Desperate

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T

Thomas V.

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 20, 2009
38
0
0
Belgium
Ok, i have a problem, and i have it for a very long time! ALGAE

I have 2 main tanks (one tropical and one cold native) both are suffering for algae, i know this question must have been asked so many times, but i looked the entire site and internet, and tried most ways and nothing helped...

TANK 1:

Is a tropical tank (80cm long) with one piece of old driftwood (has been in there always) and a few ceramic pots, as plants i only have some javafern because of the single pair of convicts i keep in there are pretty destructive towards...wel anything :p

A few months ago i noticed blue algea in my tank, i know its actually not algea but a bacteria (cyanobacteria), internet said its because my nitrates are to high, solution: more filtration, more waterchanges and remove as much of the algae manually as possible!

I did clean out my entire filter, and since a few months i change water at least once a week (mostly twice) for 1/3 minimum. I also had beard algae, which has been eliminated by this process. BUT, those pesky blue algeas keep comming back.

If i would not clean my tank weekly (whipe all those blue **** off) it would overgrow anything again!



TANK 2: This tank is setted up quite recently, like 5 monts ago, and is coldwater, with 3 yellowfin perch (small ones), its 1m and quite deep.
Its filled with rocks and some coldwaterplants (very fast growers).

I think some of the blue algea must have made it to this tank by my cleaninghose or something because here i have the same problem. Blue **** everywhere. also here i try to waterchange as much as i can. but it just keeps comming back.



If someone has an ultimate solution, i'd be very gratefull!

Bad solutions:

-Pleco: can't survive in cold water, and my convicts don't like company
-shrimps: would get eaten instandly
- waterchanges: this way i can somehow control the plague, but not eliminate
 
Check your tap water and tank for nitrates and phosphates. Phosphates are a particular culprit as plants don't use them as fast as algae. That's why plant tank additives are phosphate free.

If either are in your tap water WC won't help.
 
vladfloroff;3724635; said:
Check your tap water and tank for nitrates and phosphates. Phosphates are a particular culprit as plants don't use them as fast as algae. That's why plant tank additives are phosphate free.

If either are in your tap water WC won't help.
Click to expand...


Ok, i hope there is some way to test for phosphates

and lets say that that IS the problem, how to get phosphates out?
 
You can get phosphate removal media at you LFS. You stick it in your filters and it will pull it out.
 
You could try building an algae scrubber. You can look up what it is in the DIY section. They basically provide a place for algae to grow (NOT inside the tank) to suck up all the nutrients. That eliminates any excess nutrients in the tank, so any algae in the tank will eventually disappear and not come back.

They do require maintenance, but its not too difficult to do.

Good luck!
 
would a mild course of antibiotics wipe it out? then you just have to worry about prevention. anyone have input on this?
 
I have several tanks that planted and gets algae bloom whenever the water parameters are not right. What I did was invested in a UV Light from Petsmart for $50. I put it in my tank, had it run for 1.5 day, the water turned cloudy, then did a 50% water change. Never bloomed every since. It's a great investment. :)

Good luck!
 
Erythromycin kills it, but won't stop it from coming back. It was introduced once, it will probably happen again.

But, you can use the antibiotics to kill it and then fix whatever is allowing it to thrive.
 
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