My buttikoferi has alot of algae in its tank.I do waterchanges in the tank and wipe the glass then it comes back a couple days later.whats the problem,Could it be underfiltration.
algae in cichlid tank
- Thread starter large_cichlids
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do you vacuum bottom substrate to get excess food out of tank? definetely buy a big filter for the tank. never a bad idea to have to much filtration. hope you get it under control. the liquid algae remover at the Lfs may work. good luck. how big is the tank?
It is a 40 gallon temporalliy tank till it goes back in the pond.I do gravel vacs all the time.I mostly just change 25% to 50% most of the time.the filter it has now is a aquaclear 200 which is for 50 gallon tanks.
I had the very same thing happen to me twice with my 40 gal. This happened pretty much as soon as the tank was fully stocked (angelfish and rams). The first time the algae popped up, I used one of the commercially available "algae-clear" type products. It worked fairly well, but the effects didn't really last all that long. The thing that finally cleared my tank of algae was the addition of a great number of rooted live plants. Before long, the majority of nutrients that algae use to grow were being used up by the live plants. Now I have gone so far as to actually add nutrients and CO2 injection, and there's not a sign of algae anywhere in the tank.
Another thing that will do the trick is a well-controlled population of either pond snails or Maylaysian trumpet snails. Good luck, man!
Another thing that will do the trick is a well-controlled population of either pond snails or Maylaysian trumpet snails. Good luck, man!
Chemical algae removers are probably the worst option there is. The levels of copper in the meds are fairly unpredicable and can often impare gill function. Live plants are definately your best option, but with a buttikoferi, I see that turning into salad mix all over the tank.
I dont figure you can put too many tankmates with the butti, so I figure that rubberlipped, bristlenose, and other plecos (other than common) that actually eat algae, are out of the question.
Pond snails or MTS are probably your best option. Another (though diffcult to setup) option would be to set up an extra "box" area hanging in/on your tank, that would share the water of the tank. Then, you could grow easy plants in it, without the butti destroying them. The plants will help reduce nitrate, phos, iron, and other nutrient levels, thus inhibiting the algae growth. I guess this setup would be similar to a refugium for a saltwater tank. I've never had a SW tank, so feel to correct if I'm mistaken.
I dont figure you can put too many tankmates with the butti, so I figure that rubberlipped, bristlenose, and other plecos (other than common) that actually eat algae, are out of the question.
Pond snails or MTS are probably your best option. Another (though diffcult to setup) option would be to set up an extra "box" area hanging in/on your tank, that would share the water of the tank. Then, you could grow easy plants in it, without the butti destroying them. The plants will help reduce nitrate, phos, iron, and other nutrient levels, thus inhibiting the algae growth. I guess this setup would be similar to a refugium for a saltwater tank. I've never had a SW tank, so feel to correct if I'm mistaken.
Algae is normal in all aquariums and the best way to control it is to keep a pleco in there. Thats why I had to put a 15" Common Pleco in my Dovii tank because the algae was becoming a problem. If you dont wan't to add a pleco then first clean all the algae off the inside of the tank and also get it out of your filters and then start dosing AlgaeFix with you weekly water changes and it should keep it controlled. GoodLuck
you could have to much substrate in the tank.
to much sun. not vacuuming enough. to much light.
Under gravel filters will often cause allot of algae to grow in a tank if you have this it can work well or poorly sometimes.
to much sun. not vacuuming enough. to much light.
Under gravel filters will often cause allot of algae to grow in a tank if you have this it can work well or poorly sometimes.