Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => General Fishkeeping advice => Topic started by: jesnon on April 02, 2016, 07:45:57 PM
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I've been having algae issues recently and I'm not sure what has caused it or how to fix it. My tank and residents are all fine and my lights aren't on that long, but I keep getting this algae everywhere. It seems to grow in bits on all my decor and just gets everywhere - it's in clumps and ends up on the bottom of my tank looking gross and it's so bad it keeps growing on my pre-filter and causing the flow to get so slow and when I do water changes the water is black from the algae!
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I'm a bit short on time so can't offer much at present.
The following articles are both quite useful:
- http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/algae.htm
- http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=4085
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Sounds like hair algae. I'd always be inclined to reduce the amount of time the lights are on in the tank to start with.
You might want to consider planting some fast growing plants that can out compete the algae. Floating plants will use up excess nutrients and reduce light in the tank.
Some fish will eat hair algae (SAE, Florida Flag fish, and Amano shrimp) however this will only treat the symptoms not the cause.
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Water readings would be helpful.
Have you added any new stock or had any disappear?
Any changes at all in your set up and/or maintenance?
edited to add: a better description or pics of the algae please. Different types thrive in different situations
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Hi everyone thanks for the replies - all my water readings are normal, ammonia and nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 20ppm. I have one clown killi and three Amanos in the tank, the Amanos are newish but the algae had been an irritation for a while now long before any new additions. I lost a killifish before I got the Amanos but I don't believe that's related as killis are apparently difficult fish to keep. I have noticed the amanos eating the algae.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/jessboon/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsbqf1a37j.jpeg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/jessboon/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpspnfytqpu.jpeg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/jessboon/Mobile%20Uploads/20151006_101624_zps9i3imk7g.jpg)
I would like to buy some floating plants as my fish like them so that's helpful that they may reduce the algae!
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How long are your lights actually on and is the tank anywhere near natural light? You'd be surprised how much light a tank can get from a window even 6 ft away.
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I agree it doesn't look pretty, does it? I really hope you can get this sorted. I'm sure with the advice available here you will get back to what you desire from your aquarium. Nice plants by the way!! 8)
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Nice plants by the way!! 8)
The anubia is live, I think the rest are artificial, silk plants are actually amazingly effective.
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I was going to say, what red-edged plant id that but then realised it could be artificial. But the anubias are undoubtedly live. Hope you get back on track soon :D
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Yes unfortunately only the Anubis is real! My aquatic plant keeping is about as successful as my attempts at house plant keeping! The cave use to be a moss cave... I never knew it was possible to kill moss! Unfortunately even my moss ball has turned into an algae ball. The Anubis is the only plant I've managed to keep alive! I did have luck with hornwort though so hopefully I'll get some of that and my new fish if MA have any in stock!
Here's a full view of the tank to see the artificial plants, and one shrimp perched on a rock if you can spot him! This was after a water change that I mostly spent fishing out algae and scrubbing decor!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/jessboon/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsyyiokift.jpeg)
The lights are on sporadically as I stopped using my timer - generally about 8 hours a day. I guess I'll cut down so they're only on when I'm looking at the tank and see if that improves things. I think Fiona has hit on the issue... The tank is unfortunately very near to a big window. I'm not really sure what to do about this though 😫 There is potentially a spot I could move it to but my lounge is very light throughout the day due to the big patio doors and other large windows so even the other potential spot (and I even have an item of furniture I need to relocate that would look great with my tank on) would still be across the room from the big window and at the side of the patio door... Difficult!
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Well at least we now know the cause. :) Now we need to find you a solution.
Anubias will survive in quite poor light and would probably do ok with just the natural light in your situation.
Would you consider just having the lights coming on in the evening for a few hours or whatever time you're around to view the tank? That could be a solution.
edited: with the natural light levels I doubt you need your lights on for 8 hours, the anubia would survive with the ambient light
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Get some live plants as they would improve the situation. I'd also recommend a couple of Nerite snails. They really are terrific algae eaters and don't breed in fresh water.
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Well at least we now know the cause. :) Now we need to find you a solution.
Anubias will survive in quite poor light and would probably do ok with just the natural light in your situation.
You haven't actually said how many ours your artificial light is on for.
Would you consider just having the lights coming on in the evening for a few hours or whatever time you're around to view the tank? That could be a solution.
I was having problems with my timer so I stopped using it, so my lighting is quite sporadic which is probably an issue in itself as I'm sure I've left the lights on over night on a couple of occasions when I've forgotten to turn the lights off :-[ Right I'll have to sort this out! I work long shifts so on the days I work I'll keep the lights off completely, and the days I'm at home will only put the lights on when I'm looking at the tank or in the evenings and make sure I turn them off! I'll have to re look at my timer and see if I can get it sorted or find a new one
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Get some live plants as they would improve the situation. I'd also recommend a couple of Nerite snails. They really are terrific algae eaters and don't breed in fresh water.
Sorry didn't see your post before I replied. I think I'll get another plant I can attach to my other bit of wood and some hornwort and hopefully this will also help!
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Right I'll have to sort this out! I work long shifts so on the days I work I'll keep the lights off completely, and the days I'm at home will only put the lights on when I'm looking at the tank or in the evenings and make sure I turn them off! I'll have to re look at my timer and see if I can get it sorted or find a new one
Sounds like a plan to me :)
BTW jesnon when you restock you're going to have to do it slowly, with water tests to make sure the filter is coping with the increased load. I just thought I'd pre-warn you ;)
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Will update how things are going :)
Ahh - Would that still be the case with my little fish? I'm going to get 6 killis, do you think my filter will still struggle?
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A couple of further plant suggestions for you:
Java fern (grows very similarly to anubias so you may have similarly good luck with this)
Anacharis (grows very quickly in most conditions and therefore very good at removing the nutrients that algae would feed on) (might also help increase nitrate and ammonia removal if you filter will struggle with your planned additions) (also doesn't shed leaves like hornwort which will subsequently decay)
Frogbit (floating plant also good at improving water quality, would also shade the aquarium partially from your lighting so you could, with time, increase your lighting duration)
Ultimately moving your tank away from direct sunlight will be what fixes your current problems, Ill let others advise further on the capacity of your filter to handle your planned additions.
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Will update how things are going :)
Ahh - Would that still be the case with my little fish? I'm going to get 6 killis, do you think my filter will still struggle?
The tank (filter and surfaces) currently have enough bacteria to cope with the ammonia from 1 killi and 3 shrimps. If you add a lot more fish at one go they will produce more ammonia than the current numbers of bacteria can cope with. You'll see an ammonia and then a nitrite spike. A small increase in ammonia is fine, the bacteria can multiply fast enough to cope with that; it is large increases in ammonia that are the problem.
If the shop was willing to hold some fish for you for up to a week, I would get 2 killis, checking the water every day afterwards, then 2 more once you are sure ammonia and nitrite are staying at zero, and repeat for the last two.
The danger with doing this is if you put males in first, they would quite likely object to later males, so if at all possible, select the females to go in first.
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On the algae subject - since the tank is the smaller Fluval Edge, could you make a screen from thick black card to stop sunlight shining into the tank? It wouldn't take much card to cover the sides facing the window.
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Thanks Matt for the plant suggestions - the anacharis looks like a nice plant so I'll keep my eye out for that and some java fern when I go and get my fish. When I helped a service user set up a tank for a betta he had some frogbit and I wasn't really a fan of it as it was quite irritating when doing water changes so I probably won't opt for that! I need some more RO water too - I'm quite lucky that the RO water bottle fits perfectly in my scooter's top box so I should have plenty of space for everything!
The black card could potentially work, I could also drop the blinds down but leave them slightly open to help reduce the light getting to the tank. I'll have a think about moving the tank - there is a potential spot I could move it to but I do still think the light will reach the tank, just perhaps not quite as much. Since we moved house our bedroom now has space for two bedside tables where we only had one previously and unfortunately Ikea no longer makes the bedside table we have so I was going to relocate the table to the lounge anyway in order to buy two making tables, so I could locate this to the spot I was thinking of. Moving the tank does also have the added advantage that not only will the tank be in a more prominent spot for fish watching but the furniture which I orginally bought to house my edge will be free and I can comment to the OH how sad it is that the furniture doesn't have a tank on ;) He did get very grumpy with me last time I mentioned getting another tank though :o
What a pain about having to get the fish in stages - I completely forgot about that! Both the MAs near to me are around the same distance away along a similarly awkward route and I hate riding on my scooter there, but I'm sure I can spread out my fish buying to keep them all healthy! I also think both MAs have had the killis in the past so I'm sure between them I'll hopefully be able to reserve the right amount of fish. I can't wait until my tank is fully occupied :D
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So my light cutting down seems to have been doing the trick in that my tank has much less algae now! Good news, about that but less good news about everything else. Yesterday I bought a new Anubis and some RO water so I did my normal water change and added the new plant. Whilst doing the water change lots of black bits were ALL over the tank but unfortunately my gravel cleaner seems to be on its way out as it wasn't working properly. I have no idea what the black bits were - it surely couldn't have been waste as I only have three shrimp and 1 fish so I suspect it was algae breaking down. After the water change everything seemed fine and there wasn't any issues with my readings but this morning I woke up to a dead fish :( Gutting as this little guy had been my only survivor and seemed so hardy and happy. The MA still don't have my killis in stock (I guess that's a good thing though since I lost my fish the day after) so now I don't know what to do. Since I don't seem to be having any luck with the killis maybe I should give up and get different fish, perhaps a betta. Though now I have the three Amanos so don't think they're suited tank mates. I do still have the killis on order. I don't know :( I'll be buying a new gravel siphon to try and get rid of all the black stuff which could have been the cause of my killis demise. Difficult timing as I'm away this weekend so worried about my Amanos. I don't know what's going wrong with this fish keeping business :(
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Did you mix the RO water with tap water or remineralise it before you added it to the tank?
If not it's possible you had a pH crash.
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Yes I did a 50:50 tap water to RO mix as I usually do so don't think that could be the cause :-\
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If you'd done something horrible to the tank, the amanos would be trying to climb out, using any cables as a ladder. If they are still happily pootling round the water is fine.
It might just be that species of fish that is sensitive, or even the particular individuals you bought.
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If you'd done something horrible to the tank, the amanos would be trying to climb out, using any cables as a ladder. If they are still happily pootling round the water is fine.
It might just be that species of fish that is sensitive, or even the particular individuals you bought.
In that case I think the tank is fine as my shrimps were happily gobbling their way around the tank as usual. Such a shame about my little killi though. Guess I'll have a think and decide whether to try different fish or give them one more go when my MA order comes in
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It might just be coincidence jesnon, was it old?
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It might just be coincidence jesnon, was it old?
I hope so. He wasn't very old but I have had him a few months and his previous tank mates died so they could have been a sickly bunch of fish
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Sorry to hear about this, Jesnon. Something similar happened to my pygmy cories - I'd had them for 5 months without a problem, then, over the course of the next 4 months, they depleted from 6 to 0. Although I have various theories for their demise (eg: once one died, they couldn't cope being in a smaller/depleting-sized group; being about half the size of their tankmates), and they did seem to succumb to dropsy / bacterial type infections / finrot, I do think there must have been a weakness among them for each of them to die so prematurely, yet the other tankmates all being fine and water quality consistently good. It is very frustrating, though, when this happens, so you have my sympathies.