Algae Problem...someone Help?

[kudv4yn3]

ive been keeping fish for approximately a year now...and im knowledgable in keeping up the tank and everything...but i went on vacation for a week, and had a friend feed my piranhas for me...unfortunately, he also decided to open the shades in the room all the way so tons of light got in and now, i have an algae problem....and the water just wont get clean.

i managed to scrape all the algae off the tank walls and ive done a few partial water changes....but i just cant get the cloudiness of the water to go away! its like a yellowish greenish cloudiness.

i have descent filtration for the tank size (29 gallon), but it just wont get clean!
any pointers?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Try covering the tank with a blanket and turning the tank lights off for 3 days so no light enters the tank. This will kill the algae off in the water- you should do a 30-60% water change once a day while you are doing this to help remove the dying algae from the water and preventing it turning back into nutrients and fueling another algae bloom .

 

[kudv4yn3]

Try covering the tank with a blanket and turning the tank lights off for 3 days so no light enters the tank. This will kill the algae off in the water- you should do a 30-60% water change once a day while you are doing this to help remove the dying algae from the water and preventing it turning back into nutrients and fueling another algae bloom .

thank you! are you sure this wont make my piranhas go completely crazy though?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Try covering the tank with a blanket and turning the tank lights off for 3 days so no light enters the tank. This will kill the algae off in the water- you should do a 30-60% water change once a day while you are doing this to help remove the dying algae from the water and preventing it turning back into nutrients and fueling another algae bloom .

thank you! are you sure this wont make my piranhas go completely crazy though?

They should be fine without any light for a couple of days, lighting is mostly a cosmetic thing and there for plants in tanks, the fish should be fine without any lighting for a little while . If you want you can skip the blanket covering the tank part and just keep the tank lights off, the blanket part just tends to help the process be more successful at eradicating the algae .

 

[lawrie]

try reducing the light, but not totaly. and add live plants, these fight against algae. you can read up on this at the plant section!

 

[kudv4yn3]

try reducing the light, but not totaly. and add live plants, these fight against algae. you can read up on this at the plant section!

im pretty sure live plants wouldnt last a day.........my piranha shred the fake ones i have in there..i cant imagine what theyd do to live ones.

 

[Dave Spencer]

Black outs are most effective against BGA, which is not actually a type of algae, but tends to get grouped with them. A black out will knock your algae sideways and possibly see it off, but they work best in planted tanks where the plants are being given back the advantage to outcompete the algae.

Clean as much algae off the hardware as you possibly can and carry out a 50% water change. Then cover the tank glass completely in a blanket or bin liner. Do not let any light in during the next 36 hours. Absolutely no peaking at all. After 36 hours end the black out and carry out a 50% water change.

If this method is not effective in clearing the water, then a UV steriliser will do the job.

Dave.