Algae on Glass

[Ady Bowers]

Hello,
I use a magnet and pad on my tank glass and have a number of species to control surface algae but the position of my tank although not in direct sunlight is in a well lit room. I get a large coverage of surface algae on the glass almost daily. Is there any treatments I can use to reduce this? I don’t mind some maintenance, there are plenty of rocks and roots with algae for such species to feed, plus algae tabs/wafers I put in but it really takes over. Any ideas would be great. Thanks.

 

[The_Labyrinth]

Sorry, not enough info here to give you any constructive advice. Salt or fresh water? What size tank and how many 'species' and what type to you have for the feeding on the algae. Is there artificial light on the tank that can be reduced (perhaps a motion switch that would shut off room lighting after 15 minutes of no movement detected?), etc.

 

[Ady Bowers]

Sorry, not enough info here to give you any constructive advice. Salt or fresh water? What size tank and how many 'species' and what type to you have for the feeding on the algae. Is there artificial light on the tank that can be reduced (perhaps a motion switch that would shut off room lighting after 15 minutes of no movement detected?), etc.

It’s a 4ft freshwater tropical setup. Jewel Rio so double tubes, not 100% on exact tubes they use as I’m yet to replace. 6 x Otocinclus, Bulldog Plec in terms of algae eaters plus 25 other ‘small’ fish and a Hoplo Catfish, not more than an inch. Lights on say 9am till 10pm ish.

 

[Essjay]

You could try reducing the lights on time. 13 hours is quite long unless you have some plants which need a lot of light.

Do you have live plants? If you don't, the tank lights don't need to be on anywhere near that long.

 

[Sunnyspots]

Have you considered nerite snails? They can't work miracles but I find them very helpful.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

As already mentioned, algae just loves light. Given your room is well-lit, you could either close the curtains for long periods, or place an opaque cover over the tank for a day or so. Your higher plants and fish will cope with this, but your algae won't.