Aleš Lombergar

Well:
1. Only turn the lights on for your aquarium when you are in the room or watching it then just turn it off afterwards.
2. The soft natural light from windows is really all they need in the daytime but the brighter light is for when you are really looking at them or feeding.
3. Keep the sun away from the aquarium it makes the algae grow a whole lot more!!
4. I suggest getting like 5-7 oto catfish. They work great as algae eaters and dont take up too much space as they only get about 1.5-2″ So not too bad but they are cute and they work.
5. If you dont like that idea try getting an algae product that will get rid of it, look at PetSmart online, or PetCo or if you have a local store that has fish stuff go ahead (my target sells some algae stuff in the pet section so look there too!)
6. You could get snails if you like them..

* DO NOT get a PLECO or PLECOSTMOS* They get VERY big! The common pleco gets to 10-12 inches so please do not get one for your sake. Thanks so much

If you need anything else you can email me! Good luck :]

My first recomendation is get a plecostomus (algae eater).
My second is if you don’t get a pleco scrape the algae off the glass and then cut back on your tanks light exposure time.

I think the best way is to get some algae eating fish and balance things naturally. A Plycothamus(sp) is pretty cool – a fish vacuume.

Algae thrive on two things: food and light. Being a plant, it feeds on excess waste in your water and the light from your tank’s fixture or sunlight from a nearby window will encourage it to grow and spread.

You say that your filters are okay. Make sure you’re not overfeeding your fish (whatever isn’t eaten within the first few minutes becomes soggy, flavorless, and will rot in your tank) and be sure that you’re not leaving your light on excessively. I try to emulate day and night with my tanks. I bought a timer so that my lights cut on in the morning and go off in the evening so I can never forget.

Right – first lets sort out the algae that you have in the tank.

You will need to wrap DARK paper around your tank, making sure NO light gets into it. You must not feed your fish. Leave it on for three days, remove and check to see that it is dying off. Algae needs light and food to thrive. If you elimiate the source it should start to die. If necessary re wrap the tank and wait another three days. Your fish can survuve quite happily for a week without food – though I do not advise they go any longer than this.

Once your algae has died off, or a majority of it, you can then start to keep it under control.

Feed your fish once a day, being careful not to overfeed as mentioned in a previous post. Make sure you put some live plants in your tank as these actually feed off the same organisms as the algae and will get the nutrients first. If you want to put in an algae eater, then make sure you get one that doesn’t grow big. Some can outgrow a small tank very quickly, so unless you have a very large tank then be very careful.

Keep your plants to one that do not require a strong bright light, some only need a few hours, and try not to have your light on for more than 8 hours. (Make sure that you do not have your tank in direct sunlight, this will also make the algae bloom)

Whatever you do – don’t use chemicals, I am against them and you don’t really need them for this.

Hope this helps, I’ve been there and done that and know how frustrating it can be!

Good Luck,
Lisa.

The worst thing you can do its changing the water…….creates problems in the general aquarium balance.
This is going to sound stupid but normally there are two basics reasons for that, too much light or sometimes not enough………. is the tank near a window? If sow its getting light from two sources………….its in a corner without artificial light? Try to get an average of 10 hours a day of light, natural or artificial you’ll see that it will disappear by itself.

is there too much light?