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Had to Blanket My Tank

Fri, 04/16/2010 - 21:44 — g_good

It is Friday. I put a blanket over my tank&will remove it on Monday. The bottom&live plants are covered with it, but my pleco remains on the glass.

The water tests well. I have followed advice from other members. ( block all natural light, introduce CO2., etc. ) Nothing works.  Can anyone tell me what the problem might be ? I'm sure the algae will be gone Monday, but if it comes back I'll have little choice. In addition to my weekly wated change, I'll have to vaccuum the algae off the bottom everyday.

Comments

Sat, 04/17/2010 - 07:04 — femacle1

Re: Had to Blanket My Tank

buy the way co2 helps plants grow. i would think it would make algae grow also.

Tue, 04/20/2010 - 18:26 — g_good

Conflicting Opinions

I was told by another member to inject CO2 & shut off my airstone. He said the plants would use up the CO2 faster than the algae would. It is hard to know who to believe.

Sat, 04/17/2010 - 07:01 — femacle1

Re: Had to Blanket My Tank

if its green water get a u v sterilizer. i had water so green in one of my setups that you couldnt even see the fish. we put a u v sterilizer on it and in 2 days it now looks so clear that you cant see the water at all. it looks like the fish are floting in air.

Tue, 04/20/2010 - 18:29 — g_good

Green Water

I've had that algae before that turns the water green. That is not what this was. My tank is cleaner. We'll see if it lasts.

Sun, 04/18/2010 - 02:20 — Peanut

Re: Had to Blanket My Tank

If you have natural light in the room, then it will come back. For me, the natural light started the algae to grow. I never had it before that. I purchased a few oto's. They do a great job. But, they are small. Depending on now big your BP's are, you could try a few of them. But, if your BP's are big, they may try to eat them.

When you say the water test well, what exactly are your readings, especially the nitrates?

From what I've read, diatom filters really work on cloudy or algae water.

Too much co2 can aid the algae in growth.

If it's brow algae, your tap water may be high in silicic acid. You could try using something like Seachem's PhosGuard. Check out this article. It can give you more information. http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article85.html

Tue, 04/20/2010 - 18:41 — g_good

Not Brown

I did not have brown algae. It was green.
I have blocked out all natural light.
My nitrates tested 0.
I was told by another member to take out my airstone & use my CO2 injector. He said the plants would use it up faster than the algae.
My tank looks clear right now. The plants are growing fast & they are healthy. My pleco was swimming all over the place last night. I hope he can find enough to eat. If not, I'll have to give him a few pellets now & then.

Thu, 04/22/2010 - 10:32 — Peanut

Re: Not Brown

I apologize. I meant oxygen not co2. I had read the other post about co2 and had co2 on the brain when replying. Cutting out the excess oxygen is the way to go.

My friend has a pleco. I took peas over to her house to feed her fish. Her goldfish wanted nothing to do with them. But, the Pleco went crazy for them. lol!! I loved watching him eat those peas. He had a feast.

Something is strange about not having nitrates. In a cycled tank, you always have nitrates. The beneficial bacteria converts the ammonia and nitrites into nitrates. Maybe you had just done a water change and the nitrates were undetectable at that point?

Glad to hear the tank is clear now. That's good news!!