# Ongoing Algae Problems



## FrinkFactor (Mar 11, 2011)

Hello!
I have a 29 gallon aquarium with a pretty basic setup. Its a planted tank with a mix of gravel and plant substrate. Its been planted for about two years now and has one large angel, a handful of cories, a loach, and a school of tetras. The tank only gets a couple hours of sun per day and the lighting is set to a 8 hour per day interval. I have a basic filter. Since the tank has been setup, I've had non-stop algae issues. Its constantly growing and the tank needs to be cleaned almost daily. I was wondering what I can do to stop these algae issues. Is there some kind of crab/snail/fish that I could get to clean the tank, some kind of chemical, a cleaning procedure, or something that would keep me from having to clean the tank once a week? I am currently on spring break, so I am able to do any maintainance this week, however, come Friday, I'll be going back to school and have to have my dad grudgingly do all the work for me. I'll add a few pictures to my gallery. Thanks!


----------



## Dean715 (Feb 3, 2011)

Many here, myself included like the Nerite snails for algae eaters. I have them and they do a good job. Another plus, they do not eat live plants.


----------



## FrinkFactor (Mar 11, 2011)

What about my Angelfish? I heard they're bad about eating snails.


----------



## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Angels will eat anything small enough for them to munch on. Shrimp, snails, etc. I would suggest getting something big enough that the angel won't be interested in it. You could also go the route several people on here go - get a handful of Malaysian Trumpet Snails from your pet store if it has a snail outbreak, and let them overwhelm your tank. Your angel will eat as many as it can until it's full, but MTS are hearty buggers and they will do a great job of staying on top of the resident predator, will decimate the algae, and will even clean deep into your substrate.

Only problem is, they literally overwhelm your tank and then die off as their food source goes away. You might be fishing some shells out for awhile after things are under control, or you could leave them in there and just mix them into your substrate. Your call.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The sun your tank gets, is it direct sunlight? Is it in addition to the light time period or during the same period? How often are you feeding?


----------



## FrinkFactor (Mar 11, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> The sun your tank gets, is it direct sunlight? Is it in addition to the light time period or during the same period? How often are you feeding?


Apparently they don't get any direct sunlight, however; it does get some sun. I'd say probably a couple hours a day. The tank light is on around 10 hours a day currently. The fish get fed once a day either 1 bit of brine shrimp or a pinch of flake.


----------



## smurfette1175 (Dec 17, 2010)

My opinion (and I am no expert, just read a lot of forums) is that while you are on spring break do a complete blackout on the tank for 5 days.

Wrap it in black garbage bags so no light gets in and don't forget the top of the tank around the filter, don't feed the fish, and run an air stone to compensate for any rise in co2 from the plants. You could feed them a pinch of food about day 3 if you are worried about not feeding them. After 5 days do a good gravel vacuum, change the filter pads, scrub the glass and do a good water change that should really help. 

I also found on my tank since it gets a bit of indirect sunlight during the day, to have the lights on only for about 5-7 hours. Having the lights on for 10 hours could be too much.


----------



## FrinkFactor (Mar 11, 2011)

smurfette1175 said:


> My opinion (and I am no expert, just read a lot of forums) is that while you are on spring break do a complete blackout on the tank for 5 days.
> 
> Wrap it in black garbage bags so no light gets in and don't forget the top of the tank around the filter, don't feed the fish, and run an air stone to compensate for any rise in co2 from the plants. You could feed them a pinch of food about day 3 if you are worried about not feeding them. After 5 days do a good gravel vacuum, change the filter pads, scrub the glass and do a good water change that should really help.
> 
> I also found on my tank since it gets a bit of indirect sunlight during the day, to have the lights on only for about 5-7 hours. Having the lights on for 10 hours could be too much.


We've already tried a blackout in the past and the algae still game back. Also, blacking out the tank and killing all the algae while also cleaning and vacuuming the tank throws the tank into a mini-cycle which is unhealthy for the tank and requires a massive amount of daily water changes. Overall, while that is a solution to get rid of the algae temporarily, I'm looking for a way to get rid of excessive algae growth permanently.


----------



## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I would strongly suggest a cleanup crew, as getting the right balance of light, nutrients, water parameters and feeding is difficult to say the least.


----------



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

You'll never be able to fix the problem permantly until you find the cause. I would say you are getting to much light. You need to cut back the hours the light is on or cut out the sunlight from it. It also sounds like you might have excess nutrients in the tank. How often do you do water changes and how much? Some of the algae I see in the pic shows there is to much phosphates in the water.


----------



## FrinkFactor (Mar 11, 2011)

susankat said:


> You'll never be able to fix the problem permantly until you find the cause. I would say you are getting to much light. You need to cut back the hours the light is on or cut out the sunlight from it. It also sounds like you might have excess nutrients in the tank. How often do you do water changes and how much? Some of the algae I see in the pic shows there is to much phosphates in the water.


I'll dial back the time on the light. The water gets changed about once a week for about a 15-25% change. Just basic tap water. Should I be doing more or less than that? I've ordered up some trumpet snails, hopefully that helps get rid of some of the algae already present on the plants and in the substrate.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

FrinkFactor said:


> We've already tried a blackout in the past and the algae still game back. Also, blacking out the tank and killing all the algae while also cleaning and vacuuming the tank throws the tank into a mini-cycle which is unhealthy for the tank and requires a massive amount of daily water changes. Overall, while that is a solution to get rid of the algae temporarily, I'm looking for a way to get rid of excessive algae growth permanently.


Not totally true. Yes, if you "over clean" and "over do" your water changes and cleaning you can get a mini-cycle. A mini-cycle is just that...mini...meaning short. They will happen but uually without you even knowing. They shouldn't require more water changes though. I do 50% weekly and vacuum all I can get to (planted).


----------



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I have some tanks that I change out 90% at a time. As long as the filter and substrate or anything don't die off you shouldn't have a mini cycle.


----------

