Algae taking over

[susanh]

I have a 29 gallon planted tank that has a algae problem. I am not sure what sort algae it is- long green strands that seem to be growing up from the substrate. The tank has soil with gravel over it. Well established plants, a large sword plant in the middle and a bunch of corkscrew vals all over. The vals have been mostly chopped off by a loach that I inherited (along with a number of other fish I might not have chosen). There are 4 cardinal tetra, 4 lined tetra, 6 rasbora plus inherited fish some of which I am not sure on- but 4 larger tetra, a algae eater, the loach, and two of something else.

I have Finnex FugeRay Planted+ Aquarium LED on for a few hours in the morning and then again in the evening. I try to do a significant water change once a month and I pull out any algae I can grasp a couple of times a week. The tank is about 2 years old. The algae problem is about 6 months old.

I need to move the tank, and when I do that I want to try and address the algae. Should I get rid of the soil and just do gravel? If I totally deconstruct the tank and clean it (just scraping and scrubbing) and remove the soil, can I put the fish right back in or do I need to recycle? What do I do with the fish in the mean time? Any other advice?

 

[brennae]

I'm worried that your overstocked and not changing enough water. What kind of filtration are you using? In a months time a lot of things can build up in your tank and then changing a bunch of the water all of the sudden isn't necessarily healthy for the fish. With being as stocked as it appears then I would suggest weekly changes. It would be less stressful on the fish and then less nutrients for the algae would be in the water column. You also could try less light, raising the light higher over the tank and try using Seachem's Excel which has an algaecide in it.

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