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 Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:36 pm
i recently moved both of my 20 gallons across the city.
originally i had one of them set up as a breeder tank for fry, with no substrate, but due to recent over populating (damn platies!) i converted it to a normal community tank.
now that tank has experienced some algae problem, though i can't SEE any algae growing, the water has a green tinge. i think my light timer might've been malfunctioning, so i've reset it and am keeping an eye on it today.
anyway, the water's pretty cloudy & green, and i've never had the problem (the other tank's had only minimal algae) so i'm wondering, aside from water changes and minimizing the light time, is there anything else i can do before i go on vacation for two weeks, leaving my tanks in the care of an inexperienced friend?
i've only got two adult platies and some fry in the cloudy tank.
i thought for a while it might be the new substrate, but i did rinse it first, and seeing as the water's pretty green am doubtful that that is the case...
thanks for your help!
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:01 am
I don't think you need to worry about your tank when you do go on vacation. But i have never had to deal with algea that bad XD. So i really don't know.
Try getting some ghost shrimp? (Although they may eat some of your fry)
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Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 12:00 pm
Ghost shrimp don't do much for algae. They're more of cleaners for extra food and things.
Before you go away, do a few massive water changes. Halfway through your light cycle, turn it off for an hour everyday. It won't hurt your plants/fish, but it will hurt the algae because a disruption in the cycle makes it harder for them to keep growing.
You shouldn't have to worry about the algae while you're gone. It doesn't hurt your tank at all, it's just an aesthetics thing. Then when you get home you can read more about algae and find some better ways to reduce it.
Horror Inc.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:33 pm
You could keep the light off more, and also buy an algae remover. The one by Tetra really really works. It makes your water sooo clear. And it's pretty cheap, too. You just have to clean stuff and get algae off of the plants and then remove the filters for 6-8 hours and let it kill it. It won't harm your fish at all.
I tend to have algae problems a lot because no matter where I put my aquarium it'll be by a window because my house has too many windows.
edit: Oh wow, I just realized this is from quite a while ago.
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Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:18 pm
Putting chemicals in your tank is always the last option. Algaecides shouldn't even be considered because there are so many better ways to kill it.
Horror Inc.
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Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:01 pm
But they're easy... I find adding something to kill algae easier than changing the water. And there was one time I had super bad algae and even doing water changes and cleaning everything didn't help. I understand that they should be last resort, unless it's a sickness, but that's just me.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:19 am
Gets some algae eating fish?
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:17 pm
Byo-Shin304 But they're easy... I find adding something to kill algae easier than changing the water. And there was one time I had super bad algae and even doing water changes and cleaning everything didn't help. I understand that they should be last resort, unless it's a sickness, but that's just me.
Even when fish are sick, chemicals should be a last resort. Usually with sick fish turning the heater up and/or adding aquarium salt will help much more than meds.
The water should be changed frequently anyway depending on the bioload. No one ever said fish keeping was supposed to be easy. They're one of the most demanding pets to keep because really, fish should not be kept in small cubes of water. In the wild, they have a constant water change so they never have to deal with the build up of left over food, poop, hormones etc. That's why water changes are so important. I do water changes on my tanks every week. Every two weeks is fine, but 3 or more is pushing it. Most fish can live in dirty water, but it's still unethical.
But I digress. (@OP)You can also feed your fish a little bit less. That too will help solve the problem. Are you using CO2? Because it will help your plants grow better and use the nutrients and lighting up more so that the algae can't use it. An algae killer will just make it go away for a little while. Finding the root of the problem will get rid of it for good. Not all algae killers are safe for plants and most are not safe for inverts, so if you have any shrimp/snails/crays they would most likely die.
@Byo: In your case, algaecides are excusable because you already know the cause of the algae and there's no way to fix it. That is, everywhere you go there's a natural light source.
Horror Inc.
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