algae i hate u forever

[lims]

i recently moved house and my tank setup was without filtration and at low water level for a few days, (CFB were seperate and fine) in those few days a green slimey algae grew on my spagnum moss and spread onto the sand. I cleaned everything fully and did a partial water change when i set it up in my new house, now i am at war with the algea, i clean it, it spreads across the sand, again and again. I never had this problem before i moved, its probably colder where i am now too. There probably is no answer, just totally change the sand maybe but i would have to re-do the whole setup again, and it took while, any advise?

 

[niajetze]

algaeis just like any other plant so just think what you would typically happen to your garden plants (that you want!!) that kills them. since your newts (or what ever) are living there you cannot deprive it of water the other things algae needs is food / light. if your tank has a large biomass it might be coping ok with ammonia etc but the waste product of the cycling in basicly plant food so reducing bio mass where you can will help(do you have fish snails clamps etc in there). Failing this you can introduce other plants to compete may i suggest java moss as it is fast growing. I think though your problem is light was the tank in a darker area before than it is now ... try putting it somewhere a bit darker or limit the hours of light by drawing the curtains. Algae isnt a bad thing if you can learn to live with it so think abut keeping it for that o natural feel to your tank,.

 

[Kaysie]

Just be happy it's a pretty green algae and not the nasty brown algae I have.

But, I would think that the cause of the algae is excess nutrients. Try doing additional water changes, or, like Carrie said, add your own plants. Java moss is great.

 

[lims]

ok, thanks for the info,
but as or keeping the algae i dunno, i lost a few axie larva coz they got thier gills tangled with the same kind of algea once. I wanted to put baby axies in the tank in question when they grow, and take my CFB's out and re-house them, but i need rid of the algea to protect the axies gills, i'll persist with what i've ben doing and try your suggestions too. i used to have the brown type on my logs, it was fine did no harm really, this gree stuff spreads like wild fire and it tangles gills, BAD ALGEA

 

[lims]

i have elodea, duck weed and creeping jenny allready plus i did have java moss but it seemed to be the route of the algea so i removed it and cleaned it, i'll put it back again, i used to have more snails too, they diminished, i need more...

 

[Jennewt]

I'm wondering if you might have the dreaded "BGA" (blue-green algae). BGA spreads in a thin sheet that is easily removed, but covers everything. It tends to smell bad when there's enough of it.

It sounds like you are doing the right thing: just keep removing it. If it's BGA, you may be able to remove it every few days with a basting bulb. Redoing the whole setup won't prevent it from coming back. I'll bet it becomes less of a problem in a few months.

 

[lims]

yes jen, i believe u are right, it is a bit blue-ish and its slimey, the war wages on....

 

[newtsrfun]

Your tapwater my also have phosphates or something else that is "fertilizing" the algea growth.

 

[Zapher]

Yeah, phosphate will usually enter the tank through pretty much everything. Try using a phosphate remover. It should help kill or at least slow the growth of the algae while pretty much all other plants barely rely on it. Phos-X and Algone are good phosphate removes and as an added bonus they remove nitrates and nitrites too. You can place them anywhere in the tank but they work best in a filter where water is forced through them.

 

[Ed]

While removing nitrates isn't really a bad thing, I would suggest not removing nitrites from a cycled tank as you are starving the biological filter and can end up with a bad spike once the filtering material is no longer being used.

Ed

 

[newtsrfun]

I agree, don't remove the nitrates, but your next water change use better water, (reverse osmosis, or get filitred water from a store)

 

[lims]

thanks for the input everyone, i normaly leave the water out for 4 to 5 days to get rid of the chlorine and i put a bit of blue chemical stuff in which is for making pure aquarium water for fish and sometimes a bit of PH netraliser too. I think i've just been unlucky and foolish coz it all started when i left it with no filtration for a weekend and the algea began (newts were seperate for the move), i have a strategy and willpower, no mercy, no relenting, i will remove any algea that appears until my tank is feared by algea everywhere, I agree about not removing the nitrates, i had a perfect cycle without just before i moved, cheers

 

[Ed]

Nitrates can be removed. You do not want to remove nitrites.
There is a significant difference. The algae in any case would preferentially absorb ammonia than nitrate.

Ed

 

[lims]

oh
my
god
this will never stop, i cannot win this battle, every day before i go to work i hoover the sand, get rid of the algea on it, and rub the leaves of plants to get the little fringes of algea that forms on the leaves and roots off everything, then I come back from work and its there again, it's so fast, i dont know what else to do, even if the cold eventually kills it, wont't it come back in hot weather again?

HELP ME

 

[Jennewt]

i have a strategy and willpower, no mercy, no relenting, i will remove any algea that appears until my tank is feared by algea everywhere

This is funny... but it may be part of what's gotten you in trouble. Allowing some algae to grow in the tank will discourage growth of algae in the places where you really don't want it. (The existing algae absorbs nutrients, so other algae doesn't get started as easily.) For most kinds of algae, total eradication should not be the goal.

In the case of BGA (the slimy blue-green type of algae), I would say go ahead and eradicate it as much as possible. But if you have other, more benign types of algae, let them grow in the places where they don't look too bad.

Have you taken any steps to reduce the amount of nutrients in the tank?

Good luck!

 

[lims]

yea I only remove the BGA, I have the frilly brown algea on my underwater logs but I leave it.
I put load of elodea and duck weed in, but it just goes on the elodea leaf edges, i shall persist

 

[Bellabelloo]

This may be along shot, but I read that moss balls are good as they are supoosed to be able to compete against algae....

 

[Azhael]

Never really understood by people hate algae so much... I actually find perfectly cleaned aquariums to be ugly and non-natural... In my opinion a nice, natural, settled aquarium needs algae...
Unless it´s an invasion of course....they can kill you other plants and some times are bad for the aquarium...but a reasonable amount of algae is a friend of the aquarium hehe...

 

[lims]

dont get me wrong, i love a bit of the old algea as much as the next herper, but this is no ordinary algea my good friend, this is the BGA(see above), you've never know a more relentless slime than this.. it needs to go, all of it,

 

[JWERNER]

The biggest note that I take on your problem is the new tank set up and moving. I bet you your new water source could be very high in nutrients and the fact that its not cycled correctly and has a higher bio mass do to lack of bio filtration and the good old new tank syndrome has everything to do with it.

I always try to let new tank water set up and cycle exactly like a fish tank just for the fact that problems like this can occur in even a tank set up like this as they usually do in a fish aquarium.

I say it needs some kind of good bio filtration like more plants or wood if you can fit anything more. I say use a different source water and cut back on water changes just make sure you siphon any waste along with the algae. Maybe even test the water for nutrients that you are using for a source.

You should try to show us a pic of the entire tank. That would be cool.