Getting Rid of Algae

[brandi17201]

It sounds like you are being affected by several different kinds of algae.

A few questions:

What are your water parameters? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, GH/KH if you have it)

What kind of lighting do you have on the tank? (type of bulbs, wattage, color temp)

How long per day are you lighting the tank?

How long has the tank been established?

Are you dosing any kind of fertilizers?

What kind of fish are in the tank? How many of each? How often are you feeding, and what are you feeding?

Some pics of the plants will help identify what you have... and help determine proper lighting. Some pics of the algae will help specifically identify which types you have.

I have a question. Am I supposed to change out some of the water to prevent algae. I am having the same poblem. I clean the filter twice a week. But no matter how often I clean the glass and filter I can't control the algae on my live plants and stones.

 

[Gillie]

Changing the water helps remove excess nutients that the algae feeds on and removes spores. Refrain from cleaning your filter so much, depending on how you go about cleaning it, you could be removing the much needed nitrifying bacteria throwing off any balance there may be and starting a mini cycle or crash each time. I clean my filters every few months just rinsing the media off in the water I've removed from the tank.

 

[fort384]

Moved this post to it's own discussion thread

 

[brandi17201]

My filter is usually so nasty when I change it. Do you recommend any good algae eaters? And are there any fish that can keep my plants clean? I am new to aquascaping. I have a 10 gallon tank and have two florescent lights that are 65k each. Im also looking to a good ground grass to cover the bottom. And how would you suggest cleaning the tank?

 

[fort384]

Adding excess bioload without figuring out what is causing the algae is generally not a good idea. Can you post the answers to questions I asked in the first post on this thread? It will go a long way in helping to determine what the cause is.

Also, how often are you doing PWCs, and how much each time?

 

[brandi17201]

Ok I just tested my water. Ph low is 6.4,ph high is 7.4, nitrate looks like 0ppm, amonia I hhad no reading water stayed clear,KH test- says the water is supposed to turn blue at first drop and never did, GH test- water never changed color. Im not sure what all of that means because I was going by what a site said online because I lost my guide. I have two 65k fluorscent bulbs, I have had the tank set up with no fish or plants for 2 months and just added fish and plants a month ago. I used to leave light on all the time but now I turn it off at night. I have 4 tiger tetras,2 neon tetras,1 molly and 1 half beak fish. Also what is a PWC? Sorry I am very new to this. No I have not used any fertilizers. My plants are growing like crazy except for I had a couple of the plants with the purple leaves die on me. Im not familer with the plant names hence I am new to this. Let me know if my pics show up I tried uploading them from my phone. I am using an adroid phone. Thanks.

 

[brandi17201]

Oh and I feed the fish every other day and I feed them tetra flakes and granules

 

[Gillie]

1 Take out the purple waffle, it's not aquatic.
2 Did you plant the bunches weight and all? If so you'll want to remove the weights and space each stem out just enough that the light reaches the bottom leaves.
3 If you like a little more color Crypt wendtii red or bronze and Luwigia palustris or ovalis are nice choices.

PWC is partial water change most people change 15-25% weekly.

 

[brandi17201]

Oh that's what that's called lol...funny I got it at petco in their tank with live plants...I had others but they died quickly...ok so once a week ill change some water. I was not sure if I was to leave the weights on or now. I thought I was to leave them on to hold the plants down lol. Could that one flower cause algae because its not aquatic? I took the bunches of the one plant today and made an arch out of it. I think it will look neat once it grows out. How's the ph etc levels that I posted?

 

[Gillie]

The stems will eventually root, stores use them so they can just throw the bunches in the tank and go about their business. The purple waffle rotting away in the tank definitely will not help your situation, rotting matter produces ammonia and what not that will fuel algae. Your ph and that look fine although I cannot comment on your gh, kh I never test for it.
Here is an example of proper stem planting, on the right end of the tank

Just far enough apart so light reaches the bottom

 

[brandi17201]

Here is another pic of the plant. Why would they put this as an aquatic plant for sale? Also the second pic has a plant in the front corner. It used to have pretty purple cattail looking flowers on it. But all of a sudden all the purple is gone and its turning brown. Is my lighting good? I posted my lighting in a previous post.

 

[brandi17201]

Ok so gh and kh I don't need to worry about it? I will def take that plant out. Is that a potted plant? If so ill try to grow it in a pot.lol... its very pretty. Im learning the dos and donts lol...

 

[Gillie]

They sell it as aquatic because it is pretty and people that aren't experienced in aquatic plants will buy them, it happens to alot of people. There is a research and reference sticky in the fresh and brackish planted tank section that will be a very helpful resource to you it has a link to a list of non aquatic plants that commonly get sold as aquatic.

 

[Gillie]

Ok so gh and kh I don't need to worry about it? I will def take that plant out. Is that a potted plant? If so ill try to grow it in a pot.lol... its very pretty. Im learning the dos and donts lol...

Here's mine, in the center

They sell them potted at Walmart

 

[brandi17201]

I ment is the purple waffle a soil potted plant? Is that your tank? I want to put big rock formations in my tank like that but also want a grassy looking bottom. Any suggestions of a grassy bottom plant?

 

[Gillie]

Absolutely, I just grow mine in a terrarium
Grassy lawns can be touch and go in low tech tanks without co2 unless you use a soil substrate underneath your gravel.

 

[Gillie]

Oh what is your lighting schedule on that tank?

 

[brandi17201]

How much do co2's cost? Do I use it with my reg filter? I turn my tank off at night and leave it on during the day. Would it be safe at this point to pull the stones out and put that soil stuff underneath? As far as cleaning all I do is replace some of the water once a week?

 

[Gillie]

co2 setups cost around 60.00 up, but then you get thrown into a whole new area of plant keeping that you may not be ready for quite yet, like figuring out fertilizer dosing based on the needs of individual plants. you do have another option though pick up a bottle of Flourish comprehensive which is an all in one fertilizer and a bottle of Flourish Excel which provides a carbon source like co2 would. As far as the soil substrate getting ready for one can take some time, the soil has to be soaked in water stirring occasionally until it stops leeching ammonia which will cause levels to rise to levels that are lethal to its inhabitants. Then you have to tear down the tank to put the soil in. Also if you are running 2 20'' light fixtures on your tank that gives you 3 watts per gallon which is on the high end, I would cut down to 1 and only run it for 8 hours a day max the excess light will cause algae problems. I may have missed something, but I'm sure it will come up at some point.

 

[Gillie]

I did miss something, water changes, yes siphon 20% twice a week for now until you can get the algae under control and replace it with new water. Then once the algae is controlled you can just do 20% once a week.