Help! My green tank!

[alexfenton]

I wonder if anyone can help me. Im fairly new to keeping tropical fish - but my tank seems to be green after a few days of changing a few pints of water. Not sure what my water parameters are. The fish seem to be ok - I've had 10 tetras and they've all survived from the start a year ago. I change about 2 pints of water a week and have recently changed most of the tank. I use a few drops of tap safe in the water. The tank is 50 cm wide and I havent added new fish for a while. After a few days of cleaning, the surface becomes green and the tank becomes a bit green etc. I feed the fish once a day - although there does seem to be a little excess food in the tank - any ideas?
Alex

 

[gadazobe]

Sounds like an algae bloom. Is there a lot of sunlight on the tank?

 

[KimmyFishy89]

Yea it sounds like algea. Don't worry its pretty harmless, just un attractive.

 

[star_tenshi]

If it's algae....then just go to an LPS to get a scrub for aquarium algae....they're pretty cheap...or if not....i think there are solutions out there to prevent the growth of algae....

 

[alexfenton]

thanks guys - the tank doesnt have too much sunlight on it - and is greener than it has been before. I'll see what algae remedies I can get. I heard that catfish eat algae, so I bought 2 - but the died quite quickly. All the rest of my fish have been fine though. Are cat fish much harder to keep than tetras?
Alex

 

[Lithril]

50cm, thats about 2' isn't it, might be worth getting a dwarf pleco like a bristlenose (ancistrus) they don't grow very big and are fantastic at keeping green algae under control.

 

[fam1197]

You may want to check out this product, works good I've used it before with success..........Algone