Ok, ok, I know it's all natural etc but there must be a good way to control it..
I have a cold water tank - about 40 litres with 3 small fish (present for my 2 year old daughter). It has a pump and gravel (and a plant) but after about a week, the algae return.
I have a magnetic scraper - works ok for about 2 days
I've tried these A--B compound liquids - no apparent difference (although I was probably a bit woolly on following the instructions.
I've tried these tea-bag things (something about nitrates??)
Anyway - ideas welcome!
Answers:
hiya get your daughter some sucker fish they eat the Algae of the fish tank. Two would be enough.They really do work and your daughter can sit and watch them. But one thing the are very hard to catch when you are changing the water
Your feeding them too much!! Feed them a pinch everyday/or as much as they eat in a minute it should help. Although algae will come back but not so strong, check your filters see if they need changing!
Keep light to a minimum. Do you have living plants in the tank? That, coupled with light either from sunlight or a hood lamp will encourage algae growth. Get a razor scarper to scrape the algae off and then a steril sponge. Add a snail and algae eater to the tank to help with natural algae removal. Get a cory catfish to help keep waste to a minimum.
If your tank is even partially in direct sunlight, that, too is a problem.
Algae is a natural part of the tank's environment. However it can be controlled naturrally by purchasing a couple of Pleicostamas fish or some nice little snails. These should do the trick.
Have you bought any of those Grey Alge eater fish? We used to have an alge problem and then put about 2 or 3 in there and they took care of business!
Try moving the tank away from direct sunlight. That is the main cause of algae growth in fish tanks.
water snails, best cleaners in tank and some are really interesting looking, get couple of big ones, or a few small ones, make sure they're the vegetarian variety though!
Make sure your tank doesn't receive any direct sunlight. Cut down on your feeding. Just give them what they can eat in 3 minutes. Yo could also get a bottom feeding fish like an algae eater or a corydoras. You could also try snails. They all do a pretty good job of eating excess food and algae.
Algae needs light to grow, so try to reduce the light getting to it.
You could buy some sucker fish which eat pretty much everything on the glass and on the bottom of the tank, and invest in some large (so the fish dont eat them)snails.
http://www.centralpets.com/pages/critter.
A Placo. This link will take you to a fish that will keep your tank clean. You need only a small one. And it will take a few days for him to clean it. If you get too many or clean your tank before you get one you will have to get him some food of his own.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_.
Hope this helps.
I had lots of algae and bought one 3 inch long placo. Now he has grown over 6 inches.
They have many other kinds of placo. One is just right for your tank.
Is the tank on a window sil or in sunlight ? if it either move it or cover it.
Try feeding the fish less, over feeding can cause algae ,
Try adding some snails or pleco (be careful tho because plecos have been known to latch onto the side of slower moving fish like goldfish) as they love to munch on algae
How often do u clean the tank, try doing a 20-30% water change weekly.
I would try and avoid using any chemicals while you have fish in the tank
I'd get an algae eating catfish of some sort. A bristlenose catfish would do wonders.
The best bet is to establish growing plants that will use the nutrients. They may introduce algal spores but over time the net benefit may occur.
Algal eating fish are vegetarians and if the plants are not established first, these fish may eat the plants.
Do not add any chemicals to a freshwater aquarium.
i had a similar problem,during the day my tank got a lot of direct sunlight but found once i moved it into an alcove,the alge still grew,but it would be up to a month before i would have to clean it ,I also found a internal filter with larger capacity than was needed very helpful at stemming the growth..it worked for me, hope it helps you.
make shure its not in direct sun light as over feeding and to much unnatural light will not cause algae as algae needs sun light to grow
i had the snails in my tank once,and then be4 i knew it i LOTS of baby snails
Algae is caused by light, so you should move the tank out of direct sunlight. Snails will also help keep the algae down a bit.
check out the source i listed below. here is a passage from that page, it will have all the answers to your questions on algae. i would suggest against the magnetic algae scraper since they are not very effective. it is better to just get one of those algae scrapingg sponges from any fish/pet store. also, i would suggest on holding back from adding chemicals. they should always be a last resort.
passage from my linked source.
"It is normal for algae to begin to return within two weeks after being removed. Algae multiply rapidly. If, however, algae returns within a day or two, this may indicate a problem with either light or water quality. Algae requires light and nutrients to grow. If the tank receives too much light, is over-fed, or is over-stocked, algae problems will usually occur.
.An over-fed or over-stocked aquarium will result in the accumulation of organics that algae feed on, resulting in rapid algae growth. Warmer aquariums grow algae faster. Fish-only tanks should be 78潞F, and reef tanks and planted aquarium ideally should be 74潞F to 76潞F. If the aquarium receives direct, or bright indirect natural sunlight from a nearby window, draw the blinds or move the aquarium! In a fish-only aquarium, lights should be on for about eight hours. If the lights are on longer, algae will return at a more rapid rate. Aquarium lights should never be on for more than twelve hours. This grows more algae and is bad for the fish. Cleaning an aquarium too thoroughly makes algae grow back faster! Leave a little algae in your tank when you clean."
keep the tank out of direct sunlight and get a cold water plek
is the tank in front of a window?if it is then that's the reason why because indirect sunlight on the tank causes algae to grow. i had that same problem and was told to take it apart..clean it really good then put it in another spot away from any windows which i did and i haven't had that problem since.
reduce the hours of light going into the tank or move away from an area that is in direct sunlight. also try feeding less i only fed once a day and they dont need as much food as you think im also pretty sure that you may be able to get an algae eater for a cold water fish tank so you could try that
Change your light bulb. Older ligh bulbs produce lower spectrum light which promotes algae growth. Also, you should be feeding less food and changing more water every week. It will help cut down on the nitrates that feed the algae. Use bottled spring water for the water changes as your tap water probably contains phosphates (liquid fertilizer).
A
too much light, you could buy a sucking loach
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