Best way to handle algae

by **Zambize4899** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:19 am

My tank is 6 weeks old, I don't think I see any algae yet. However, I have read that I should add something like a Cory at 2-3 weeks. True?

That aside, if I do see algae developing, what is the best way to handle it? A fish, a chemical, cleaning, a combination of things? I'm opposed to any more chemicals than I must use, so maybe a fish? If so, what kind? My tank is only 28 gallons, so the smaller the better, and hopefully not a shoal of them.

I currently have:
6 Guppies
2 Swordtails
1 happy African Dwarf Frog

Plan to add over the next 4-5 weeks:
6 Black Neon Tetras
3 Dalmation Mollies

I think all this will fill my 28 gallon, so I'm wanting to be careful about adding anymore fish.

Thank you

by **Peterkarig3210** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:42 am

It's really important that you get your cycle under control before adding more fish. At this point with high nitrites and nitrates it seems the tank is pushing the limit right now. Have you considered buying a cylindrical sponge filter(attached to the filter intake) to add biological surface area to the one you have or buying a larger filter? I would at least follow Miami's recommendations on levels of nitrates, and try to keep ammonia and nitrites at zero before considering adding more fish. Siamese algae eaters are considered to be very good at eating algae, but whatever fish you add is going to increase the waste products and thus nutrients for algae, so you have that to think about.

by **Zambize4899** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:11 am

Wow. I thought you were supposed to add fish slowly, a couple every couple of weeks, during cycling. That's how the chemicals would ever reach desired levels. Don't you add a few fish right away and then add very, very slow a couple every couple of weeks?!

by **Peterkarig3210** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:21 am

Nitrates are the end product of what a healthy cycle ends up with. If your nitrates are 40 ppm which is supposed to be quite high the only way to reduce this is to do water changes. No amount of good bacteria will reduce this product. If you're doing water changes 2x a week and it's this high you're maxing out the capacity of your tank relative to how much food you're feeding. If you could feed the fish less in total while adding more fish then it could conceivably work, but it would be hard as you probably need to feed the fish you already have less.

by **spongebob4460** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:31 am

I agree with peter, but if u check the other thread regarding your water quality, im starting to doubt that overfeeding is the issue, even overfeeding wont produce 40 ppm of nitrates in a week where you do two water changes, unless your water changes are like 10% each. If you're fully cycled and running efficiently enough to convert that much nitrite into 40 ppm of nitrate, then why is there 10ppm of nitrite existing, it should be at zero. Maybe your test kit is somewhat inaccurate?

Just trying to think of possibilities.... and yes adding fish will help cycle faster, but this shouldnt be your case in week 6. I think what Peter was saying was that adding fish right now will only compound your water quality issues, and you should try to correct those before adding any more fish. Algae for me has always been issues of too much light or a passing phase of the new tank. Keep your lights timed to 6-7 hours you should be fine. And excess nutrients such as 40ppm of nitrates and higher will bring about algae as well i believe. Don't worry about algae until it comes, and you can start to prevent it by monitoring your water quality and making sure this stays in check.

by **Peterkarig3210** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:43 am

I think she's maybe not doing 1-2 water changes a week, but just checking the water with a test kit. Zambize. Try what we're suggesting and do 2x a week 30% water changes and rinse the filter in change water. Isn't there a way to remove charcoal and add new charcoal without replacing the pad if it's not falling apart Spongebob? With you not worrying about the pH see if you can't get the ammonia and nitrites to zero, and nitrates to stay below 10 with 2x a week water changes and feeding much less. Then after a week and a half with 3 water changes, and a couple days after the 3rd change, test the water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and let us know what you read. Then if things are completely well you could consider maybe one more fish IMO, but continue to feed sparingly and not as much as the fish can eat if they stuff themselves.
I feed my larger fish freeze dried krill and it floats and it all gets eaten before some of the fish on the bottom can get any. I remedy this by squeezing a handful in my hand under water a few timed so the krill sinks. This way I can make sure all the fish eat at least 2 pieces, and this is enough. As long as they get a little food regularly they are OK. Over feeding just leads to over pooping and isn't necessary.

by **Poetic_Irony2267** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:37 pm

Over feeding is a huge issue, with new comers to the aquarium world, i have found something that works wonders in keeping the food quantity down to a min while keeping fish fat and happy, lol the tetra min, crisps, directions on using those to feed tropicals is quite simple, one crisp per inch of fish, this equals out to 8 to ten crisps for your tank Zambize, no more no less, it's easy to think "oh their still hungry" because every time you go up to the tank they come to the front acting like it's feeding time, it's simple programming of the fish, they know that a person coming to the tank gives food, therefore they react like they are going to be fed, fish generally will gorge themselves and over eat, if you let them, they don't have a trigger mechanism inside of them that says hey wait a minute i'm so full i am gonna pop! literally, i have seen this in gold fish.

As far as your algae problem i would say if you start to see black algae in on your plants in the future i would buy one or two gold algae eaters. they are great for cleaning the leaves of your plants both live and fake alike. also a word of wisdom, dwarf african frogs... or clawed frogs as they are called here, will eventually grow large enough to eat your fish, keep a careful watch on this situation, i would hate to see a prized guppy come up missing... other than that peter and spongebob seem to be on the right track with the nitrate nitrite cycle, do not add anymore fish until your problem has been worked out, and water changes will help, one last idea, you can buy an ammo-carb pad to use in addition to the charcoal and sponge, the ammo-carb pad looks like a charcoal bag however it has white granules in it, when it turns pink take it out of the filter and soak in an aquarium salt, and water bath for a few hours then rinse well and put back in the filter, this recharges the pad and will turn it white again, this process can be repeated for several months or until the ammo-carb pad no longer returns to white.
good luck,
i hope some of this helps.
Brandon

by **Zambize4899** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:58 pm

Yes, I am doing water changes 2x per week, between 25% - 50% each time, not just testing the water. As far as the size of the filter, I bought a new kit that came with tank, heater, light, cover, and a Bio-Wheel Penguin filter. So I guess I've made an assumption that this filter sizing is correct. (?) Do I still need to enhance my filtration?

I just tested and Nitrites are 10 ppm and Nitrates 20 ppm and Ammonia 0.

The way I've begun to feed is by actually counting the pellets or flakes. Each fish gets about 1-2 pellets or flakes. The general directions I've read in various places for Guppies and Swordtails is to feed this small amount 2x per day. Sometimes now, out of fear of overfeeding, I only feed the same 1-2 pellets/flakes once per day.

I'm using the 6 in 1 test strips, which I hate because I find them hard to read. What do you test with?

Thank you all

by **Peterkarig3210** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:46 am

It's good ammonia is zero, and it sounds like things are getting better. I would continue with water changes at this rate till nitrites are at zero like the ammonia, and the nitrates stay well below 40. You are not the first person to have these cycle issues and be thankful you don't have high ammonia as well. You seem to know the right amount to feed the fish so at this point nitrites should drop to zero soon. When this happens your cycle will be functioning well and it'll require probably no more than 1 water change every 1-2 weeks of about 30%. That should be easier to maintain. Don't slow down on the water changes till nitrites are zero, and then if ammonia and nitrites stay at zero even with once every 2 weeks water change you can probably get another fish. Good progress. Peter

by **Zambize4899** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:29 am

Thank you all. I just did a water change a couple hours ago and Nitrites = 5.0 ppm and Nitrates 0-20 ppm.

Best way to handle algae

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