Lots Of Algae Forming

Hi
I'm quite new to fish keeping, but seem to be getting on OK.
The key problem I have is a lot of algae build up all over tank sides, stones in the bottom of the tank, plants etc.
I do the 25% bi weekly water changes and cleaning but the siphon doesnt get close to cleaning the stones at the tank base, and I have to take them out to give them a decent clean every month or so.
Is this normal??
Would an algae eating fish help?
My tank is under stocked so shouldnt be a problem from that perspective.
In terms of water, its quite hard and PH and nitrates on the upper limit.

Thanks in advance

Hi Rigsby1208 and welcome to the forum. 

Hi
My tank is a 22ltr. 
I have a panda corydora, a siamese fighter, and 7 neon tetras.
Its been running for a year or two, but I have inherited it from the previous owner approximately 3 months ago.
Lights are an LED which seems quite bright, it is on for about 14 hours a day.
The tank is situated in a relatively shady spot not near any windows.

In terms of the type of Algae, it doesnt fit any of the types shown on the website you guided me to very well.
Its kind of a brown covering all over the sides of the tank, thermometer etc, but appears as a black covering on my plants. 
I have also notice a slight occurance of the thread algae recently

I have to agree with Extreme. A tank that size is fine for a betta (siamese fighter) and not much else. With the amount of fish you have, there will be a lot of nitrate being made by the filter from the fish's waste. Unless there are a lot of live plants in the tank to use it as fertiliser, that is one contributor to algae. The lights on for that long is another cause.

Brown algae tends to be diatoms which are common in new tanks where there is ammonia in the water, so I would definitely test for that. if you don't have your own testers, get it tested at a shop but ask them for the number not just something like 'fine'.



What to do:
Have the lights on for less time. If you don't have any real plants, it can go down to as little as 6 hours.
A really big water change (leave just enough water for the fish to be able to swim upright) will get rid of a lot of nitrate, then I would change at least a third of the water a couple of times a week with that many fish. At the same time, if you have gravel on the bottom of the tank, give that a really good clean to get rid of any fish poo and uneaten food which will contribute to the nitrate level.
And rehome some fish. The panda cory really needs some more of its own kind. Do you know anyone who has any and would take yours? f not, maybe see if a fish shop will take it.

Of course you could always get a bigger tank for the neons and more cories, and leave the siamese fighter in the 22 litre 

Thanks for all the advice.
As it happens I cracked my tank a couple of weeks ago trying to get all the stones out of the bottom of it to clean of the algae.  I have just ordered a 55 ltr tank to move to so I guess I should be OK from the over stocking point of view?
Im surprised the tetras will need a really big tank as they are tiny, how come?
Any advice for some fish which will be interesting / colourful (like the siamese fighter) that will be happy in the new 55 ltr tank?
Would it be worth getting some nerite snails as well?

A 55-litre tank is certainly better than the 22-litre. You'll find that the neons' colours will brighten once they're in a better environment, more suited to their requirements.

If you kept the 7 neon tetras and increased your panda cories to 6 or 7 in number, you should be about fully stocked. NB. Cories do better in a sand substrate as gravel substrates wear down their barbels.

Alternatively, if you sold / gave away the single panda cory (eg through Aquarist Classifieds), then you could probably get approx 6 endlers - they'd be perfect in your hard water. If you sold / gave away the 7 neon tetras too (which do better in very soft / soft water), then you could probably increase the number of endlers to about 12, provided you had no other fish in the tank.

The best way to work out appropriate numbers is to have a smaller number to begin with (say 6), see how the water quality does (if you can keep ammonia and nitrITES at 0, and nitrATES under 20), and if you're having no trouble keeping them under those levels with your bi-weekly water changes, then you might be able to increase numbers little by little up to a max of 12 (or whatever the Community Creator recommends with your tank and filter specifications). However, it sounds from what you've said, that your nitrates are quite high.

I tend to go to 80% of what the Community Creator (available via http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fish-profiles) recommends - it allows for the tank not being full to the brim with water and also for the decor inside. I probably could stock beyond that, and did for a while in the past, but I'd rather allow a margin for error in the event of unforeseen circumstances such as one of the two filters failing or me/someone falling ill and me not being able to do a water change.

Hope that helps.

Our replies overlapped, Rigsby.   From what I can gather, the ammonia tests are all quite good and easy to read.  Liquid-based test kits tend to be considered more accurate than test strip ones generally (although I prefer the test strips for nitrites and nitrates as they're easier to read), but I can't vouch for the ammonia test strip as I've never used it (nor know of anyone on here who's used it).

A betta is the same as a Siamese fighter fish - just another name.

Thanks for all the advice...wow, this is getting serious, I've just ordered a reverse osmosis filter for my water changes!
What advice do you haver for setting up my new 55ltr tank, which arrives today?
I'ver read I should I add a 2cm layer of topsoil covered by some sand to give plants something to root to and nutrients.  Is that over complicating it for a simple smallish tank?
Any recommendations for new media as my current stones might be compounding my algae problem and not great for my Corys barbells?

I've just ordered a reverse osmosis filter for my water changes!

Be aware that if you use 100% RO water, you will have to remineralise it.

Re-mineralise it? Is that because the RO strips everything out of the water?
What would be the best ratio to mix with tap water? approx 50%?

In terms of the sand, I have read that using swimming pool filter sand is a good option.  Grains are approximately 1mm, its inert and doesnt taint the water and is cheap.  Any thoughts?