How can i control my fish tank's Alge problem?

Question

I have a 40 gallon freshwater tank. We did have 5 Bala Sharks and 2 catfish looking things that stayed at the bottom...and one HUGE sucker fish. We moved.....lost the bala sharks (they were BIG..had them for about 2 years) The catfish looking things lived and we still have them....they took over the tank and doubled in size. This is when the alge problem started. We got rid of the HUGE alge eater after the bala sharks died (i am sure that was a mistake) we have since put in 2 more smaller sucker fish and one is already dead. I clean the tank and 3 days later is is cloudy, green and just looks terriable. The PH level stays a little low since we moved into the new house....i spent about a month trying everything i could to get it up but couldnt.shells, chemiclas, etc..We have white gravel with a roman collesium in the middle of the tank...It's pretty big so there is nothing else. We have a Whisper power filter. Keeping my tank clean wasnt a problem till we moved. Im FRUSTRATED!!

Answer 1

Your algae is green water, right, as opposed to algae growing on the glass?
Green water is caused my excess nutrients in the water, which is caused by overstocking and/or overfeeding. Cut back on your feeding regime, feed once per day and feed sparingly. Resist the begging look your fish give. They will not starve ;)
Go water changes every 3 days (20-30%) and vacuum the gravel. Once the water clears you can resume weekly water changes/gravel vacs.

Getting a sucker fish (plecostomus) will not help your algae problem. Plecos may eat a little algae but they need to have actual provide provided to them such as zucchini slices or spiruline pellets. One of your plecos may have starved to death.

Try investing in another, larger filter. You should always overfilter. If you read the ratings on the box, they aren't worth anything. A filter that says is for a 30 gal is really only good for 10 gallons, so try to go with at least 60 gallons of filtration for your tank, at least.

Don't worry about your pH. Fish can adapt to a pH that is not ideal, if it is stable. Swinging pH is worst for fish. If you MUST, add baking soda to the water. Start with one teaspoon and go up from there.

Please do not get any more bala sharks. They are BIG fish and require 125+ gallons as adults.

Answer 2

Your aquarium seems crowded, which increases the bio load. You should try and find out what kind of catfish you have maybe they are channel cats which will not do well in a 40 gallon aquarium.
Green water is the result of an algae bloom that can be caused by too many nutrients in the WATER COLUMN. Nutrients are OK in the right place, such as substrate.
Foods high in indigestible proteins (amino acids), which many commercial foods are such as TetraMin.
You mentioned no problems since the move, what is your tap water kH and pH? Often aquarists worry too much about pH and not enough about kH, which is much more important than many aquarists realize. The calcium level in your aquarium is very important as ALL fish need calcium for proper osmotic function and disease resistance (this includes soft water fish).
Bringing this back to your algae problem, you need to remove nutrients from the water column and improve the water quality in your water column.

Here are a few suggestions:
[1] Do regular 20% water changes with a gravel vacuum every 2-5 days until your parameters improve.
[2] Increase your kH to at least 80 ppm which is very important to aquatic health, although not directly to algae problems, it does contribute to proper Redox which does.
[3] Although most aquarist are not familiar with new research (mostly since 1980s) with the Reox Potential, a proper Redox of 300 mV is important to clarity and proper water oxidation properties. You do not need to rush out and buy a Redox meter, but considering your new water problems, it is probably can be low and can be increased through these methods: Improved electrolytes, INCREASE dissolved oxygen, stable and clean new water with a kH of at least 80 ppm, better filtration, and finally UV Sterilization.
[4] I would improve your filtration for redundancy reasons alone. A pre filter such as a Filter Max on your Whisper is an inexpensive start. An Internal filter with an aeration injector such as a Via Aqua 305 to increase cross circulation and dissolved oxygen
[5] Increase electrolytes and kH via Wonder Shells (better for electrolytes) or Aragonite, NOT baking soda which is only a temporary fix and does not supply needed calcium, magnesium or electrolytes.
[6] Lower your bio load by removing fish
[7] If you are feeding a low quality food, switch.

CONCLUSION:
You do NOT need to follow all the above suggestions, but take them into consideration and apply them as needed.

Here is information about Redox Potential:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html

And for a lot more information including KH, UV Sterilization, and general answers:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Information.html

Answer 3

Plants are a good source to harvest some of algae but not all. Plants will absorb algae as well as put it off due to photosynthesis when it hits sunlight. If you use plants, I would recommend artificial light for the plants and not natural. The rest of your algae problem will have to come from algae eaters or plecos like you had before. Keep in mind that algae forms constantly and plecos eat constantly since their always stuck to the glass! Plecos are absorbing algae the naked eye can't even see! Your young pleco didn't starve, he ate to death because it was just entirely too much algae for him to consume. You will have to add more plecos to amount for the tank space and the rate of algae growth or consider adding a mature specimen to the tank to compensate the growth.

Answer 4

are not getting an algae ingesting fish. maximum species of algae ingesting fish are specific bearing directly to the form of algae they devour and in case you do not understand what variety of algae you have then don't worry. Introducing greater fish into your tank to supposedly devour algae will basically upload to the subject. Fish produce nitrogen and algae devour it. do not use algae destroying chemicals. As those chemicals kill the algae they are going to additionally foul up the water because of the fact the algae starts off to rot. Your terrific approach of ridding the tank of algae is to attempt the point of ammonia, nitrates and phosphates interior of your water. you ought to purchase finding out kits or have your water examined in maximum puppy/aquarium shops; petsmart will do it for loose. Algae actively consumes nitrogen and phosphate interior of your tank and if those factors are decreased the algae will quit to exist. additionally see the place your tank is placed at. whether that's by using a window or is receiving too lots easy then algae will thrive too. utilising aquatic flowers, which often out compete algae in supplies, may well be a very good approach of diminishing it. flowers like water cress try this excellently. in case you aren’t the plant variety then changing the water eliminates build united statesof nitrogen, ammonia and phosphates.

Answer 5

It sounds like you have a variety of problems.

First of all, is the tank near a window? This can cause excessive algae growth.

The second issue may be that your new water may have too many nutrients. Consider swtitching to Reverse Osmosis/ Dionized water.

Stay away from adding chemicals to raise your ph. These things can cause water flucuations which is likely what is killing your fish.

Answer 6

Buy some live aquarium plants. The aquarium plants will feed on the chemicals in the tank that the algae would normally feed on. Duckweed in particular is a good plant for this.

Answer 7

Well you should maybe buy a couple more sucker fish. But i think that there is a type of liquid or powder you can buy at like a pet store or anywhere like that, that will get ride of the algae and not harm the fish. Because I had that problem before and it helped a lot.

I hope it helped :)

Caitlyn

Answer 8

try a smaller tank it will be eaiser 2 clean and alge cleaner 4 fishtanks