How Do You Control The Algae In Your Betta Tank?

[lljdma06]

Many varieties of algae are triggered by small ammonia spikes. Too small to harm fish, so don't worry about Lotus, but large enough to trigger algae. Reduce your photo-period (which has already been recommended) and perform more water changes. Also, see if you can try to deduce what the ammonia source is. Have plants been losing leaves, how is your anubia planted? Overfeeding?

An even better question, what does the algae look like? There are so many varieties.

llj

Hi ya, Thanks for the reply.

No leaves lost...Anubias is attached to a rock, java fern attached to some wood.

I don't think I am over feeding , He has 6 pellets a day, sometimes more because he makes me I rarely see any pooh on the sand from him, although I can now see snail pooh!

The algae is green/brown, its on the Anubias and glass, also on the thermometer there is hair algae!

I will take some pics of the algae when I get home and post before I do the water change.

Take pictures and how long has the tank been setup?

 

[Loops]

I have tonight done my water change and cleaned again. I have changed the time on the light to come on at 3.00pm and have also increased the flow very slightly as there was no movement at all.

I am also considering getting some fast growing plant and filling the back of the tank with this to hopefully help.

 

[Loops]

And now all clean again!

 

[lljdma06]

I see diatoms on the leaves. Common with new setups. That should go away with good maintenance and time.

Green dust algae on the glass. Caused by low CO2, low nutrients and a new setup. Sometimes needs to be allowed to run its course, but I'd address other solutions first.

The algae on the leaves looks like either Rhizoclonium or Hair algae. Due again to low CO2 or low nutrients or an ammonia spike.

Again, how long has the tank been setup? You seem to have a lot of live plants. Perhaps it is time to consider either a CO2 or some sort of dosing regimen, or a different way to approach your tank should you decide that you do not want these. While yeah, the algae will not harm the fish, it is unsightly and I'm sure you want to get rid of it.

For now, I'd reduce the photo period. What is the wattage on your bulbs and the size of the tank? If you don't mind answering.

Bettas and planted tanks are a fine mix and many of you opt for live plants. If you have any questions, feel free to stop over at Planted. Or maybe create a journal or two. You think you all like pictures. The planted section is far, far, worse.

I see now you are injecting CO2. What is your recipe?

 

[Loops]

I see diatoms on the leaves. Common with new setups. That should go away with good maintenance and time.

That's good then

Green dust algae on the glass. Caused by low CO2, low nutrients and a new setup. Sometimes needs to be allowed to run its course, but I'd address other solutions first.

Well ... now I have CO2 so hopefully that will sort it.

The algae on the leaves looks like either Rhizoclonium or Hair algae. Due again to low CO2 or low nutrients or an ammonia spike.

Again, how long has the tank been setup? You seem to have a lot of live plants. Perhaps it is time to consider either a CO2 or some sort of dosing regimen, or a different way to approach your tank should you decide that you do not want these. While yeah, the algae will not harm the fish, it is unsightly and I'm sure you want to get rid of it.

For now, I'd reduce the photo period. What is the wattage on your bulbs and the size of the tank? If you don't mind answering.

Tank has been setup for 2 months, It is 28 ltrs ... It has a 11w 6500K bulb.

I have now reduced the photo period to 6 hours

Bettas and planted tanks are a fine mix and many of you opt for live plants. If you have any questions, feel free to stop over at Planted. Or maybe create a journal or two. You think you all like pictures. The planted section is far, far, worse.

I see now you are injecting CO2. What is your recipe?

I use the Nutrafin container with a homemade recipe of Sugar to the first line (technical I know) lol ... almost to the top with lukewarm water then 1 tsp of Bicarbonate of soda and quarter tsp of Bakers yeast.

 

[lljdma06]

You should consider investing in a drop checker. It's a small glass device that helps you measure the amount of CO2 in your tank. I feel like you might not have enough, or that it may be fluctuating. You can buy them for as little as five bucks. I make my own 4dkh solution and I can measure my CO2 levels with a glance. The 4dkh used in conjunction with the standard solution from a pH test yield the result. What happens is that the carbonic acid reacts in the air gap produced by the dropchecker. The carbonic acid then changes the color of the solution and lets you know how much CO2 you have in your tank.

This is a picture of a typical dropchecker. The green liquid indicates a good CO2 level.

Hope this helps a bit. I think you could also use more plants in the tank. But I'll always advocate more plants.

llj

 

[loraxchick]

the fluctuating co2 may be more of the tirgger for your algae.
i suggest adding a second bottle to the co2 setup. connect the airline tubes with a "T" valve. mix the two bottles alternately (say one on sunday, the other on wed.) this way you get constant CO2, and there will be no lag period from when you mix the bottle to when the yeast are producing enough co2 to pressurize the bottle and the gas to go into the tank.
your idea of getting some fast growers is a good one. as well as cutting back lighting to only 6 hours. any dead/dying leaves trim off as soon as you notice them. also, less waterchanges are better sometimes. test your water before changing water and if acceptable, just top up the tank. lots of waterc hanges also causes fluctuating CO2. so if you are doing lots of water changes along with only running one bottle for your co2 reactor, the co2 levels in the tank will be all over the place on a weekly basis.
just some ideas. an oto or two might help with some of that algae. ive got a few in my 6 gal planted betta tank and they do a nice job of keeping certain types of algae at bay(esp green dust algae which it looks like you have).
as mentioned, algae is in no way harming your fish, just unsightly to some folks.
best of luck
cheers