controlling algae?

[thezombiesarecoming]

hey all. i've got a 55 gal that seems to be a haven for wild and crazy algae growth. i've got algae eaters. i've got live plants (although they aren't on a crazy growth spurt at the moment. it's a long story, but they were starting to get new growth and i had to move them to another tank, but then immediately had to move them back to the 55, of course disrupting the roots, etc). i don't leave the lights on for all hours of the day (enough to be good for the plants, but not too much). it's not in direct sunlight; it's actually in a quite dark corner of the room.

i know algae is inevitable, but within a couple months the rocks and plastic plants all get a layer of green and the only way the algae will come off is a bath in bleach (of course with an EXTREMELY good cleanse afterwards. but i don't like doing this; it's a lot of work and a pain in the ass and i'm always paranoid about not cleaning the rocks good enough and killing fish - even though i haven't lost one yet after the Big Clean.)

does anyone know what else i can do to control the algae growth?? or is this a totally normal thing and i should just learn to live with green rocks?please, if you have any advice at all, i'd greatly appreciate it. thanks!

 

[JK47]

The number one cause of algea is excessive food source if the tank is not in front of a window/direct sunlight etc... You didn't mention your stcok or water change schedule, how often are you doing water changes?

 

[thezombiesarecoming]

i try to do water changes every week, but i've got a 9 month old who keeps me busy, so sometimes they get pushed to 2 weeks...

as for fish stock, it's a little over stocked at the moment cuz i had a 93 gal, which broke so all the fish got crammed into the 55 gal... one of which is a large common pleco a friend gave me which is far too big for the 55 gal. but i've had this problem even before that guy was added when the fish stock was at a good level. summary of stock: 2 severums (~6" and 4"), 2 gouramis, 2 angels, 1 bolivian ram, 1 headstander, 1 sailfin pleco, 1 raphael cat, 1 upsidedown catfish, 1 yoyo loach (i think?), 1 cory, 2 rainbowfish, 2 parrotfish, 1 snowflake eel, 1 (small breed) bumble bee catfish, and the big common pleco. i think that's it.

the water quality is all good. i don't think i'm over-feeding them...? i do a small pinch or two of flake food with some frozen bloodworms in the morning, then a bit of flake food at night. is that too much? it doesn't seem to take them long to inhale it all, that's why i didn't think it was overmuch.

 

[JakeH]

With that stock in a 55g, you would have to change the water daily to keep your levels in check. You're gonna have to lose some of that stock or keep fighting this uphill battle forever.