Tank/algae Issues - Change Substrate?

Hi All

Havent been around much but still having problems with my tank regarding algae. tried big water changes, live plants etc but nothing seems to be working. So I am wondering if my substrate of sand could be the issue? Although I clean it, once I have done it, it still doesn't look that clean. I asked my LFS about things to help me clean it more thoroughly and they said sand is difficult to keep clean, whereas gravel is easier.

Do people think that changing my substrate could help? If I did a thorough clean, what things are best to use? Would it be ok to put my sponges in my other tank for a day or so whilst I do the clean?

Any help always much appreciated.


Dave

Can you tell us:
How long are the tank lights on for - and what they are, fluorescent (with the watts and K rating) or LEDs (with as much detail as they give) Flurescent, on 6 hours a day
Do you add fertiliser for the plants, and if so what is it? No fertiliser
Do you add CO2 gas, or a liquid CO2 product - and if so, what? No gas
How heavily stocked is the tank? just has 3 fish in at moment
How often do you do water changes, and how much? 20/30 every two weeks
Do you over feed the fish? Don't think so, a few micro pellets every other day.
 The tank has been up and running 10 months.

My other tank is more heavily stocked and has is 8 months up and running, 20-25 fish and is just starting to show slight algae on glass.

Most people use a standard siphon tube, but I use a winemaking siphon tube without the cup on the end. Then hover the open end of whatever the tube is just above the sand and make small swirling movements. This lifts the debris off the sand and up into the tube.


The light duration sounds fine.
How many live plants do you have - if there are lots you may need to add some fertiliser so that the plants grow faster and out-compete the algae.
CO2 shouldn't be a problem - if you were bubbling CO2 gas or using one of the liquid CO2 products (eg Flourish Excel) that would have been a suspect.
With just 3 fish, your water changes are OK. Had the tank been fully stocked, I would have advised 50% water changes every week.


All fish tanks have some algae, it's when the algae takes over that there is a problem.
Do you know what type of algae it is, because different things encourage different types. Have a look here see if you can ID yours http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm (The link is aimed at people with heavily planted tanks so the cause and cure won't apply here. Just look at the pics to work out what your algae is)

Don't use any liquid CO2 product. They contain glutaraldehyde which is a strong disinfectant - it is used to disinfect surgical instruments. Not everything that is claimed to be safe in fish tanks is a good idea.

Most of the causes and cures are for tanks full of live plants. If yours are fake plants they don't apply. You should not add CO2 in any form unless there are so many live plants that they use all the CO2 naturally occurring in the water.



How often to you clean the filter sponges? And do you change them like the instructions say? If you do, don't.


I removed the filter from my old Rio 125 because the noise drove us mad - it was so loud it kept us awake in the room above the tank. But with a small amount of fish, unless the noise also drives you mad, there should be no reason to change the filter.
Something that would help is live plants, especially floating plants. I have both water sprite and stems or hornwort floating on my main tank and there is virtually no algae in there. But I do have nerite snails and cherry shrimps, which probably also help. I would try a few floating plants before going down another more expensive route.

I would start with just 2 nerite snails and see what happens.


I have never been able to grow plants rooted in the substrate, but I can grow those which are attached to decor (Java fern, anubias, bolbitis, bucephalandra etc) and floating plants. Water sprite is the best because the leaves don't rot if water condensation from the lid drips on them.

What are your nitrate levels like, especially those in your tap water? If you have low nitrates in your tap water (<5), with not many fish, this might be why you didn't succeed with live plants. If you do have low nitrates, you may find that fast growing plants exacerbate the problem (fast growing plants tend to use more nitrates than slow growing plants).

If you can test for any other nutrients, share the results and we might be able to work out why you have the algae. As @Sue said, algae usually appears when there's an imbalance of nutrients.

(My tank is almost the opposite of Sue's - mine is heavily planted with a sandy area but mostly gravel. I struggle to keep the sand clean - doesn't help that my kuhlis move it around. And I'm much better at growing slow growing rooted plants, I struggle more with plants on decor. Which may be because I have tap water with very low nitrates, so most of the nutrients in my tank are in the gravel.)

It is also worth noting that it is harder to grow plants in sand if you don't also have a specific plant substrate. This is because the fish mulm sits on the surface, with gravel it falls in between the stones and becomes plant fertiliser.

What are your nitrate levels like, especially those in your tap water? If you have low nitrates in your tap water (<5), with not many fish, this might be why you didn't succeed with live plants. If you do have low nitrates, you may find that fast growing plants exacerbate the problem (fast growing plants tend to use more nitrates than slow growing plants).

That might be my problem too. With less than 5 ppm nitrate in my tap water and less than 10 ppm in tank water just before a water change, it probably explains why I can grow slow growing plants but not fast growers.
Nitrate had not occurred to me 

That's very interesting, and something I was recently discussing with @Matt with reference to the planted tiger barb tank he designed for me.
I have always used TNC Complete as a fertiliser, but my tap water nitrate level is 40ppm. Tanks are steady at that level, usually a tad lower. We discussed swapping to TNC Lite, which doesn't have nitrate or phosphate, and I'm hoping to see my nitrate level drop now the tank is quite heavily planted - fingers crossed.
I've not had massive issues with algae, and tank lights are on for around 5 hours a day, so for me it's mainly about nitrite levels.

Love plants will certainly help @barneyadi and @Sues recommendation of floating plants is the way to go if you want to reduce nitrates @Littlefish 

@barneyadi the trouble your competition between plants and algae does not exist... just the algae there so no wonder it is winning!  Research easy plants on Tropicas website to see what you might like to give a go... happy to help with what are the most robust species too if needed. Just let me know