Green Algae Help

[cp900]

Hi guys,

I have had a 75g freshwater tank for about 2 months now and have developed a bit of a green algae problem. The water has pretty much a green tint now (after a large water change). Before that it was hard to see anything even a few inches away from the glass.

I am currently keeping the lights off 24/7 to try to let it die off and the spotted hypostamus to do its thing and eat some of it.

Is this a good course of action or should I be doing something else?

I currently have:

7 Tiger Barbs
9 Cherry Barbs
4 Panda Corys
1 Rainbow Shark
1 Spotted Hypostamus
4 Red Wag Platies

Thanks in advance.

 

[rich311k]

Welcome to AA!!!

You may need to completely blackout the tank to rid yourself of it. Other options would be a diatom filter or a UV device. You then need to figure out the cause or it will come back. Is the tank planted? How long do you leave your lights on? Any direct sunlight?

 

[cp900]

No plants (except plastic ones)
No direct sunlight or very little.
Currently leaving the lights on from about 8 AM to about 10 PM, after typing that, that seems like a long time, is that too long?

 

[rich311k]

Yes way to long. With just fish 5-8 hours a day is more than enough.

 

[jamesrm]

When I had a simular problem, I added a additional canister filter with activated carbon, it really helped out. You might consider that or adding carbon to your current media.

 

[dskidmore]

How much are you feeding the fish? What is your water change routine? Light is only one of the needed nutrients for algae.

 

[cp900]

Well I generally change about 30% of the water weekly (until the algae problem when I changed about 50%).

I generally feed twice a day (morning and when I get home from work) from the following:
1 of the following:
Frozen Bloodworms
Frozen Brine Shrimp
Tetramin Crispy Flakes
Some other regular flakes
Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms

AND 1 of the following
Shrimp Pellets
Algae Wafer

I think I am pretty mindful of how much I feed, but I definitely have cut back since the algae popped up.

 

[dskidmore]

I think you're overfeeding. Every other day is fine for most fish. Does it all get eaten within 3 minutes, or are there leftovers falling to the bottom?

 

[cp900]

The flakes/worms/tubifex/shrimp are usually gone in a few minutes.

The sinking stuff (pellets/wafers) typically take a while longer, but are never there after a couple hours.

I'll try cutting back and see if that helps.