Alge

[freshwaterfishlover]

In my 38g I am starting to get Alge and it is making the water green. Is there any Chemical I can buy that works wonders and will not harm invertebrate?

[Drumachine09]

There is a tablet you can use by jungle that cures algAE over night. It is called "no more algae". It cures small outbreaks over night practically.

[rollie]

there is all kinds of stuff you can buy , for it.
but sometimes it works and sometimes it do not. and sometimes it send your ammonia levels up high. so be carefull of it.

your tank is getting to much light. lol

[dev]

In my 38g I am starting to get Alge and it is making the water green. Is there any Chemical I can buy that works wonders and will not harm invertebrate?

It would be better to solve the problem, or they will be back after a while ;) Check your nitrates, they are probably too high promoting growth of suspended green algae. My best tip to avoid excess algea is to keep nitrates between 10 and 20 ppm, and phosphates around 1 ppm.

If you really must use chemicals, I prefer active oxygen (H2O2 among others) to algeacides.

[Drumachine09]

Oh, i forgot to mention, you cant use the Algae tabs in planted tanks.

[gm72]

My opinion on these algaecide-type meds is that it usually is not necessary to use them if you fix the core problem that is causing the algae in the first place. Let's think about light levels, water parameters, etc. so we can fix the problem. In that way, it will not return and your tank will be better off!

[freshwaterfishlover]

This is the best pic I could take of the tank. This is how it looks.

[gm72]

So what are your water parameters? Exposure to light?

[RobbieG]

Is the tank next to a window? The bluish light on the left looks kinda like one.

[freshwaterfishlover]

At times I have kept the light off for 24 hours and still the same. A few days ago I tested the Nitrite PH and Amonia. Nitrite was at 0 Amonia was at 0 PH 7.5. Only thing I could think of is my bird dropped seeds in the tank and plants started growing. Most of the plants have floated to the top. This cloudy water started like 2 weeks after the seeds dropped in the tank.

[freshwaterfishlover]

It is not next to a window and the one closes the blinds are allways closed. I am puzzled. I have 2 other tanks with mssive alge problems, but the water in thoses tanks did not change colors and/or get cloudy.

tomorrow I will take pictures of the other 2 tanks to show you the diffrece. One of thoses tanks is even sitting in front of a window and does not have this problem.

[RobbieG]

maybe the seeds/plants are causing it - I get some pretty funky water sometimes if i have too many dead leaves I didn't trim

[salman]

Is it getting any direct sunlight?

Over feeding them can cause algae too.

[Rue]

I had great luck using a particulate additive...it 'clumps' the teeny little algae together so the filter can pick it up...and then I rinsed the filter more often than normal...

Stop using it once the water has cleared...

[freshwaterfishlover]

I feed my fish every other day. Feed just a sprinkle of Grains or Flakes. The most I feed is a cube of of frozen brine shrimp.

It is not like the alge started one day and became more and more and more no. One day I noticed very small spots of brown alge and like 3 days later there is still a few small spots of brown alge on the gravel, but the water is not green.

[freshwaterfishlover]

First 2 pictures are of my 29G second 2 pictures are of my 20g. Both have serious alge problems, but no green water.

[xoolooxunny]

well your green water is caused by too much light. you said you tried a 24 hr black out, but how long is the light on daily when not in a blackout? Also, blackouts have to be about 48 hours, with a blanket wrapped around so NO light gets in AT ALL.

As far as the brown stuff goes, looks like diatoms. What kind of substrate do you have in there? sometimes sands or rocks can leech excess silicates, causing a browning algae to spread on the substrate and up the sides of the tank. Low light also contributes to the growth, how much light do your 29g & 20g get?

[RobbieG]

The algae that cause green water and the brown algae are different kinds of algae. Thats why the other two are covered in it but don't have green water.

If you aren't growing the brown algae for fish to eat you can just wipe/wash it off. I use a green scrubby pad and tank water.

If the tank with the green water was mine I would vacuum the crap out of it to get rid of any seeds/plants from the bird's mess. Then I would do about a 75% water change. After that I would black the tank out for 2-3 days.

[freshwaterfishlover]

The other two tanks I wip the front glass every time I do a water change(every 2 weeks) and it just grows back. I can't explain my 38g It is more like foggy green water not alge. I will do a 50% water change tomorrow and see what happens. If it does not help I will do a 48 hour blackout.


My local store said I must not be changing my filter bags, but I change all 3 whisper Carbon bags once a month. The 2 Aquaclears I change the Carbon bags once a month and the Sponge and White rocks(what ever there called) every 2 months.

[RobbieG]

I get it sometimes on my 10 gallon - I just wipe it off with a scrubby when I notice it building up.