How do I keep my fish-tank algae-free?

Question

I have a 30-gallon fish tank, populated with "semi-agressive" fish. Someone told me that I could put snails in to take care of the algae, but I put one in and my fish killed it. I don't want to put an algae eater in, since they get so HUGE (and are peaceful fish, unlike mine?)... so what other solutions do I have?

Should I just break down and get a small algae eater?
or would my fish kill it?

Answer 1

To be honest you really can't keep a tank totally algae free, but you can control it. Algae needs two things to grow, nitrates and light. By reducing these two things, you can reduce the algae. Larger and more frequent water changes will help control the nitrates. Adding a few live plants will help alot as well, especially floating plants. Be very sure your not over feeding as this feeds algae in a big way.

Control the light by making sure your tank gets no direct sunlight and keeping the lights on only about 10 hours a day. Keeping the entire room darkened over night will help as well. Doing those things will bring the algae under control and keep it there.

MM

Answer 2

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1.) The most important thing is to make sure you have a filter in your tank. You didn't mention having one, so if you do, then ignore what I'm about to say. But if you don't have one, you should know that they help to establish beneficial bacteria in your aquarium. These bacteria turn harmful ammonia and nitrite compounds in your tank into harmless ones. 2.) Even if you have a filter, make sure you do frequent partial water changes. You can do 10% weekly water changes, or 30% 2-4 week changes, or whatever combination seems to work for you. You need to do this because your filter will leave nitrates in your tank, and that is something that plants and algae thrive on. So if you want to keep your tank algae-free, limit these nitrates by removing them with water changes. 3.) make sure you have a large enough tank and don't overstock it with fish. The more fish you have, the more food and waste will be there to create a mess. Also, don't overfeed the fish because that will cause even more waste. 4.) Don't give it too much sunlight. If you are experiencing problems, keep your tank away from a window and decrease the number of hours in the day that your tank light is on. 5.) Get a snail, chinese algae eater, or pleco. Those are all great for removing algae caked onto the side of the tank, but they will do nothing about eating algae in the water. And these are not perfect, you will still have to do water changes and decrease light to completely keep algae away. 6.) they make anti-algae tablets that you can drop in your aquarium, but it's always a better idea to try the natural way first before introducing chemicals into your aquarium that could harm your filter bacteria. So try steps 1-5 before trying step 6. Hope this helped, and good luck! ps - I forgot to mention that if you get live plants, this can be very beneficial for keeping algae away because it can use up all the nutrients that algae needs before algae can get to it. Plus the plants will help with oxygenating your tank.

Answer 3

The best solutions are
1) to cut down the amount of light on the tank (unless you have live plants, the light is for your benefit, not the fishes' - as long as there's enough light in the room that they can get a day/night cycle). You can use no light at all, or 6-8 hrs of hood lighting on a timer. Make sure no direct sunlight hits the tank.

2) make sure you don't overfeed your fish! Only give what they can eat in 2-3 minutes. And skip one day a week!

3) do regular water changes of about 20-30% of the water to remove any dissolved materials that the algae will use as nutrients. The best way of doing this is to use an aquarium gravel.

The website listed below gives some different info as far as the times for lighting and volume of water changes - be aware there are no hard and fast rules about how these are done - but the less light and nutrients algae has, the less of it there will be!

Answer 4

Honestly algae isn't a bad thing unless it's choking out plants, or preventing you from seeing into the tank. As far as an algae eater there are a number of small breed pleco. The bristle nose, and clown pleco are tough with armored scales, and retractable spines. With a piece of driftwood to hide on/under, and chew on.

Answer 5

I would try lowering the temp a degree or two and keeping lights off at night, in addition to trying to keep PH as close to 7.0 as possible because algae like alkaline water with a high Ph.

Answer 6

I had that prob. before stupid me I didn't know that keeping a tank in front of the window with the blind open. Facing the sun and then I left lights on all the time the petshop. I actually had a consult done wOW DID I EVER HAVE TO BE OUT OF UNNECESSARY MONEY.

Answer 7

Wouldn't it be nice to have just that?!

Algae are mostly-photosynthetic organisms that sometimes resemble plants but are not plants, having no true roots, stems or leaves. Algae grow in freshwater and saltwater. Saltwater algae are sometimes referred to as "seaweed." Like plants, algae require light and nutrients to grow. We supply plenty of both in our aquariums, with several hours of aquarium lighting a day and nutrients like nitrates and phosphates from fish waste.

Algae come in many forms. There are microscopic, one-celled algae, filamentous algae that resemble hair, algae that grow in sheets, and macroalgae that look like plants. There are even algae that live inside the outer integument ("skin") or calcium shell of some corals, anemones, and other sessile invertebrates called zooxanthellae. There are slimy-looking algae that are often not algae at all, but a colony of primitive photosynthetic organisms known as cyanobacteria. There are also very hard-to-remove little dots of green that sometimes grow on aquarium panels which also are not algae, but diatom or radiolarian colonies (microscopic, one-celled, animals with hard shells) with algae incorporated in their matrix. With all that said, let us answer some common questions right up front:

Algae growth is inevitable in an aquarium.
Algae consume nutrients in the aquarium that if allowed to accumulate, are harmful to fish. Algae can be a good thing.
The presence of green algae in an aquarium indicates a healthy environment for fish.
There is absolutely no way to completely prevent algae from growing in an aquarium, without killing the other life in the tank.
Chemicals should never be used to control the growth of true algae in an aquarium, and should only be used in rare circumstances to control cyanobacteria.
Correcting a severe algae problem requires time and patience.
Natural methods of controlling algae are the best and most effective.

Algae removal from the tank panels can be done on an as-needed basis, but no more than once a week. Removing algae involves either correcting negative water conditions to control or slow excessive algae growth, or an age-old process known as "elbow grease" (scrubbing it off!). Algae removal in an aquarium should be done only when necessary. We have seen many aquariums where daily removal of algae resulted in fish that were so stressed, most had diseases and were dying. You should never remove all of the algae from your tank. Allowing some algae to grow in the aquarium can be beneficial to the aquatic environment. When algae is removed from aquarium side panels, care should be taken to select an algae scrubber that will not hurt the finish of an aquarium. Be careful not to get gravel caught in an algae scrubbing pad where it can scratch the aquarium. Never use household cleaning pads to remove algae. They contain fungicides that kill fish.

Your first mistake is boiling the water. Boiling water consentrates the nitrates in it causing algae to grow even faster. However, I've never heard of it growing within an hour Wow!

First, test the water you are filling up your tank with. Many public water supplies (our homes) have a concentration of nitrates at around 7ppm or higher. (Bottled water is no better).

This could be the start of your problem.
Be sure your tank is not within direct or indirect lighting such as a window or in a room where the lights are on constantly. Is you tank near a heat source. Sometimes we do not take into consideration a fishtank is near a heat register which can and does add additional temperature changes to your tank.

Did you clean the filter as well? Be sure the entire filter is cleaned and free of algae.

Use a razor or scraper and gently scrape all sides of your tank. Clean your gravel and return it to the tank as well. DO NOT wash the gravel in the tank. The residues of the algae will remain.

Since you have NO FISH I am assuming, use cold water to start your tank. Algae likes heat and light. Using cold water will prohibit growth. Allow your tank to run bringing it to room temperature. Then you can plug in your heater allowing your tank to run.

If you have a stick on thermometer, get yourself a floating one. The stick on thermometers pick up ambient air temperatures from OUTSIDE the tank and can be up to 10 degrees off. DON"T trust them. Try keeping your tank at 72 for a couple of days.

You can also purchase phosphorus pads for around $2.00 at your local pet store. These can be cut to fit with your filter and remove large amounts of phosphorus. These can be reused over and over just remember to rinse them out well when you clean your tank.

Test your water. Since you have not gone thru the cycle process allow your tank to run. This should really help with the algae. If you find your water quality is all your tank isn't near a heat or light source, ok but still getting algae turn the temperature down or off and let it run. You will want to scrape the sides of the tank and do a water change no more than 20% every other day. This should only be done if the algae returns in a heavy form.

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