I purchased some alge removal but it doesnt do anything. What could be causing it? I tested my water and it is fine, I have africian clawed frogs and the light is only one for a few hours a day.
2007-07-30 07:52:57 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
It's brown algae. Many algae removers don;t do a very good job of clearing this up and are infact not good for your tank in the first place.
Since you have a short light schedule already, you need to do some water changes. Use a gravel siphon to clean the gravel as you go and remove about 1/4 of the water from the tank and replace that with clean dechlorinated tap water of the same temperature as the tank water. Do this once a week and it will clear the majority of the brown algae in a matter of a few weeks.
Also consider what and how much you are feeding the frog. It's possible a little over feeding could be adding to the algae problem.
MM
2007-07-30 07:57:41 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You have excrement from the inhabitants, uneaten food, and other natural debris. The only good solution is the most obvious, you need to vacuum your gravel!
Purchase 2 pails or buckets (size closely equivalent to ¼ of your aquarium), and a good aquarium vacuum. Fill one bucket or pail with water and the correct amount of a water conditioner suitable for your aquarium. Let it sit overnight for the temperature to equalize. The next day, vacuum your gravel according to the directions, with the dirty water going into your empty bucket. If you don't get all the vacuuming done before your bucket is full, just pick up where you left off next time. You can do this once a week, and it will only make your aquarium cleaner and healthier.
If this doesn't work, you may have a brown slime algae which isn't like green algae. It is actually caused by too little light. Leaving your light on for 8-10 hours a day should kill it off. You may have to work with it some to find the right balance of light to prevent both green and brown algae.
If all else fails, take a sample of the affected gravel to your local neighborhood fish store and ask for a diagnosis. If it isn't just dirty gravel, they can probably tell you how to fix it. Good luck!
2007-07-30 08:27:59 · answer #2 · answered by baymast13 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What causes it is the waist from the fish or frogs, excess food, and a natural build up in the tank. You really don't want to get rid of it all becuase it helps the fish or frogs.
What you can do is get a tube to clean out thetank about once a month do a 50 % water change, cleaning the rocks with the tube(you can buy one at a pet shop). This way the water stays fresh and the build up will not be as much.
However you still want to leave some of the old water in the tank.
2007-07-30 08:01:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your description sounds like brown algae which is not really an algae at but a diatom
Also these diatoms THRIVE in low light or poor light so unlike anecdotal advice to lower light, the opposite is true.
And finally these are more common in new tanks that have not fully cycled.
Suggestions:
*Improve lighting with 6400 K lights ( http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html )
*Perform water changes using a gravel vacuum to clean the gravel
*Consider the use of products such as Prime at the time of water changes
*Consider adding green plants to compete with this brown algae (Diatoms)
*Lower bio load if necessary, watch feeding and improve quality of food (such Spirulina Flakes)
*Make sure your ammonia and nitrites are 0
2007-07-30 09:08:59 · answer #4 · answered by Carl Strohmeyer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The 'brown stuff' in your aquarium is most likely the frogs' fecal matter, you need to clean your tank. Remove all the little creatures and store them in a container filled with water from your aquarium. Clean all the rocks, plants and anything else you have in your tank - just use hot water...don't use soap. Maybe you should also get a couple of algae eaters to help cut down on the waste accumulating in your aquarium.
2007-07-30 08:06:38 · answer #5 · answered by silver_moonshell 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Algea is gonna get in, the best treatment is a dose of clorine. Unfortunately that also removes the fish permenently.
Best solution I found was to buy a couple of loaches which are natural algea eaters and let them clean the tank. snails do a good job, but soon will overrun the tank, so if you don't want thousands of snails, stick with a loach or two.
2007-07-30 07:58:08 · answer #6 · answered by Dondi 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
its probablly a mix of alge and extra food they didnt eat. and poo. that extra food will cause nitro levels to go up, and ammonia eventually, and it will harm the frogs. best bet is to get a alge eater fish, like a plecto(suckerfish) and get a gravel cleaner.
2007-07-30 07:57:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
just natural scum. ever go in a lake or a pond & pull a rock from the bottom? it will have the samje brown scum. only way to get rid oof it is get new rocks, boiling the gravel will help, but won't completely remove it.
2007-07-30 07:57:10 · answer #8 · answered by kg22 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Get a filter and a sucker fish/algae eaters... frogs put out a lot of waste.
2007-07-30 07:56:00 · answer #9 · answered by lacykat 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
It is s.h.i.t. You need to clean the tank if the algae removal is not working. The light has nothing to do with it.
2007-07-30 07:56:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋