Green Algae Bloom

[harried_mom]

Greetings Fish Lovers - In my 75 gallon, I have a persistant algae bloom. PH is a little alkaline (7.6), nitrites and nitrates are fine.

For the last week, I have changed 10-20% of the water daily (depending on how stong I felt that day - that's a lot of water!), vacuumed the gravel thoroughly, reduced the amount of food I fed them, and reduced the amount of time the light was on, even leaving it off for days at a time, with no apparent effect.

The tank does get some natural light, but nothing direct. It is about 6 feet from the window. (and will not be moved!)

Research I have done would indicate that my next step should be complete immersion in darkness for three days or a chemical treatment, both of which I am loathe to do. Any other suggestions are welcome!!!

 

[heresmike]

Do you have live plants? I've heard that can help cure the problem, and am adding some to the tank today. I'll tell you in a couple weeks if it helps

 

[harried_mom]

Not really any live plants - goldfish have a tendency to snack! I have a couple of anacharis stems, but have held back on more due to insufficient light. These seem to be doing OK, except they are running out of leaves.

 

[CFC]

You say nitrates are fine, what exactly are the results of the test? Something has to be supplying the algea with its nutrients, it could be excessive nitrates, phosphates or sunlight or a combination of all or some. If the nitrates and phosphates in your tapwater are high then no ammount of water changes will make any difference so a scavenger resin type media that removes nitrates and phosphates may help, the other option is to use RO water which can be purchased from good lfs but in large tanks can be expensive. Any more than a couple of hours sunlight will cause algea blooms so try to keep the tank shaded as much as possible particually if the tank is catching the morning sun when it is at its brightest.

 

[harried_mom]

Sorry - I don't know the results of the nitrate test..my lfs performed the tests and said they're were no problems. They did give me some PhosGuard to put in the filter media. I've got an Emperor 400 going.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[harried_mom]

Could decaying plants causing a rise in phosphates? This seemed to become a problem when I added the "algae reducing" plants...? Unfortunately, the standard light in my aquarium seems only sufficent to ensure the thriving of algae.

 

[tdins_2]

i had an alge bloom a couple of weeks back and i remove all of the fisha nd put a blanket over the tankf ro a week with no results so i completely cleaned and rescyled the tank and its stating to get the look like its going to bloom again so i put a blanket over the tank and am going to try to kill it before it starts my problem is its in my living room with huge windows and is getting way to much light and i cant move it so ill just have to wait

 

[Opcn]

you could get a UV light and iradiate the tank. Pond snails would help and seeing as how you only have a bit of anacharise they wouldn't be hurting anything that or applesnails but spple snails are more expensive or rams horn or best of all japanese trap door snail (a relative of MTS) I'd shy away from MTS because they are hard to catch and remove (I say as I make arangements to get more MTS from my Grandmother)

Opcn

 

[maaudiosubs]

your to high in phosphates so get some thing to lower it i use phos-x to lower mine and no algea.

 

[babsrocks]

your to high in phosphates so get some thing to lower it i use phos-x to lower mine and no algea.

I had the same problem last week, I put the Phos-X in and the Phosphates went way down and now no more algae!!!!! There are other brands on the market for this too. They are just little bags that you put in your filter.

 

[motherof6]

I had a nasty algae bloom a few years back. I researched and researched on how to fix it. What I found was to cure it I had to cover my tank for 72 hours with a dark blanket. My tank is in the living room with lots of big windows. I fed them from the back of the tank in the dark. After the 72 hours were up I removed the blanket. The tank was better but not clean. We had to go away for the weekend. I put in a clean filter and left. When we came back the water was so clear I almost thought the tank was empty. It did not harm the fish at all. I still have most of the same fish 3 years later. I hated having to cover them but it made me mad to look at the tank they way it was.

The site I found my info on (could of been this one?) said that is usually happens when using tap water that has not set before putting it in the tank. I did this for a few years. I would fill a bucket or two 24 hrs before doing a water change.

For some reason last week I did a water change with fresh water and it started again. My nitrates were very high though. It surprises me that your were not in an algae bloom. I did a 10% water change every day for a week with aged water and it cleared up and is crystal clear again (without having to cover).

The thing I like about this way was I did not have to use any chemicals.

 

[harried_mom]

Thanks to everyone! Got rid of the phosphates with an additive in the filter and got rid of the algae! YEA!!! (They need a little smilie that dances with joy)

 

[heresmike]

Thanks to everyone! Got rid of the phosphates with an additive in the filter and got rid of the algae! YEA!!! (They need a little smilie that dances with joy)

How about this one?