Orange Algae Help

[roofer no1]

Hi i have a mbuna tank with orange brownish algae growing on the rocks and slate in the tank.I have been cleaning it regular but i can,t shift it for long i have no real plants in the tank does anyone know if adding some plants might stop it.Please help.

 

[PEneoark]

What are your nitrate levels at now?

 

[AstonN24vantage]

adding plants would. just get some elodea or something like it (forget what its called) and that should do fine.

 

[roofer no1]

adding plants would. just get some elodea or something like it (forget what its called) and that should do fine.

My water readings are NO3.20 NO2.0 PH8.0 KH240 GH180. The tank is only five months old and i read it could just be where its not a mature tank i also feed them twice a day as i read they like to eat more than once a day is this right.

 

[AstonN24vantage]

thats not bad nitrate. what kind of light and how long is it on for?

EDIT: and does your tank get any sort of direct sunlight

 

[elisew]

adding plants would. just get some elodea or something like it (forget what its called) and that should do fine.

My water readings are NO3.20 NO2.0 PH8.0 KH240 GH180. The tank is only five months old and i read it could just be where its not a mature tank i also feed them twice a day as i read they like to eat more than once a day is this right.

Where is your ammonia reading?

 

[roofer no1]

What are your nitrate levels at now?

my nitrate level is 40ppm the tank is not in direct sun light.I dont have a test kit that tests ammonia i thought that as long as my NO2 and NO3 where fine my ammonia wouldnt be high.

 

[Aedes]

What are your nitrate levels at now?

my nitrate level is 40ppm the tank is not in direct sun light.I dont have a test kit that tests ammonia i thought that as long as my NO2 and NO3 where fine my ammonia wouldnt be high.

with no plants in there currently requiring light - how long each day is your light on and what kind of light do you use? You could reduce the number of hours your light is on or use the siesta method of turning your light off for a few hours in the middle of each day assuming your tank is not in a dark basement with no natural light to speak of.

 

[roofer no1]

What are your nitrate levels at now?

my nitrate level is 40ppm the tank is not in direct sun light.I dont have a test kit that tests ammonia i thought that as long as my NO2 and NO3 where fine my ammonia wouldnt be high.

with no plants in there currently requiring light - how long each day is your light on and what kind of light do you use? You could reduce the number of hours your light is on or use the siesta method of turning your light off for a few hours in the middle of each day assuming your tank is not in a dark basement with no natural light to speak of.

I have a juwel tank and the bulb is called daylight 30 watt they do difrent bulbs do you think i should try a difrent bulb the lights on about 12 hours a day is this to much.

 

[Aedes]

not sure if that bulb would help the algae or not - i will let others with more expertise weigh in on this, but likely 12 hours is too much. Myself, i have plant light as i have plants (and algae) and am installing a timer tonight to cut the light on for a few hours in the morning, then off and then on again for a few hours late afternoon/early evening as has been recommended by many in different forums over the last few days.