Loaches Online Forum

I've posted this on a few fora so please dont get annoyed if you've read this before.

I'm puzzled by a Cyano breakout i'm having, my stats are 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm Nitrites, 20-40ppm Nitrates, pH 7.4. I dose about 3ml of easy life profito a week as i have soft water.

I usually do a 20% water change every week, and i've even picked up a eheim vacuum to clean the cyano off the Java moss and stones.

Aquarium is filtered by an aquaball 60 and aquaball 180 with lots of bubbles. The tank is 36x12x18. Plants include a large Anubias Nana which is cyano free and the large clump of java moss which is getting hammered by the Cyano.

I don't/can't use antibiotics as its a waste and could lead to issues. The tank is lit by a 39W hagen glo T5 from 4pm-10pm everyday.

As the tank is for Hill stream loach the light is on to help grow algae. I'm also in the process of setting up a river manifold.

Can anyone suggest anything i'm doing wrong? The Java moss is at the far end of the tank from the flow.

This is what I would do:

Clean up as much of the Cyanobacteria as you can.

Do a three or four day blackout, take a black garbage bag or 2 and tape them over the tops and sides of the tank. The fish and plants will be fine with this, the bacteria not so much.

Afterwards, I'd either reduce the light time or break it into two smaller periods of being on a day; I believe I read that algae doesn't like that.

You may have to do more than one blackout to see results, but it should eventually work.

As to growing algae for the hillies, try doing it in a bucket or spare tank. Someplace where there is sun is great, and you can add ammonia to speed it along. Just swap rocks in and out of the main tank.

You might want to add a few more plants to compete with the algae.

Hmm I currently light for 6 hours, is this too long? 20G tank with a 39W T5. The blackout, though it will kill it, it doesn't stop the cause. I'm going to borrow a friends phosphate test kit.

I don't feed hugely though i'm going to cut back a little more for a week or two and see what occurs. I already grow algae in a second tank in a window.

It could be phosphate related, I don't track phosphates.

6 hours isn't very long, no, but my feeling, and someone may disagree, is that 39 watts is a bit high if you aren't heavily planted.

Also, a 36x12x18 tank is closer to 30 than 20 gallons.

mpeterb wrote:It could be phosphate related, I don't track phosphates.

6 hours isn't very long, no, but my feeling, and someone may disagree, is that 39 watts is a bit high if you aren't heavily planted.

Also, a 36x12x18 tank is closer to 30 than 20 gallons.

Maybe in US gallons!

Hmm i'm going to get that phosphate kit and run it past my tank and see what my level is.

Hmm i usually do 20% weekly for water changes, would it be worth upping this?

Maybe in US gallons!

You got me.

Hmm i usually do 20% weekly for water changes, would it be worth upping this?

It couldn't hurt. If it doesn't help at all then it's probably too much light or something in your source water.