Algae battle in my 55

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thecrow505

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 24, 2010
45
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albuquerque
I've got a 55 gallon that I can't seem to rid of algea, I've gone to the extent of covering it with a sheet for a week and a half so no light got in. The fish were moved so I could try to get it under control. Its green and seems to begin to form in small 'puddles' on the tank floor. Its a bare bottom right now, it was a tiled bottom. nitrate <3, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, gh 100, kh 120, ph 7.5.. Aquaclear110, and Marineland 350bio wheel. Light is down to a minimum, I'm not feeding, theres no fish in it. It was cycled prior and has been set up for 3-4 months. Every time I vacuum the algae up it returns the next day, can anybody help me? The algae forms in a line directly under the filters and runs the length of the tank. Its very frustrating.
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seems like unless you have zero nitrates and phospates plus some light you will always have some algae growing in the tank.
 
Do you know what the nitrates are in you tap? Also I've heard even with low nitrates if phospates are high you can have proplems, maybe those are high in your tank or tap.
 
Is there natural sunlight? If you have barely any nitrates, then I would assume it's from natural sunlight. I'm no algae pro though.
 
So you're saying that you want a healthy, thriving tank that never grows any algae? Sounds like a contradiction to me. For the typical home aquarium algea is just part of the game. I get many different types of hair, spot and grown algae and my fish enjoy eating them all. Think of them as temporary plants.

As for never seeing any algae, you can add a lot of floating plants like water lettuce to use the light and nutrients. Works in my 55g. I still have blackbeard, though. But I like it. :D

I've heard CO2 may or may not make a difference. And phosphate removers are a good start, too.
 
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