ive got a 5 foot tank, with 3 bala sharks, 6 angel sharks, did have red tail shark but that died, 5 angel fishes
the algae is really bad, ive got plants and the little air things for the oxygen
what can i do to get rid of it coz its all over the bogwood
the light doesnt be on for large amounts of time, maybe 3 hours a night
Sorry to hear you have an algae problem. We've all suffered with it.
I'm fairly new to the hobby, but here's my take on this, based on my limited experience and in depth research.
Firstly, flying foxes (if that's what you've got) are not to be confused with Siamese Algae Eaters (SAE's) - the latter being the true algae eaters. Flying Foxes are very similar looking, but they do a very poor job eating algae. The black stripe on the true SAE extends all the way to the very tip of the caudal fin, as opposed to stopping short of it in the Flying Fox (see link below).
When I began to have an algae problem, I did a number of things to overcome it. Adding algae eating fish did help considerably, but I also needed to adjust the water and lighting conditions to slow down the production of algae.
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Fish: I have a 100 ltr planted tank and I added 2 SAE's, 3 Ottos and several Zebra Nerite snails. Of the 3, the ottos and snails are the hardest workers without a doubt - but much depends on the type of algae you have, too.
Plants: I realized that by adding more plants, the less chance the algae would have to consume the nutrients in the water. Your tank is like a battle zone, and in order for the algae to lose the battle over nutients which encourage it to grow, you have to help the plants out a little. So increase the size of your army: add more plants and thus starve the algae of those much-needed nutrients.
Light: I adjusted my lighting so that it is on from 8.00am to 10.00pm with a 2 hour balckout period from 2pm - 4pm. Others may have a different routine, but thsi certainly works for my tank. The plants can cope with the blackout period, whereas the algae tends not to. I'm sure some others may tell you about trying long periods of blackout to help swiftly eradicate exisiting algae. I've nit had to do that, but it may be something you want to try. In any case, 3 hours a night is not enough for your plants. You need to get a timer switch so that you can regulate your lighting whethwer you're there or not.
Fertilizers: I played around with the minimal amount of ferts at first - and wondered why my plants were not doing well, but the algae was !! Now, I use the recommended dose of Seachem excel, flourish, Iron, trace and potassium - and my plants are now thriving - much to the displeasure of the algae
. It took about a week before I saw any change, so don't give up too quickly.
CO2: This is essential unless you're running a low-light low maint planted tank, and your plants can cope in that environment. Mine can't - so I inject CO2 via a DIY set up. I find that insufficient or varying amounts of Co2 can start off an algae infestation.
Good luck!
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