installing a new filter. I did the water change b/c the water was starting to get a green tint to it.
marchmaxima
Aquarium Advice Addict
Almost certain thats diatoms. They are unsightly, but the good news is that they are harmless and temporary. It's very common for most new tanks to get diatoms. They feed on silicates and once their food source is gone they will fade.
That said you have a fairly nasty case there. I'd usually suggest that you stop trying to clean them out and ignore the problem and it would go away by itself, but I can see why you wouldn't like that option.
I'd also normally suggest getting a diatom-eating fish such as an Otocinclus, but they require warmer conditions and are incompatable for goldfish. I am not aware of a cold water equivallent.
Ultimately the reason that diatoms clear up is that they exhause their supply of silicates . Remove the source of the silicates and your problem should go away.
That said you have a fairly nasty case there. I'd usually suggest that you stop trying to clean them out and ignore the problem and it would go away by itself, but I can see why you wouldn't like that option.
I'd also normally suggest getting a diatom-eating fish such as an Otocinclus, but they require warmer conditions and are incompatable for goldfish. I am not aware of a cold water equivallent.
Ultimately the reason that diatoms clear up is that they exhause their supply of silicates . Remove the source of the silicates and your problem should go away.
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