I need help with algae in my tank?

Question

In one of my fish tanks there is algae that is almost impossible to remove. It's rough like sand paper and I scrub it off the glass. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

PEOPLE STOP RECOMMENDING ALGEA EATERS!! For one you do not know the size of the question askers tank, for all you know it could be a dinky 5 gallon.

Common plecos get like 2 ft long. All algea eaters EXCRETE ALOT OF AMMONIA! They may clean up the algae problem but they make a whole nother mess. They should be named crapper fish instead of cleaner fish.

TO answer the question, just take a razor blade or a credit card and scrap the stuff off, thats what i do.

Answer 2

Sounds like black beard algae aka red algae (I just call it BBA). It's usually dark green or dark, greenish red. It grows on any plant / rock / glass surface and is difficult to remove.
Anyway, BBA (and all algaes) are caused by, other than water, 2 elements: light and nutrients.

How long are your lights on? A normal photoperiod is 9 to 10 hours per day. If your lights are on for longer than that, this could be contributing to the algae problem.
Is your tank near a window? Algae LOVES sunlight. If so, move the tank, or block the side of the tank facing the window.

The problem may also be nutrients in excess. Overfeeding and overstocking result in excess nutrients floating around in the water, which the algae will use to grow and thrive.

Reduce lighting and nutrients. Do not over fertilize.

If this does not help or if these are not your problem, you may need to encourage plant growth. When plants are growing quickly, they absord nutrients that the algae would use. Plants like hygro and java fern are ideal because they are fast growers.
You could also introduce DIY CO2 to your tank. If it's under 30 gallons, that is. Bigger than that and you would want to get pressurized CO2 or a carbo-plus unit, both of which are very expensive. If your tank is 30 gallons, though, tkae a 2 litre coke bottle, rinse it, and drill a hole in the cap that is slightly smaller than the diameter of airline tubing. Cut airline tubing at an angle, poke the tip into the hole and pull it through with pliers. Voila, secure and airtight. In the bottle, put 1 cup of sugar and 1 litre of warm water, mix till disolved then add 1/2 tsp baking yeast. Close the bottle, give it a little stir, and attach the end of the airline tubing to a CO2 airstone or a powerhead, which goes in your tank.
CO2 encourages healthy plant growth and discourages algae.

If you DON'T have plants, then your nitrates may simply be too high. 10-30ppm is normal, anything higher and you must increase the frequency of water changes.

Do know that no snails or algae eaters or plecos will tackle BBA.

Answer 3

Nitrate is the non-toxic form of Nitrite. Biological bacteria breaks down nitrite Naturally converting it to nitrate. Nitrate has been known NOT to be as toxic as Nitrite, but when you get high nitrate levels, you usually (about 90% of the time) will get algae blooms. A 20% water change weekly will usually help this and adding live plants usually helps this issue too. There is also a pad on the market that you put in the filter that gets rid of High Nitrate levels and will help with algae once it starts growing. The pad worked for me. Read the directions because it needs to be recharged after awhile. Test your water for nitrates. High Nitrates generally means you have a well established tank. Also, test your tap water for it too. could be in the tap water. You can also get a couple algae eaters. They will not clean the tank enough if the algae has taken over though so you will have to clean it first.

Answer 4

I, too, had this problem but hated the idea of getting one of those ugly "sucker" fish to do the job. After spending over an hour scrubbing my tank one day, I reluctantly went to the pet store and purchased one. By the next morning all of the residual algae was gone, and my tank has remained clear of algae for several months now.

Answer 5

Depending on how big your tank is, I'd get some snails. I tried plecos and other algae eaters and they are the laziest fish I've ever seen. They hardly to a THING to help with algae (and I've tried in big tanks, small tanks and even my pond!). Snails work great. Since adding snails to my pond, I've had NO algae problems. You do have to keep an eye on your water though as they are more sensitive than some fish. They cannot tolerate nitrites at all and they need a stable temperature and a med-high pH level.

Answer 6

Jungle No More Algae Tank Buddies, cost about 5 bucks and works efficiently. Buy a plecostamus as well, they are the most awesome algae eaters i've had so far, one cleaned a 90 gallon tank in just 3 days.

Answer 7

Get an Algae Eater. It is a type of fish that eater algae from the tank. I also, use bottle spring water for my tank.

Answer 8

A plecostamus will help. Also, there is algae eater you can buy that will clear up your tank. Make sure you have a filter big enough for you tank size as well.

Answer 9

Perhaps adding a few snails or plecostamuses to the tank will help. These creatures survive by eating algae. It is quite possible that the addition of them to your tank will help clear up your algae problem.

Answer 10

Get a sucker fish. They really do the job to clean your tank and keep it clean. As long as you do not have too many fish in one tank, it should be able to keep it clean. We don't have to clean our tank hardly anymore. Try it! They are cheap and help so you don't have to deal with that algae.

To clean it for now, try vinegar. It cuts thru almost anything. However, you have to make sure it is clean (no vinegar left) before putting your fish back in.