Algae

[colejohnson73]

My tank is covered in algae.

 

[BBradbury]

My tank is covered in algae.

Hello cole...

Nothing wrong with algae. It's the sign of a healthy tank. Algae is an efficient water filter. It helps keep the water chemistry stable. It's an essential part of your fishes' diet. It's pretty.

Algae thrives in newly set up tanks, because the fish, plants and water are still working together to create stable water properties. You can help the cause by keeping the water pure. Large, frequent water changes will help. Change half in small tanks up to 30 gallons every week. The larger tanks can usually go 2 weeks between the 50 percent changes.

Be careful how much you feed. Aquarium fish are small with smaller stomachs. Feed a little 2 to 3 times a week and feed a variety of frozen, freeze dried and flaked. Keep the flaked to a minimum.

Floating plants are great users of nitrogen. Nitrogen dissolves in the tank water from uneaten food and from the wastes the fish produce. The floaters use up these nutrients through their leaves instead of the roots like the plants that have to be in the substrate, so they'll use a lot.

B

 

[Glene20]

How bad is your algae?

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Rivercats]

What kind of algae? You need to post a picture for proper identification. You also need to provide tank information so as response can be posted that will help you correct the problem since algae is caused from an imbalance of lighting, CO2, and ferts.

What size is the tank and how long has it been setup?
What type light and bulbs are you using?
How long do you run lighting daily?
Is the tank planted?
How often do you do WC's?
How much water do you change out each time?
What is your nitrate and phosphate levels?

Different types of algae can be caused from different things so knowing and seeing the type of algae you have is important. Some types of algae can be spot treated with hydrogen peroxide 3% or liquid carbon. The main thing is to find out what is causing it and fixing that problem.