Fat Fish And Algae

[WILDER]

I would buy a better filter if you think that's your is not up to the job, always best to over filter a tank, anyway.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

How often do you clean your substrate and how do you go about it? As or feeding a single platy sized fish should get no more than 4fish flakes a day, if theres any food still uneaten in the tank after half an hour you need to cut down on feeding as fish flakes rots very in tank water and excess of nutrients they create in the water won't be good for your algae problem.
How often do you do water changes and how much water do you take out and do you use dechlorinator?

 

[iggy01]

another thing that was mentioned was a blackout....would this help to eradicate it or just slow it down?

A blackout can be successful in eradicating cyanobacteria, but it often returns if nitrate levels drop below 5 mg/l. To perform a blackout you need to remove as much of the cyano as possible and carry out a 50% water change. It is essential to remove as much cyano as you can because without light it will start to die off and can raise the ammonia level in your tank. You then have to cover the tank with layers of black bin bags etc, so that no light is able to enter the tank. If your tank is heavily planted and you have CO2 it must be turned off. The tank has to be left like this for 3 days.....no peeking!

After 3 days and nights of total darkness you can uncover the tank. Hopefully the cyano will be gone. Do another 50% water change and make sure the filter media is cleaned.

If this fails the cyano can be killed off with a 5 day course of Maracyn (antibiotics).

Good luck!