i have a fish tank with south American cichlids help with algae bloom?

Question

my tank is 130 gal. with 2 oscars, 2 choclate cichlids, a large pleco,
and a mid-sized pictus catfish my whole tank keeps this dingy yellow\brownish color if i clean the tank the dingy look comes right back any suggestion?

Answer 1

Yellow brown color is not green water algae and won't respond to the same treatment. Yellow/brown water is usually from an over abundance of proteins in the water. The best solution is larger water changes and more frequent changes to the carbon in the filter. Carbon will strip most of this residue, but must be changed often to handle the load. Those are big messy fish that to produce lots of organic waste after all.

MM

Answer 2

Hopefully you're experienced enough to know not to use bleach on anything but an empty aquarium. LOL

If the answer to any of these questions is yes you may have found your problem.

Do you leave the lights on for more than eight hours a day, and do you have the proper wattage bulbs for your tank size? Too much light, or lights that are too bright can cause excessive algae growth.

Am I over feeding my fish? Excess food waste or fish waste provides a perfect feeding ground for algae.

Do I have the proper size filter, and am I a changing the media enough. Self explanatory.

If you answered yes to any of these questions try fixing the problem and see if that helps.

If it doesn't I suggest getting canister filter with a pleated micron cartridge such as the magnum 350 or the magnum HOT. These will actually remove any visible particulate matter in the water.

Hope I was of some help
Eric.

Answer 3

I love this website, hope it helps!

http://www.drhelm.com/aquarium/cloudy%20water.html

Green Water:
The green water, or pea soup, is an algae bloom. Free floating planktonic single celled algae is what is turning the water green. The cause is almost always, excess nutrients (nitrates and/or phosphates) or excessive lighting.

Algae consumes oxygen at night and a severe algae bloom can reduce oxygen to critically low levels, so while treating the tank, try to increase water circulation until you have the problem solved.

Common causes:
Overfeeding - Most aquarium flake food is high in phosphates and as the food decays these phosphates are released.
Infrequent filter changes - Decaying material in the filter can also cause increased nitrate and phosphates.
Infrequent water changes - Water changes is the method used to control nitrate and phosphate levels in your aquarium. Phosphates can also be controlled through the use of phosphate pillows available at your local aquarium store.
Excessive light - not only aquarium lighting but also might be intense room lighting or direct sunlight.
Solutions
The solution is twofold. First eliminate the current algae bloom and secondly prevent it's return. The only way I know to control algae blooms is to control the nutrient and lighting levels of the tank.

First to prevent return
Reduce feeding - You need to assure that all of the food is eaten
Reduce light - If indirect or sunlight look for ways to reduce. Reduce the number of hours the tank lighting is on.
Increase filter changes and water changes - to control nitrate and phosphate levels.
Vacuuming the gravel will also help.
Getting rid of the current algae bloom
DaFishDude has a solution on his web site where he recommends covering the tank for 72 hours. Read about it by clicking here. During that time you can't allow any light source to enter the tank. Again I would recommend increasing the water circulation so as not to deplete the oxygen.
Aquarium clearing chemicals - especially the flocculents that bind tiny bits of debris into bigger, easier to filter out clumps, can be used to clarify the water in a few hours or overnight.
A couple of more expensive solutions would be to use a diatom filter or a UV filter. The diatom filter uses a very fine diatomaceous earth to trap the algae while a UV filter kills the algae by destroying it's DNA.

PS: I also recently learned not to change out the filter but using some tank water removed from the tank, dip it in and gently shake it so that the debri falls off. The filter bag is what holds your good bacteria, changing it can cause your tank to recycle.

Answer 4

Sounds like your doing everything right. Feeding less would definately help What type of Ciclids do you have? Theres not much that can be with Cichlids, except Cichlids but I recommend using Nerite Snails, they are perfect for algae control, over the other recommended. Apple Snails are more of nuisance than they are worth. Hiring Mr.Magoo to mow your lawn is the same as expecting an Apple Snail to control your algae. Nerites stay smaller than a nickle or a dime depending on the species. I would be worried that they would be pickex on though, keep an eye on them. Good luck

Answer 5

Who ever said bleach ain't got it goin'.! More frequent water changes might help,but most of these fish come from water that looks like that. I'm not saying you should leave it that way though, because the water gets that way in the Amazon from leaching through the leaf litter on the rain forrest floor. To clear the water try putting a large amount of charcoal in the filtration system somewhere. After about two weeks,repeat. I don't like to run charcoal all of the time, but occasionally it's a good thing. Of course use activated charcoal and rinse it well before adding to the tank. Oh yeah, if your filter system doesn't provide a place for charcoal,just use a large media bag near the outfall of the filter.--------Hope this helps,good luck.-----PeeTee

Answer 6

A couple things...Number one is a catfish? Did you get this from the pet store or the wild...i knew someone who put a catfish into his tank and that is what kept it dirt...Chiclids are also dirty fish is the nicest way to put it...I have a 55 gallon tank wiht one oscar in it...that stays crystal clear...but then we have a 75 gallon tank wit 12 african chichlids and that stays clear but we have to put more crystal clear solution into it...Umm you can't have two oscars in a 130 either....a 55 is MIN for one oscar...you might want to think about that for the future...Also, you should be changing ur filter out every two weeks, also do a water change weekly only 25% THOUGH...try to use a water vaccumm and suck through the rocks...that will suck out hte dirt and suck out water at the same time...also, get some water testers and test ur water...there is solution called crystal clear u can put into ur water and it makes a huge difference in our tank very inexpensive...we get all our supplies from petco...good luck...any questions just email [e-mail]

Answer 7

i had a similar problem with my tank.its not recommended that you drain all the water out and start over,i had to clean/change both filters,do a partial water change and buy this product TLC.

Answer 8

Use bleach. But MAKE SURE you wash it out REALLY good!