kiwis Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 I have a tropical fresh water tank and I do a water change weekly. I change 20% or so of the water. Each week I get a fine but clear layer of green mould on my viewing glass How can I reduce or prevent this? My tank is 500-600 litires Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 It's algae on the glass. Does your tank face a window? My 450 litre is across the room from our floor-ceiling windows and suffers badly from algae on the glass caused by the bright, but indirect light. If no one is home I keep the drapes drawn. I have reduced my lights down to 7 hours a day - come on at mid-day and go off at 7pm. This has reduced the amount of algae I remove at water changes considerably. You could also try increasing the amount you water change to between 30-50% if that is an option as it will keep the nitrates and phosphates down which may also help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted December 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Algae!!!! I could think of the word lol so I cover my tank up during the day and have the light on for 7-8 hours. I can cut the light back an hour but wonder if something else is wrong? I have a planeted end aquarium could it be too many or too little fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 How much external light is it getting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted December 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 When the fabric cover is on the glass viewing area and artificial light is off - very little, only sneaking through the lid When we get home at 5pm day light plus 4x T5 lights -day light is not direct sun light but the room is bright as there are plenty of windows but never direct sunshine and not even close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 What are your nitrate and phosphate readings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted December 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 So I need a test kit for that - what am I looking for on say hollywood 's website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 I have a tropical fresh water tank and I do a water change weekly. I change 20% or so of the water. Each week I get a fine but clear layer of green mould on my viewing glass How can I reduce or prevent this? My tank is 500-600 litires More water changes, feed a bit less, less light, more light and more plants. Sounds like you're getting a perfectly normal amount of algae, I wouldn't stress over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted December 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 What are your nitrate and phosphate readings? Okay plenty around, my question should be what should they be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 nitrate less than 20 phosphate 0 if possible Algae feeds off nitrate and phosphate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted December 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 And if they are high how do I resolve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 less food and more/larger water changes. you will never stop algae, the best you can do it try to limit the amount you get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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