Algae question

[fishyme]

Hi, just to let you all know this is the best resource I have found on the net!!! Great job. Now down to the dirty... I have inherited an aquarium from friends, there were 2 newts and a zebra danno in there originally. I have found the newts a new home and filled the tank. (I didn't want to wreck the ecology that was already present from the newts) I invested in a corrie cat and a plecko to get rid of the algae and sorta clean up the tank a little, it's working great, but I have algae starting to grow on the rock bed now, and there's been some growth on the new ornament i put in there a couple days ago... What's going on I've also got 2 head and tail light neon tetra's and 3 other fish <forget what their called> in the tank. Should I be adding more waste controller? It's a 10 gallon tank btw...


Thank You

 

[George Farmer]

Hi, Welcome to the forum.

Algae is an age old problem with fishkeepers. Here's my advice from my limited experience.

Excessive algae growth is caused by a number of things, mainly nutrients which take many forms.

Light is the biggest source. Ensure your tank is out of direct sunlight. If you're not growing live plants then keep the lighting off as much as possible i.e only on when your there. You can buy timers cheap to automatically do this for you.

Poor water quality is another source. Nitrates and phosphates which build up over time act as algae fertilisers. You can control these to a certain extent with regular water changes. However some tapwater may contain high levels of these. My tapwater has 7ppm phosphate which I reduce using RowaPhos in my filter. Overfeeding and overstocking will lead to high levels of nitrate and phosphate.

I hope this helps.