# Algae



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

So over the passed couple of days I have noticed a bit algae growing mainly on the walls of my tank. I have also noticed it starting to grow on the top of my lava rock. It is light green in color and it is almost as if it waves in the wind; like wisps of hair almost. I do water changes 2x a week and everything else seems to be fine. I have not changed any of my routine including feeding, water changes, light, length of light on/off, what I feed them, etc. Does anyone have any ideas what the algae is? I have also been told algae is a sign of a well established tank but I think thats a bit of non sense.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Its just algae. Scrape it off of the tank when you do your water change. Or you can get a net if its in big enough clumps and scoop it up. You could also cut down on your lighting time also. That will help a little with the algae..


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

Any type of algae usually occures when there is an excessive amount of nutrients or lighting as stated above, is your aquarium near a window ?


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Ba20 said:


> Any type of algae usually occures when there is an excessive amount of nutrients or lighting as stated above, is your aquarium near a window ?


yeah actually it is but its been up for months now and the blind is usually closed, so I never thought that would change anything now


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

How long are your lights on daily??


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

They are on about 8-10 hrs. I figured it would be cool bc well daylight is about that, but idk.


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

Check your Nitrate levels, make sure they're not too high (should be <40ppm). If they're high, do a water change. The algae won't hurt your fish, just clean off your rocks and stuff next time you're in there.


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## Kentucky Hillbillie (Jan 17, 2009)

Warmer temps could also contribute to increased algae growth. Yuo might want to bump it down a couple of degrees if you keep it high say 82-84 degrees.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

My water temp ranges from about 78.2 degrees to about 78.8 degrees. I dont think that is an exceptionally high water temperature, is it?


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

No that's fine.....cut down on the amount of time the light is on, do more frequent water changes, and you should be good.


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2009)

> It is light green in color and it is almost as if it waves in the wind; like wisps of hair almost.


Sounds like a photosynthetic filamentous algae.

In a aquarium, photosyntetic plants need nutrients and light. Usually, if you just do a bit larger of a water change you can deprive it enough to arrest its growth. If that doesn't do it, you can also reduce the light.

This usually isn't a problem in community aquariums because the bottom feeding fish keep these growths in check.


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

like stated above too mush nutrients or light, to fix an algae problem you have to find the underlying cause, again nutirents of lights or both. what is your wpg (watts per gallon) if its more than 2wpg and you have no live plants to outdo the algae for nutrients your only hope is to keep the nitrates low under 20 would be good. you can chance a few otto cats or some snails but if you have P's they might not last long enough to make much of a difference and your algae is still going to come back. algae is a pain.


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

Is this a planted tank? I thought that I remember you having plants.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Soul Assassin said:


> Is this a planted tank? I thought that I remember you having plants.


My wpg is about 1.5. Although this is not very high I think it is also quite low. I have 3 snails now as we speak and they have been around for only a couple of days. I have also done 3 water changes and have scrubbed away the algae as I am doing the water change.

I do not have any living plants so far. I only plan to get a planted tank when I get a bigger tank-125g or more.

So far so good, I only hope the algae stays away


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