Newbie!!!

Unfortunately there is nowhere else for the tank to go. Our curtains in the living room are really thick and heavy so if algae is the problem, hopefully shading the tank from direct sunlight will help lol xxx

The debates about what causes Algae could go on and on.

There are lots of different opinions and ideas.

So here's my theory.

As Algae does rely on light for photosynthesis I would certainly look at limiting the sunlight. However, I believe that an excess of light alone is unlikely to cause Algae.

This belief is mainly down to the fact that I have my tank lights on for 12 hours a day and have recently even increased their brightness, and I'm still not getting an algae problem.

I reckon the algal bloom could also be caused by an excess of nutrients.

I have A LOT of plants in my tank so any excess nutrients, from fish waste or uneaten food, can be readily taken up by my plants.

Where there aren't an abundance of live plants I believe any excess in nutrients creates an ideal habitat for Algae.

What is your feeding regime like?
How often do you feed your fish?
Are your fish eating everything you put in the tank or are they leaving any?
Do you use a siphon to remove any excess food?

If it were my tank, I would initially perform a three day blackout to kill the existing Algae and then tighten up my feeding regimen to try and determine if a build up of uneaten food might be contributing to the algae bloom.


Maybe your feeding is fine, but your tap water might contain a high concentration of phosphates.

You can buy a kit to test your phosphates and then, if they are high, you can add a product to your filter to lower them.
But this is the next step after trying to ensure your feeding regime is good and any excess sunlight has been limited. Look at eliminating the easy things first and then, if necessary, move onto the more complex stuff.

Sorry for the long post, as I implied at the beginning, dealing with Algae isn't straightforward.

It's going to be trial and error to find the right balance. In the absence of live plants, too much light is the first thing to think about. Rather than buy a phosphate test kit, you could see if any of your local fish shops will test for it, but take a sample of tap water as well as tank water. If the tank phosphate is high, the tap water test will tell you if it is coming from there or from something in the tank.

I am not good with plants, but there are a few even I can manage to grow. All my tanks have java fern and anubias (various species) attached to the decor. They will attach themselves to wood and plastic ornaments, though you do have to tie them on or even glue them in place to start them off. I also have hornwort in my 50 litre tank, though that does drop it's leaves like an old Christmas tree as it ages. I grow that wound round a piece of twiggy wood, though it can be planted or even left to float. Floating plants use nutrients quite quickly as they don't have to rely on carbon dioxide in the water - they can get it straight form the air.
If you want to get really into planted tanks, you'll need to take advice off someone who knows what they are doing 

Right. I'm hoping some of you are online tonight lol.

I've done a big water change in preparation for my 3 day blackout. I've also cleaned the big piece of wood that is in the tank.  The water is actually pretty clear at the moment. So the question is, do I need to do the 3 day black out? Or just try and cover when the sun is shining on the tank?  My understanding was that the 3 day black out was to kill the algae currently in the tank. But seen as my big water change seems to have done this, do I still need to do the blackout? As usual any advice greatly appreciated!!!! Xxx

Fwiw, I would still do the blackout... Algae is present in invisible form before it becomes visible so I'd wager your clear water won't stay clear for long. It's like smoke from cigarettes, just cos you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.

By not doing the blackout you won't be able to rule out the sunlight as the major contributing factor. It is the simplest and lowest cost (free) place to start in diagnosing your tank.

A 24hr delay won't harm anything I'm sure, so if you do as Sue recommends you might learn something useful.

I hope this helps your decision 

Go with the black out Silver and then we'll see what happens. Sue has a huge amount of knowledge, I would and do take her advice. I've only been fish keeping 3 years.

If it doesn't work we'll go with plan B

I'm praying for a clear tank in the morning lol. It's sooo nice to look at right now!!!! Xxx

This forum is just so helpful to me as a new person who doesn't know what they are doing. If I could buy you all flowers, chocolate, wine or beer, I would do lol 💐🍫🍷🍺 xxx

Silver, you've worked so hard on this tank you might need the chocolate/wine/beer for yourself. 

Update!!!  The tank is staying a lot clearer nowadays. We are closing the curtains on a night so the tank doesn't get daylight until about 7.30am ish. We are also stopping any direct sunlight and not putting the tank lights on until tea time.  We have bought 2 live plants (Anubia and something else lol).

The man in the shop said these plants were the easiest to keep alive and to just put the roots under our pebbles on the bottom. I've just been reading the previous post re. Plants and it says to not bury the roots? To stick them to something instead? Which should I do?

Is there anything else I could be doing to reduce algae? Maybe more plants? Xxx