Algae question

[Loaches-R-US]

Hello,

I have been a frequent visitor to this site. I have been keeping loaches for about 10 years now. I just recently setup a new tank about 1 month ago and it seems to have a green hair algae problem. I have never run into this problem type of issue before other than your basic algae growth. The tank is very healthy and my loaches are doing great. I also have a large selection of live plants, which where bought after the algae problem first occured. My water chemistry checks out to be very good, Ammonia 0 ppm, Nitrite 0 ppm and Nitrates barely viable about 5 ppm maybe a little less. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome, other than the green algae being ugly as it tries to take over my decor, the tank is doing wonderful.

Thank you for yout time in advance,

Chris

[Total Package]

It's a common problem in new tanks. I'd expect it to sort itself out over time.

Have you put any live plants into the tank? If so, how heavily is it planted?

More plants should help to out-compete the algae.

[chefkeith]

Algae is good IMO. Don't let it be a nuesance to you. It uses up excess nutrients in the water and turns it into a food source. You can try to groom it in parts of the tank away from plants. IME, if algae is given it's own space it won't migrate as much in other parts of the tank. It may take 6 months or so for the tank to stabilize though. In other words, if you keep trying to get rid of it completely, it will keep coming back no matter what you do. Well, there is one or 2 things you can do to reduce algae. That is to get a CO2 system, but there are no gaurentee's with that. There are also some good fast growing algae busting plants out there.

[mistergreen]

Welcome,

Algae is a complicated issue. It depends on the exact type of algae, the nutrients in the water, the amount of lights in wattage & photo period..

Good news is they are not harmful to you fish. You'll just have to manually remove them or get fishies that'll eat them. If you have Blue Green Algae, you'll have to physically remove them & do a total blackout* on your tank for 3-4 days.


*blackout - no lights & cover the entire tank so no light can get in.

[Loaches-R-US]

Thank you for the ideas and suggestions everyone. I woould say my tank is not that heavily planted as of yet. I do have a fair amount of java moss and java ferns in the tank which seem to be doing great. I have read in various articles that green algae is a sign of a healthy tank other than possibly taking over the decor. I will keep a watch on the growth and hopefully it will sort itself out. My Vampire pleco seems to be dining very well atleast

Thanks again everyone

Chris

[MTS]

Might try getting a phosphate test to keep a check on phosphate levels. There are phosphate pads and other phosphate removing media you can put in your filter to reduce the phosphate level. Plants need phosphate but too much phosphate will encourage algae. Often overfeeding causes too much phosphate but sometimes it is in already present in your tap water.

[worldrallynut]

phosphates are present in many fish foods such as flakes. I believe they use it as a binding agent. Hair algae is usually a result of excess phosphates. I would test both your tank water, and whatever you are using as a water source for the tank to see the phosphate levels. A great (but expensive) phosphate remover is rowa-phos.

[chefkeith]

My tap is loaded with phosphates also. Best free phosphate remover is algae. Give the algae time to grow, in a few months phosphates will go down, and in turn so will the algae. If you add some driftwood, the algae will attach itself to that, forming a nice carpet on it.

[mistergreen]

I want to clear up a few things...
Yes, phosphate is in fish food but it's naturally in the organic particles. People don't add in phosphate (it's not in the binding)..

And algae are opportunistic organisms.. They feed off anything, not just phosphate. They'll feed off ammonia, nitrate etc...

And the best way to control algae is to remove it and do water changes. You'll never get rid of them. Chemicals usually just add to the problem and have side effects.

[Loaches-R-US]

Chefkeith,

I have a large amount of driftwood in the tank, I can see some signs of the algae, but most of it seems to want to grow on the back of the tank and my resin decor items.

Chris

[chefkeith]

For me it took about 6 months for the algae to stabilize. The 1st few months a greenish blue bush algae formed on all the glass and plants/decor/driftwood. After this initial layer of bush algae sets in on the driftwood/decor, another type of algae grew over it. It's a bright green carpet forming short haired algae. I'm not sure what classification of it is, but after awhile this type of algae will turn red in high water flow area's. I've been letting mine grow for over a year now. The only maintenence in the tank I do to the algae is scraping off the bush algae from the front glass about every other month. There is also one area in the tank that grows some nice long green hair algae that I'll trim off and feed it to my shrimps and snails.

The only plants I keep in the main tank right now are Crypts. They don't grow much, but their roots pretty much take up the entire 6ft foot length of the tank. I pulled out all my fast growing plants last year. They required too much maintenance, ferts, co2, and trimming for me to handle.

There are many options. Try everything, but not all at once. It may take a few years to discover what works best for you. Learning new things as you go is the funnest part of this hobby.

[MTS]

Also a UV sterilizer will discourage algae, at least the free-floating kind.