Help! I could use some answers on algae issues...

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Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2010
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Northern NJ
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I have a 55 gallon tank I bought used (it was used for snakes, and I cleaned it thoroughly before using with my fish), I've had the tank going for 6 months and I've had such problems with algae. It got to a point where I was cleaning and doing 10 gallon water changes once a week and it didn't seem to make a difference. I've had the water tested and everything was cool. I've got stone, clay pot, 2 live plants and a large piece of driftwood. If I don't change my water every week, it get's full of algae.

My ex-roommate had a 75 gallon tank that he changed the water in about once a month and his was always crystal clear. He however had a bio-wheel filter where I have 2 aquaclear 110's. Do I just need to be vigorous with my water changes weekly, or should I upgrade my filtering? I'm getting sick of having to take stuff out and scrub it down every 2 weeks. I feel like I am stressing my fish too often. The only fish in the tank are (1) 5" male Jack Dempsey, and (1) 6" L91 pleco. I have a larger gravel base and I'm considering going to white sand, but I don't dare go with white while I continue to have the algae issues. Considering the gravel has some algae growth on it now, I probably should take it all out, scrub down the whole tank including the stone caves and set back up all over right? Ugh.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/sssk8rat/tankwithdriftwood001.jpg

Any recommendations are appreciated.
 
You could just turn on your lights less, but to tell you the truth your tank looks spectacular and you just need to invest in a gravel cleaner and a magnetic scrubber and you should have no problems!

Anyways Good Luck :]
 
A little bit of algae is fine. No need to fret over some algae on some rocks. I'd do 20 gallon WC's at least though. That should help. Also like above poster less lights. Turn them on when you want to see the fish that's it. No need for 10am to midnight lights being on.
 
I agree with the above comments, one thing I would like to point out is that lucky bamboo can't be fully submerged.
 
Citrinellus;4244655; said:
one thing I would like to point out is that lucky bamboo can't be fully submerged.
Click to expand...

Oh yes! Very true, some plants are mislabeled as aquatic plants and they will eventually drown and rot. Sadly, this has happened to me also but have learned from it.

Cheers ;]
 
Thanks a lot for some feedback. It makes sense what you all say. I have the tank light on from 6am till 9:30pm on a timer, that's probably half the problem. I should also clean the gravel and change more water each time I clean, instead of more frequent water changes of just 5-10 gallons.

The light I have in there is really bright as well, I suppose that doesn't help. My ex-roommate that I mentioned in the post above- he turned on his tank light only at night and sometimes didn't even bother. I always figured it mattered but he was just a stoner. I for some reason thought fish were more like plants and needed steady light with seasonal changes, such as longer light in summer and less in winter and so on. If that's not the case, I'll take the timer off the light and quit being so anal about the light being on. I can see that changing the algae issue a lot.

Thanks for saying my tank looks "spectacular". It's very basic now. I'm removing the bamboo as suggested (it hasn't grown an inch in the 6 months it's been in there, I should have read up first). I'd like to get some java moss for on top of the rocks and driftwood. From what I've read it can overwhelm a tank, anyone with experience with Java Moss too, feel free to comment.

Again, thanks a lot for the suggestions, and if anyone else has any on algae or java moss-
 
P.S. You'll have to excuse me if I posted this in the wrong section. I just noticed that MFK is part of a network of forums. Perhaps I should have posted in the Aquaria Central forum section? I'm new and just becoming familiar. I read some of the rules, but...
 
Cut your lighting back to 8-10 hrs a day that will be 90% of your problem. Large water changes are good too try 50% every 2 weeks, if you haven't get or diy a python they make large water changes easy. Every time you scrub off algae you should do a 50% or more wc to get rid of as much waterborne algae and algal spores as possible.
Hope this helps

Regards

Ollie
 
Great advice guys. It has been working already. I've noticed a considerable difference with cutting the light hours back. And I'll be sure to do larger water changes after scrubbing the walls down as well. I wasn't doing that before, I was counting on the filter picking up the waterborne algae after I scrubbed it, and then rinsing the filter once a month. Best to get as much out of the water with a larger water change.

Another benefit from cutting back on the light hours- My JD comes out in the open area much more often now. I almost feel like the light I have is too bright for him.

Great advice guys, thank you.
 
If you want try getting some floating plants to naturally cut back the light levels, amazon frogbit is a good one to use.

Regards

Ollie
 
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