I have an overgrowth of algae in my tank! What do I do?

Question

I have a 10-gallon fish tank. No matter how much I clean it, algae just keeps growing back. I have tried snails and algae eating fish, which harldy help. I don't keep the fish tank light on very much (said to promote algae growth). I usually end up scrubbing it with an algae scrubber, but that just makes the tank murky and I end up having to scrub it again in a couple of days. I don't overfeed my fish (mostly guppies, so what could be the cause of this? And is there any easier way to remove algae than scrubbing it every couple of days? By the way, this isn't just a little algae, it's a lot that covers all sides of the tank, the plants and other ornaments, and the stones on the bottom. Please help me.

Answer 1

If you don't have excess light on your tank, you must have lots of nutrients in your water. If you aren't overfeeding (you should only give the fish what they can eat in 2-3 minutes twice a day), how's your maintenance? Do you do partial water changes of about 25% every week to remove wastes? Do you use a gravel vacuum to clean the substrate and remove the algae once you've scarped it off?

If you do all of these, have you tested your water source for nitrate and phosphate? These can sometimes be present even in public water supplies, so if these in are in your water, doing a water change won't help, because you'll be adding more nutrients.

Do you grow plants in your tank and use a plant fertilizer? This can be used by the algae as well.

Also, what you have may not be algae, but cyanobacteria if it's bright blue-green - see photo: http://www.aquamax.de/Shop/Artikelbilder/Zusatzbilder/Algen%20im%20Aquarium_Blaualgen%20-%20Cyanobacteria_STUG_cyano1.jpg I ask about this, because neither fish nor snails reall eat this, but it does come back quickly even after it's scraped.

See these links for more treatment ideas:
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/algcont.shtml
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/cyano.shtml

Answer 2

Algae has similar needs as other plant life like sunlight, water and nutrients. If an excess of these items are available, odds are great that overgrowth will occur. Insufficient water maintenance and improper lighting are the primary causes for algae overgrowth. Avoid placing a tank where there is direct sunlight, for even part of the day. The majority of owners overfeed their fish, which will increase the phosphate levels in the water. Keeping Siamese Flying Fox, Otocinclus, or even the common Plecostomus, will help reduce some of the algae in the tank.

Answer 3

Make sure you are using a good filter. Live plants help a lot and plecos are EXCELLENT cleaners.

We had a massive over growth of algae in our 30 gallon tank and got 1 pleco and 3 live plants (we already had a filter) our tank is spotless. That pleco is amazing, it seems like he spends 24 hours a day cleaning every glass side, every rock, every decoration. he had it sparkling in a week.

Answer 4

day light will also cause algae, you might need to move the tank.... try plants they are always good for helping keep tanks clean

Answer 5

pleco , flying foxes, ( algea eating fish ) scrub the tank reduce lighting to 5 hours a day ( get a timmer so its easyer ) get more plants dont add co2 or fertilizer if you are .

Answer 6

clean it! or get a plecatamous. they eat the poop & algae.

Answer 7

you must get a filter.

Answer 8

You clean it..................