THIS IS GETTING OLD : ALGAE

[jim_shedden]

I have a 90 gal. that is constantly getting algae blooms. I have a a/c 500 and 2 sponge filters in it. I also have a 59 and 30 gal. that I constantly have to scrap down every other day. The paramiters are stable so I can't figure out why this is happening. The lights are on from 8am to about 11pm. Someone suggested that I should use stronger lights.Any ideas?

Jim

[Don_Lee]

Hi Jim,

One thing I would suggest is cut down the light time to about 12 hours per day to start with. If you could furnish more details on your system, water parameters etc.. I may have more ideas.

Don ;D

[Denny]

jim,

have you gotten the algae problem under control?


denny

[jim_shedden]

Well.... What I did was give the filters a complete clean up. I squeezed the two sponge filters out and guess what? ..............The water cleaned up. I guess I had better pay closer attention to them.

Jim

[Don_Lee]

Well, if you really had algae problems..it will be baccckkk. Good Luck Jim

Don ;D

[Ardan]

Hi Jim,
What is your water source? And the water source parameters for phosphates, nitrates, organics?

sometimes the water source is high in phosphates, nitrates, organics, or even in algae, depending on the time of year.
Make sure you are doing enough wc to keep the nitrates and organics (from food and fish) in the tank low.

Hope it stays clear for you

Ardan

[Denny]

glad to hear jim, i got the algae in my one tank under control too and it sure is nice.

denny

[Jeff_Hart]

I am absolutely no expert, but I did notice my sponge filters have to be cleaned gently at least once a week also or I get the algae a lot faster.

[RichieE]

Consider working a UV sterilizer into your system. IT doesnt address the reasons you are getting algae (Don and Ardan covered some posabilities) but IME it will greatly reduce the problem. Ive seen A UV take a pond that is thick and green with alge and turn it crystal clear in two weeks. A UV eliminated a small problem I had on my Discus tank. They are used to control parasites in reef systems, an added benefit.


Ive found the small Tetra units work great. The key is the length of time the water is exposed to the bulb. The weaker the pump the better. HTH Rich

[RAWesolowski]

Jim -

I wonder what your stable parameters are. As an expert in growing algae, I find that a pH above 6.8 with more than 20 ppm of nitrates and lots of light, say 19 hours would be perfect to grow algae, particularly in a bare bottom tank

Suggestions:
1. Reduce your nitrates by water changes and by rinsing your sponges in waste water at least once a week,
2. Reduce your light to 10 hours per day ( I use a timer),
3. Add a bristlenose pleco or two
4. If all else fails, do the above and treat with algae-fix.

Picked up nitrate test strips at the lfs and slice them into 2 or 3 strips, I'm cheap. When I do the weekly filter maintenance, I test the water
before and after water changes to see the effect.

[jim_shedden]

Hi Raw : This is the strange thing.............my nitrates are as low as they can go. What I did find however is that I may not have been cleaning the sponges enough. After I had cleaned the sponges the problem cleared up so I am doing the sponges every other day to see what happens. I have not had to scrape the tank since.

Jim

[ronrca]

Just curious Jim! What color and texture is the algae?

Salt also helps against certain algae's!

[jim_shedden]

I had a combination. It looked like an algae bloom which looked like a light green and there was also a brown film on the walls and the bottom.

Jim

[Mick M]

Green algae is normally associated with too much natural daylight hitting the tank.

U.V. sterilizers are used to kill bacteria and some free-swimming parasites.

Just my experience, but they do not kill algae- they group it together so that a filter can more readily collect it from the water.
Hope this makes sence.
Regards
Mick M.

[RAWesolowski]

Jim,

A quote from http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/algae.htm:


Brown algae:
Brown algae are actually diatoms and not true algae. They coat ornaments, real and fake plants, glass, and gravel with a thin, dark brown layer. Brown algae prefer low light levels. They commonly grow in new tanks or those with low levels of light. Increasing the intensity or quantity of lights may decrease the growth of brown algae but in turn will increase the growth of other algae. Brown algae is easy to physically remove with an algae pad as it does not adhere as strongly as green algae. While some snails and algae-eating fish will inadvertently eat some brown algae, most algae-eating fish prefer green algae and will only eat brown algae if they have no alternative food source. Plecostomus and otocinclus are the most likely fish to eat it.

Suspended algae:
If the water itself is green, there is suspended algae. This should not occur in well-filtered aquariums. If it does occur, water changes will reduce the effects. It most often occurs if there are too many fish, too much food added, or excess light. Correcting those things should prevent a reoccurrence. UV sterilizers can be added to the setup if needed. See my pond algae page for more information on suspended algae and controlling it. In ponds, daphnia can also be added. The wood shrimp eats suspended algae in aquaria.

[jim_shedden]

Thanks Bob

Jim

[korbi_doc]

:bounce2: :bounce2: Hi all, I was under the impression that turning the lights off for 2 hours during the day would help control algae outbreaks. I have set my timers to do this, & still get real small am't brown algae on walls & bottom which I can just towel off. Is this so? or am I kidding myself? lol Dottie ::) ::) ::) ::)

[Carol_Roberts]

I think the brown algae is diatoms and not as light dependent as the green algae. The diatoms will appear over time no matter what lighting you use. They appear more frequently with a high bioload. I find that heavy diatoms are a good indication I need to rinse out my filters.
Carol :heart1:

[Discusgeo]

The green water, or pea soup, is an algae bloom. Free floating planktonic single celled algae is what is turning the water green. The cause is almost always, excess nutrients (nitrates and/or phosphates) or excessive lighting.

Algae consumes oxygen at night and a severe algae bloom can reduce oxygen to critically low levels, so while treating the tank, try to increase water circulation until you have the problem solved.

Common causes:

Overfeeding - Most aquarium flake food is high in phosphates and as the food decays these phosphates are released.

Infrequent filter changes - Decaying material in the filter can also cause increased nitrate and phosphates.

Infrequent water changes - Water changes is the method used to control nitrate and phosphate levels in your aquarium. Phosphates can also be controlled through the use of phosphate pillows available at your local aquarium store.

Excessive light - not only aquarium lighting but also might be intense room lighting or direct sunlight.

Solutions

The solution is twofold. First eliminate the current algae bloom and secondly prevent it's return. The only way I know to control algae blooms is to control the nutrient and lighting levels of the tank.

First to prevent return

Reduce feeding - You need to assure that all of the food is eaten

Reduce light - If indirect or sunlight look for ways to reduce. Reduce the number of hours the tank lighting is on.

Increase filter changes and water changes - to control nitrate and phosphate levels.

Vacuuming the gravel will also help.

Getting rid of the current algae bloom

Covering the tank for 72 hours. During that time you can't allow any light source to enter the tank. Again I would recommend increasing the water circulation so as not to deplete the oxygen.

Aquarium clearing chemicals - especially the flocculents that bind tiny bits of debris into bigger, easier to filter out clumps, can be used to clarify the water in a few hours or overnight.

A couple of more expensive solutions would be to use a diatom filter or a UV filter. The diatom filter uses a very fine diatomaceous earth to trap the algae while a UV filter kills the algae by destroying it's DNA.

[korbi_doc]

:bounce2: :bounce2: I use both a UV & the Vortex diatom filter, & it will definitely clear a tank & quickly!! lol Dottie ;D ;D ;D