# Green Algea Problem



## dallas (Nov 14, 2003)

I dont know what section to post this but... I have a 55gallon with 4 piranhas. I have really brutal green algea that grows mostly on the gravel Really quickly (algea on the gravel being the main problem)... i'll clean the tank, do water changes and it keeps comming up (within just hours). anyways if you guys know of a way to fix this, i have started to use filtered water, but it takes forever in the brita filter i got. I can't get an algea eater fish or lobster, etc. because the piranhas will eat everything. If you guys know of a way to beat this it would be greatly appreciated. my ph is good, if anything alittle high, and my nitrate is good as well. The problem could be carbon? because i havent changed it in quite some time. The last couple days i've been wasting my money by putting in ich/fungus remover in the tank. It has been working, but it works slow and basically just slows down the growth.
Thanks for the help,
Dallas


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## edcal (Feb 19, 2005)

Does your algae look like this? if so I can help ya

are you in Dallas Texas?


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

i think that acctually looks pretty good


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## dallas (Nov 14, 2003)

ya, it looks like that. Today i just got some small plant snails and i hope they will do the trick (i wish i would have to use them). No, i'm not in texas, i'm in bc canada.


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## King Oscar (Apr 5, 2005)

what u can do is hook up a divider like 1/4 of the tank and through a algea eating fish and u can do this 1/4 at a time 
it sounds kinda stupid but its a suggestion


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## edcal (Feb 19, 2005)

what my tank had was Blue-Green Algae. Its actually a bacteria which photosynthesises so a 3 day black-out would kill it.

what triggers blue-green algae to bloom is low nitrates, high nutrients and alot of light. if you have a planted tank try to keep your nitrates to 10 ppm and dont over dose nutrients to keep BGA from blooming

back to the 3-day black out. turn off you lights and cover the sides with black trash can bags for 3 days. keep up with regular feedings, your fish will be fine in the dark. Your plants will go limp but will not die. after 3 days vac what you can and do a water change. test your water daily, with all that dead algae ammonia spikes may occur. water change daily til levels stable. I havent had a BGA problem since









keep us updated and post pics...Good luck bro


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## cmsCheerFish (Dec 17, 2004)

i like that algae effect...


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

Moved to Water Chemistry


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## dallas (Nov 14, 2003)

Thanks for the replies... i'm going to try the black out. I dont have any plants so it wont matter. I dont have any pics but i'll try and get some. all it was was a Thick layer of green slime all over the tank gravel... and i mean all over, almost covering the whole bottom, and it took about 2 weeks to get like that. Once its gone does it still come back easily? It crossed my mind to divide the tank for some algea eaters, but that would be way to much of a pain, expecially if there was a way of riding it for good.
Thanks again.


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

check out the little algae article in my sig. it's a brief overview on general treatments for algae.


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## hiphopn (Feb 10, 2005)

edcal said:


> Does your algae look like this? if so I can help ya
> 
> are you in Dallas Texas?
> [snapback]1023832[/snapback]​


that doesnt look like bga to me.


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## dallas (Nov 14, 2003)

Thanks, your post has good info. I have been trying the black out thing the last couple days not thinking it would work because if it is a bacteria rather than an algea, it wouldnt be getting its nutrition from light. Anyways, it seems like it has been working. and i just turned on my light today to check it out and its basically all gone, so wether it was the fugus/ich remover, the blackout, the snails, or a miricle from God. Its going away. Thanks again for your peoples help.


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

dallas said:


> Thanks, your post has good info. I have been trying the black out thing the last couple days not thinking it would work because if it is a bacteria rather than an algea, it wouldnt be getting its nutrition from light
> [snapback]1026945[/snapback]​


It is a photosynthetic bacteria I believe, hence it does get energy from light. You can also kill it with antibiotics, but I think it's better to do things med/chem free where possible.


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