# Algae :(



## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Anyone have any idea how to keep or reduce the amount of algae that grows in a bare bottom tank?

It has a fluorescent bulb over it, 4' long and has an aro and a couple blood parrots. There is a ridiculous amount of algae that always grows eventhough I do waterchanges about once a week.

My freaking uncle's tank is spotless and he has a higher bioload than I do.


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## ozi (Aug 23, 2007)

what kind of algae do you have growing in there?


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Uhh... there is green also that sticks to the side of the tank and comes off in sheets if I scrub it.

And then there is some hairy beige colour algae that grows in little carpets all over some sides of the tank.

God damn it pisses me off just talking about it.


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## ozi (Aug 23, 2007)

Brian said:


> Uhh... there is green also that sticks to the side of the tank and comes off in sheets if I scrub it.


I used to have this in one of my earlier tanks (when i had no clue about the nitrogen cycle and weekly water changes), and no matter how much i scrubbed it off and removed it, it still came back. But it was already on the rocks too, so I guess that's why. I don't know what's it called, but I thinks it's related to high nitrates in the water and fluctuations/spikes in ammonia and nitrite. What filter do you have on that tank?
Anyways, since you've got a bare bottom tank, i could suggest to try to scrape off absolutely all of it, then siphon it out and then make a blackout of about 3 days.



> And then there is some hairy beige colour algae that grows in little carpets all over some sides of the tank.
> God damn it pisses me off just talking about it.


I'm having a battle with his aglae right now too. None of my algae eater (oto, bristle-nose pleco, red cherry shrimp) wanna touch it, and nothing i've tried seems to make it disappear. Except manual removal  
Maybe the blackout will kill this too.


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## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

Reduce your lighting time with the flouresent, maybe try LED lighting you can pick up cheap at Ikea and Home Depot.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

LED lights arn't as bright right? Which is why people use them as moonlights?


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## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

The ones I saw were white LED and they were pretty bright, they would work well for a nice soft light good for night time viewing, use your larger light for feeding and when you cleaning the tank..etc


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

True... are they just the LED Xmas light your talking about or are these like actual bulbs?


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

My albino/brown lace scrub my tanks spotless...For awhile I was growing it in a 10 gallon for tank for them they like it so much. Between my cherry shrimp, pleco's and snails I've only had an algae breakout when I intentionally grew it. 

Perhaps fish are like people finicky eaters what some like others do not.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Yeah, they are great cleaners but I can't put BN's into my tank or else it would make for an expensive feeder.


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

Brian said:


> Yeah, they are great cleaners but I can't put BN's into my tank or else it would make for an expensive feeder.


Ahhh sorry whatcha got in there?


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Arowana and 2 blood parrots


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## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

Brian said:


> True... are they just the LED Xmas light your talking about or are these like actual bulbs?


 No these ones would be the under the counter type lights, not xmas lights.


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## JamesG (Feb 27, 2007)

Just a few suggestions that may help. 

Even without a substrate you can float some plants in there or weigh down a bunch of Rotala in a corner. Any fast growing plant will suck up some of your extra nutrient, whichever it may be, to starve out the algae. 

Is it possible to use a different light with the type of spectra you want as far as showing off the colors of the fish but not being full spectrum? At the very least if it is lower in the red and blue ranges you can make life a bit tougher on simple algae without the photopigment ranges of a vascular plant. 

If there is a sump you can put plants in there? If there isn't one, would you consider this addition?


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

I'm probably going to have to suck it up and change my lights.

I figured out the reason for the horrid growth... I had put in a plant grow bulb that has a purple tint on the tank 

I think I am gonna pull it out and just pop in a normal white fluorescent even though they are ugly *sigh*


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## PalermoPenano (Jul 17, 2007)

try a two to three day black out...maybe that will kill the algae


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## Veryfishy (Jan 28, 2008)

Lol I had the same experience with a marine light over a freshwater tank... some FUNKY algae grew.

try a bulb in the 3000 kelvin range or 5000 kelvin - avoid the 4100's as they make everything look really washed out.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Anyone able to suggest a fast growing plant that can be free floating that could combat the algae?

I guess something like water sprite or hornwart right?


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## Veryfishy (Jan 28, 2008)

If you want some water lettuce, I have tons. One catch... I'm in Barrie!


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

That's a little far for me for some water lettuce but thanks for the gesture 

There is someone selling water lettuce for 1$ each. It sounds nasty though cause I hate lettuce... does it actually look like lettuce on water?


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## Veryfishy (Jan 28, 2008)

Lol!

Water lettuce looks pretty nice - bright green, thick leaves in bunches that grow to about the size of your palm. Long filaments hang down in the water column - about 4-6 inches in my tank, but I think their length depends on a number of factors (lighting, temperature, etc.). Propagates by shoots along the surface, and spreads like crazy.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Ahh, that doesn't sound too bad then 

Thing is I would be throwing it into my aro tank and if it floats on the surface I am thinking that it would interfere with his feeding habits, etc.

Do the filaments that hang from the water column make the tank look nasty?


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## Veryfishy (Jan 28, 2008)

Nasty is in the eye of the beholder! 

Personally I like them - adds a cool look to the tank. And I bet your aro will love searching among the leaves, hiding under the plants and swimming through the roots. (I know my fish love them, and 2 Emperor Tetra fry even survived in them in a community tank!)


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

I have an enormous chunk of Watersprite I was going to throw out, it's currently in an empty cycling tank. Yours if you want it!


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

I'll take it!


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

The monster is yours! And beware, it makes it's own babies!


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## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

I had a boatload of cardamine and duckweed.

It filled half of a 5 gallon bucket. But I left it out to dry so now no more left.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

What's cardamine?

I wouldn't use duckweed for sure as the aro would ingest it and I don't want too much of that crap in him.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Hey Brian,

I'll be trimming some of my hygro this weekend or next week.

I gave some trimmings to my girlfriend for her tank and it seems to grow pretty good freefloating at the top of the tank for some reason.

If you want to try some out to see if it helps, you can have my clippings. You can also get it for like 4 bucks a bunch from menagerie.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Hey Thank you for the offer Chris but I grabbed some watersprite from Tabatha.

Now I am just sitting back and seeing if it actually works *cross fingers*


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

To be honest, it probably won't help all that much.

I'd suggest you replace your bulb, scrub the tank clean of algae, do a 50% water change, then a blackout for 2 or 3 days.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Awww crap. I was trying to avoid all that work 

Know anyone in the market for a green arowana? lol.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

It is really not all that bad, sort of a one time thing (if it works!).

You could check to see if a local petstore would take it off your hands...

As for me, if it gets bigger than my index finger, no thanks


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

black outs worked for me  Lots of maintanace.. LOL

Hire wilson? X)


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