Algae bloom?

[fishychick]

Hi,

been checking out old posts to see if I can do a bit of self diagnosis. I think we've got a bit of a (read major) algae bloom happening. Water is really (really) murky - greenish, not white. Have tested water - nil ammonia, but ph is fairly low about 6.2 if I'm reading it right.

It's been going on for a couple of weeks now. Have been doing extra water changes, but would like to know how to fix it properly. Have got some stuff called Algol here (inherited with tank) but am not keen on adding stuff if I don't have to.

Tank doesn't see any direct sun that I know of, so any clues why this should suddenly happen? Are the fish safe? - they don't seem stressed. There are 8 neons, 2 glowlights, 3 silvertips, and 2 khulis in an AR380.

Suggestions?

[Caryl]

Why is the pH only 6.2? That will be helping the algae I think.

[Rockerpeller]

uv filter would clear it. or putting filter wool over the filter intake pipe(just gotta remember to keep changing it). loading the tank up with plants has worked for me in the past. ph test the water you are using for the water changes

[fishychick]

Not sure why the ph is so low - we are on rain water here. Tested from the tap recently (couple of months ago) and was fine. The only thing I can think of in the tank that might affest the ph is a couple of big stones I put in there a while ago - did the test with drip of vinegar first, then cleaned thoroughly and soaked to make sure nothing leaching out - seemed okay.

There are a couple of plants in there which have been there since setting the tank up (April) they seem to be doing fine apart from a bit of brown algae (which I understand is normal in a newish tank?)

[Dixon1990]

Have you added any wood to the tank recently?

[fishychick]

No wood in tank at all.

Rockerpeller, I have a blue sponge thingy over the filter intake. Looks like it needs replaced, but am a bit scared to fiddle with filter stuff after all the warning stories I have read about NOT TOUCHING THE FILTERS! Would a replacement do the trick, or would you put wool as well / instead of?

[Rockerpeller]

what type of filter is it for starters? a hang-on filter would be easy to put the wool over the intake with a rubber band or something. internal filter may be a bit harder.

[michael.qian]

if you mean the main filter sponge, don't replace it unless you absolutely have to, otherwise you'll get an ammonia spike.

If your water is green then the algae is in flowing around in the water, are there any algae of any kind on the glass? or plant leaves?

if there are try siamese algae eater and other algae eating fish including Ramshorn snails, ramshorn eat brown algae well, bristlenose catfish are also excellent algae eaters.

How often is your water change? maybe not frequent enough?

[jim r]

I once had a big problem with green water and tried several remedies without success untill I added a second filter and it cleared up in a couple of days, I removed the second filter after a few weeks and never had any problems since. also there is a product on the market called TLC which is being used to clear up some of the Central North Island lakes and it is supposed to be very good at getting rid of green water. (have not tried it myself).

[fishychick]

It's an internal filter, so could be a bit tricky - it is sounding like the easiest option tho.

Michael - no it's not the main filter - it's a small cylindrical sponge that fits around the bottom of the filter intake. It's quite a coarse guage (if that's the right term - big holes?) so I don't know if it will be much use for algae anyway. There are occasional spots of brown algae on the glass which I normally just clean off, and brown algae on the fake and real plants. I was doing water changes weekly (approx 25%) but have bumped up to nearly 50% every 2 - 3 days since this problem started.

[Rockerpeller]

any chance of creating a mat of filter wool and covering the sponge up? just gotta keep a really good eye on it. or a simple way would be to get a really cheap powerhead and cover the intake with filter wool. $10 brand new is the cheapest i have managed to find.

[fishychick]

Jim, I don't have a spare filter, unfortunately, but if I can't get the problem sorted with some of these other suggestions, I may have to invest in one!

Is TLC available from the lfs do you know? And can anyone who has used Algol before tell me whether it is worth a try?

Thanks

[fishychick]

Thanks for the tip, Rockerpeller. I might have to have a hunt around for one tho - we don't tend to have the marketing "competition" down here that you enjoy up there.

Having said that, I buy my filter wool in sheets, and am sure I could make something that fits - the rubber band idea sounds like it might just work!

[SpidersWeb]

Side track, you said you were on rainwater, which will explain the 6.2. Rainwater is very pure, meaning low hardness, which means its very very easy to swing the pH. Its a double-edged sword, fish water love the purity of rainwater, but if something does go wrong the pH can swing easily. But your fish sound fine so that doesn't matter Many of us think rainwater is a god send.

But that's off topic, for the green water you could try ordering a cheap internal UV filter, just use it whenever the water is green, order from an online setup like trademe or petplanet. This will be the easiest option, and require the least maintenance, but costs are 30-50 I think? Good idea if the problem keeps happening though.

The little UV light kills the free floating algae as it goes past.

[jim r]

brown algae is usually associated with lack of light whereas algal blooms

usually mean too much light (hmmm?) Would you like to borrow a uv steriliser ? TLC is available at any good lfs or vet centre.

[fishychick]

Righto, plan of attack

- wrap filter wool around filter intake, try to catch all the green, cleaning wool regularly.

- if unsuccessful, march down to lfs and buy some TLC.

- if green reappears, buy uv filter (I take it this is the same as a uv sterilizer?)

Thanks for the info everyone - am quite confused about how I have ended up with brown and green algae! I was under the impression that brown algae is quite common in new tanks, and had hoped that it would just kind of disappear after the prescribed period (6 months-ish I'd read somewhere - which is about now).