aquariums constantly being covered in algae

[ratedBforBeau]

hey guys, my oscar tank (55gallon) has been covered and i mean covered with green algae to the point where you cannot see into the tank, i had a marineland penguin 350, and i recently got a marineland canister, magnum 350, and still my tank gets covered. what is causing this and how can i stop it? thanks

 

[strollo22]

How many hours a day do you have your lights on and what kind of lights are they?


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[evox53187]

Do you have it next to a window?

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[koltsixx]

If the algae is established so strongly in your tank it probably means your over feeding as well as leaving the lights on too long or that the tank is in direct sunlight. Over feeding an O is pretty easy to do since they blow as much food out their gills as they actually eat causing the algae to have a ready source of nutrients to thrive off of never mind the O's high waste out put(poop). Best bet would be to reduce the amount of time that the lights are on in the tank or find away to avoid the direct sunlight if that's the cause. Upping your water changes will also help reduce the amount of available nutrients for the algae by removing the O's waste. Just my opinion on the matter and I hope the suggestions help.

 

[ratedBforBeau]

guys great input! my grandparents recently moved the tank in front of a window, ill be sure to move it somewhere else, and the light on the tank is a regular 4ft shoplight,ill be sure to reduce the time that the light is on!

 

[Blazin]

what are your water params? I've herd that high nitrates feed the algae, so like everyone else said up the water changes.

 

[jhc7685]

My outdoor tank used to have a lot of algae too, it gets a lot of indirect sunlight. But I threw in a bunch of plants and it helped reduce the algae growth by taking up the nutrient. The water is still a little green but not as bad.

 

[ratedBforBeau]

id put plants in or an algae eater but my O eats anything and everything so i removed al the fake plants cause he uprooted every single oone

 

[crazyk213]

I had a similar issue before even after it was moved from a window. Fluval makes a media that sucks nitrate and phosphate out. If you drop those down it should clear, but do good water changes cause the dead algae feeds the growing algae

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[muskieboy]

Unless you have live plants then you really only need the lights on for viewing.