in my fishtank i keep getting algae.?

Question

there is no fish in yet,due to the algae problem,the gravel in the bottom and the ornaments cost a packet so i do not want to throw them away,is there any treatment or solution i can buy..many thanks..

notes i need to add;-there is no fish in yet 2-i had it 2nd hand off a mate who had algae in but i throughley cleaned it 4 times and let it stand for 2 month 3i put gravel in,6 plants and light on al the time,and a piece of wooden driftwood 5-it is tropical and i have the heater on all the time and left it for 2 weeks got algae[green]..i know all of you have really took your time to answer the initial question and i am sorry for wasting your time but i thought i would emphasise further..

Answer 1

try cleaning it

Answer 2

Algae needs nutrients and light to grow. Since you don't have fish in the aquarium yet, you'll have to figure out what the nutrient source would be. Are you cycling the tank using a piece of raw shrimp, fish food, or pure ammonia as an ammonia source? If not, you may have nitrates and/or phosphates in your tap water (or other water source). This could be an ongoing problem if the nutrients are in your water source. If you're using something as an ammonia source in the tank, do you know what your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are? Ammonia and nitrite will be converted to nitrate (eventually), but if you've got a lot of ammonia, you'll end up with a lot of nitrates. The live plants should help take up the nitrates and phosphate and out-compete the algae for these. Do you use a fertilizer for your plants? This fertilizes the algae as well. You may need to cut back on what you're using to about 1/3 the amount suggested. Once you have fish, it shouldn't be necessary to add anything other than iron unless you're planning a heavily planted tank.

With live plants, the other option is less appealing - turning off the lights. Algae is photosynthetic, so it needs light to produce its food. You can try cutting back on the number of hours the lights are on, and make sure there is no direct sun that hits the tank.

Also, the problem might be something other than algae - a bacteria (cyanobacteria) appears similar to an algae: http://www.aquamax.de/Shop/Artikelbilder/Zusatzbilder/Algen%20im%20Aquarium_Blaualgen%20-%20Cyanobacteria_STUG_cyano1.jpg

You can start the control/elimination by scraping the algae on any glass, and rsiphoning out any thing removed. Remove any ornaments or larger rocks and soak them in a solution of 1 part bleach to 19 parts water for 15 minutes and rinse very well before adding them back to the tank. If the nutrient source is something other than your tap water, I'd recommend a water change to lower the amount of nutrients present. If the tapwater is the source, you may need to use reverse osmosis water (can be purchased at larger surpemarkets from a self-serve dispenser - I get mine at Surper WalMart for about $.25/gallon once you buy their container, which is refillable) or buy a reverse osmosis filter for yourself. You could also use some algae-eating animals, such as otocinclus catfish (1 1/2", keep in schools), plecostomous catfish (5-18", depending on the species), snails, or algae-eating shrimp. If the problem is cyanobacteria, most organisms won't eat it.

Answer 3

When I used to keep fish I just used to scrape the inner glass with an old bank card, the fish enjoyed eating the algae, and 'playing' with my hand as I did it! They were shebunkins. Sunlight also encourages algae so keep the tank in a darker area of the room if you can. I would clean out the tank completely every couple of months and remove the algae from the stones and ornaments, though I scraped it about once a week.

Though don't clean a tank too often as this can upset the natural balances that the fish and tank develop.

Answer 4

the algae is feeding off nutrients in the water and available light. you should keep plenty of plants in the tank as they will use up the nutrients and light and so impede the growth of algae, also check that your light is the right size for your tank and is not switched on for too long.12 hours is the maximum but 10 may be fine.you can buy treatments to reduce growth of algae but personally I'm always wary of putting chemicals in the water. there are also fish that eat algae- i once put two sucking loaches in my tank which was covered in a thick green carpet all over the bottom and 3 sides of the tank and they devoured the lot within a week. they can be a bit aggressive though- but there are other fish that eat algae.

Answer 5

Hi, you dont say if this is tropical or coldwater. Unfortunately Water + Light will = Algae no matter what. Keep the tank away from sunlight. The best thing for getting rid of algae is ordinary pond snails. Put as many as you can in the tank and you will be able to actually watch them cleaning it off. Then you can either remove them or just some. Good luck

Answer 6

If the water in your fish's home is green, then algae is growing the water, which shows that the water contains too much dissolved fish waste. You should change some of the water in your fish's home every day, until the water in your fish's home is clear again.

How much water should you change? Don't overreact and change too much water at one time. Change 20% of the water once each day until the green is gone, then change 20% of the water twice a week.

Don't change more than 20% of the water in one day, unless you have a catastrophe, and green algae is not a catastrophe.

have you got the light on all the time?

If you have no fish in yet the water should stay clear how long have you had the tank set up? you can get algae eating fish maybe adding one of these might help. you should really have your tank running with no fish for about 3 weeks & just add a couple fish over a period of time.
You have not mentioned what kind it is? cold water/tropical etc
Algae needs water, light, and nutrients. If your fish's home has too much algae, we know your water is getting lots of light and has lots of nutrients dissolved in it. Where did the nutrients come from?
http://www.algone.com/

Is your tank in direct sunlight? this will help it grow

Brown algae" (diatoms)

This is often the first algae to appear in a newly set-up tank, where conditions have yet to stabilise. It will often appear around the 2-12 week period, and may disappear as quickly as it arrived when the conditions stabilise after a couple of months. It is essential to minimise nutrient levels to ensure the algae disappears - avoid overfeeding and carry out the appropriate water changes, gravel and filter cleaning, etc. Limiting the light will not deter this algae, as it can grow at low lighting levels and will normally out-compete green algae under these conditions.

If brown algae appears in an established tank, check nitrate and phosphate levels. Increased water changes or more thorough substrate cleaning may be necessary. Using a phosphate-adsorbing resin will also remove silicates, which are important to the growth of this algae. However, as noted above, it is essentially impossible to totally eliminate algae with this strategy alone. Due to its ability to grow at low light levels, this algae may also appear in dimly lit tanks, where old fluorescent bulbs have lost much of their output. If a problem does occur, otocinclus catfish are known to clear this algae quickly, although you may need several for larger tanks, and they can be difficult to acclimatise initially.

There are some very plausible theories as to why this algae often appears in newly set up tanks and then later disappears. If the silicate (Si) to phosphate (P) ratio is high, then diatoms are likely to have a growth advantage over true algae types and Cyanobacteria. Some of the silicate may come from the tapwater, but it will also be leached from the glass of new aquaria, and potentially from silica sand/gravel substrates to some extent. Later, when this leaching has slowed, and phosphate is accumulating in the maturing tank, the Si:P ratio will change in favour of phosphate, which is likely to favour the growth of green algae instead.

Answer 7

get a plakey fish it is a algae eater but you will also need to feed it on algae tablets if not that there is a algae treatment that you can buy from a local pet store that you put in your tank.