Help! My Fish Tank is out of control w/ green algae.

[RamblingRose]

I've had a freshwater fish tank for over 20 years. A couple of years ago we did some remodeling which required moving the 20 gallon fish tank so I thought it would be easier to get a new tank for transferring the water & fish. I also wanted to replace the blue gravel to natural stone (which I rinsed & de-chlorinated thoroughly). Ever since I've struggled to control the algae on the sides of the tank.

My original 20 gallon tank had the old fluorescent tube lid, a bio wheel filter & a heater (don't know what kind). At some point we had to replace the flour scent bulb w/ a single strip LED light top.

The new replacement 20 gallon tank is the Top Fin starter aquarium from Pet Smart. I have the lights on a timer (there are 3 LED strips). I can't tell if the thermometer is adjustable. I don't know what is causing the excessive algae build up - if it's the filter, thermometer, gravel,....

I tried adding an air stone strip but that seemed to make matters worse.

I have a few plastic plants & a rock decoration. I only buy cheap Tetra's and they don't seem bothered at all by the algae. In fact, it's almost impossible to kill them. LOL

Thoughts or suggestions?

[FalloutShelter]

1. How about some algae eating fish?

https://aquacadabra.com/blogs/news/what-are-the-best-algae-eating-fish-for-my-tropical-fish-tank#:~:text=While%20popular%20breeds%20of%20tropical,rely%20on%20the%20Otocinclus%20Catfish.

[jmowreader]

15. Only a total asshole would recommend Chinese algae eaters

Those fucking things should be named "Chinese fish eaters" because...that's what they do. If I was King of America I'd ban them.

I do give them credit for not recommending sailfin plecos. Please understand that the sailfin pleco is a fantastic fish, and it's the most glorious sight when they extend all their fins and glide around the aquarium. The problem with sailfin plecos is they grow to the length of your forearm and they do it quick. Please don't buy one unless you've got AT LEAST 125 gallons of water for them to live in.

[FalloutShelter]

17. WTF? Stupid okay but now an asshole.

I thought these were like the algae eating sucker fish I see in aquariums.

So sue me.

[jmowreader]

18. No. They are WAY different.

Chinese algae eaters are more like lampreys than they are like catfish. They will chew a hole in the side of your expensive fish with no provocation whatsoever because they prefer to eat fish over algae.

There is a small and somewhat ugly carp called a Siamese algae eater. Those are safe with other fishes, and they eat algae well. I just prefer catfishes for the job.

Pro tip: When you buy catfishes LOOK AT WHERE THE MOUTH IS. If the mouth is on the underside, the fish is a scavenger - eating algae, leftover food, whatever. If it's in front the fish is a predator. Some of the most predatory fishes in the world's waters are catfishes.

[GuppyGal]

24. There are sooooo many fish that are tank busters and should not be sold !!! It's outrageous and cruel. nt

[jmowreader]

25. The thing that I hate the most...

...is someone decided importing paroon sharks into the US for aquarium use was a good idea.

This is a species that lives in the Mekong River in Asia and grows to 10 feet in length. These are really cool looking, but come on: the few public aquariums that could possibly house the fish properly want marine fish in those tanks.

[MiHale]

2. Algae eating fish?...

Haven’t had a tank in decades but we used to get the sucker fish that would lean the algae off the inside of the tank.

[Hutchewon]

3. Ditch the plastic plants

Get lots of live aquatic plants. The live plants will compete with the algae for nutrients. Experiment with how many hours you run the LED light. LED lights produce more light than the old fluorescent lights. Dose with a carbon product designed to inhibit algae.

In the past it was almost impossible to grow aquarium plants with the fluorescent lights sold in pet stores. With modern LED lights it is easy to grow live plants which consume the nitrates and nitrates produced by your fish. It's all about balancing the amounts of light and nutrients.

Hope this helps.

[RamblingRose]

7. The LED lights (3 strips) seem excessive & we shortened the timer on the lights. I'd like to switch to live plants but

haven't seen any good info on adding them to an existing tank & can't find anyone in the pet stores that can help.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Hutchewon]

10. Plants are easy

Just either purchase some at the pet store. In my experience Petsmart doesn't sell many plants. Pet Superstore has nice plants.You can order plants online too.

To plant live plants, hold the leaves in your hand with your forefinger just above the roots (plant in upside down position) push the roots into your gravel and sweep back with your forefinger until the roots are buried. General rule of thumb, tall plants in the back, shorter plants towards the front. An Amazon sword makes a good centerpiece and crytocorene wenditti ads some red color.

If your tank is cloudy, it is a symptom indicating that the tank has not cycled yet. Be patient, your tank will clear once the nitrogen eating bacteria become established in the tank. Frequent water changes will help but once the tank cycles they will be unnecessary. Remember, "the solution to pollution is dilution".

[GuppyGal]

23. Also recommend floaters ...no planting necessary Dwarf water lettuce (and duckweed) has outcompeted everything

in my numerous tanks....it's great.

[RamblingRose]

33. Do I need to fertilize the plants or add soil to the substrate? My current substrate is pea gravel. n/t

[CabbageAndBeans]

4. Couple questions..

How long has the new tank been set up? It will always take some time for the tank to stabilize. How did the tank cycle (Fish or fishless)? Also, do you know what type of algae you have? Is it hair algae, slime algae or just green water (free floating)? Algae blooms are common but frustrating.

Algae need two things to thrive.....Light and food. In order to get it under control, you need to try and limit/balance both. If you are not already, I would add some type of Phosphate reduction additive. If you can remove the phosphates you should be able to control the growth of algae. Chemipure Elite also works well to control phosphate as well as Nitrates. Removing light for a period could knock it out but it will come right back if nutrients are still available to feed the algae.

There are some good forums with a lot of experience that could also help. I prefer AquariaCentral, but there are many. Hope this helps.

[RamblingRose]

8. The tank has been set up for about 2 years & it's been a constant battle compared to my last one of 20 years

It's the algae that clings to the side of the tank & makes the water look cloudy. The fish seem very happy & don't mind the frequent cleaning & water changes.

I was wondering if the heater could be contributing. It doesn't appear adjustable.

I will start testing my water (something I never had to do before).

Thank you for the links.

[CabbageAndBeans]

11. Thanks for the info.

So its not a new tank. I would focus on removing the phosphates. I live an area with a lot of farms and we have very high Phosphates from all the fertilizer run off. If I do not run something to remove the phosphates, I will get significant algae. These levels can fluctuate in your local water supply. It is possible they were less present prior to this tank being set up.

As others noted, snails will help as well as Otocinclus catfish. But ultimately, you will need to control nutrients in the water to stop the algae from growing. Below is an article that may help.

https://aquariumgenius.com/green-algae-in-aquarium/

Good luck!

[surrealAmerican]

5. It may be too much light.

You could also try getting some animal in there who will eat the algae - either fish or snail.

[lastlib]

6. You need some snails.

They'll clean it.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Can You Check ...

...your dissolved oxygen level? Higher dissolved O2 inhibits algae growth.
Too much isn't great for fish so you have to find the sweetspot.
On biomass formation reactors, they try to minimize dissolved oxygen because a little goes a long way to reduce throughput.
The levels are pretty low, so not sure how easy it would be too measure.

[Hotler]

12. Plecostomus

https://www.fishkeepingworld.com/plecostomus/

[Emile]

13. When I have algae in my farm pond I use

Copper Sulfate.

[Niagara]

14. I have so many suggestions and thoughts right now.

Did you have this algae before the 20 gallon aquarium got moved? If not, is it possible to move the aquarium back to the original placement?


Do you season your water before filling up the aquarium? Does the water have ammonia or nitrates in it?


Is your aquarium getting too much light? Perhaps you can raise the lighting so it's not so close to the water.


Add more live plants. Get rid of the cheap LED lights and buy a more expensive LED light.


It's all trial and error.


I just realized that it's been 30 years since I've had an aquarium to deal with. I hated cleaning the aquariums. And I accidentally lost a female Betta. I never did find her and she was separated from my male Betta.

Good luck RamblingRose!

[GuppyGal]

22. Bettas should not live together FYI. Experienced fishkeepers keep female sororities but there is always a danger of

aggression and they kill just each other. You really need to know what you're doing.

[Niagara]

27. They were in a separation aquarium. The same one that I used

for breeding my Mollies. Mollies are live bearers so I kept the males separated from the females. Of course when both weren't separated and the babies were born they were separated from ALL the adults.


My other female Betta was fine and I ended up moving her completely.


I have had many Betta's in my life and I know that they're prone to fighting to the death, and no I didn't experiment with that in case you want to make assumptions about that as well. You're not telling me anything that I don't already know. My female Betta should have been safe but somehow wasn't.

[GuppyGal]

28. Sorry If I offended you by advising about bettas.JESUS FUCKING CHRIST nt

[Niagara]

29. Why are you so hostile?

You didn't advise me at all, you came at me making all kinds of ugly and unnecessary assumptions and in an insulting way.


I'm not angry, I just wanted to make clarifications because apparently it needs to be clarified.

[GuppyGal]

30. LOL 'ugly and unnecessary assumptions' ??? Is this for real?

[jmowreader]

16. Two suggestions

Otocinclus and Ancistrus.

Both of these are loricariid catfish, like the "Plecostomus" they sell by the ton in local fish stores. Unlike the "Plecostomus" they don't get very big: Otocinclus top out at maybe two inches, and Ancistrus (also known as bristlenose plecos or bushynose plecos - they have these projections coming off their faces that look like little bristles) get to maybe five inches. Those fishes will clean out the algae in your tank so effectively you'll have to start feeding them after a couple weeks - Hikari algae wafers are good, also sliced zucchini. Zucchini, you will have to weight down; when I had a sailfin pleco that outgrew three aquariums, I would cut a zucchini in half lengthwise, stick it on the tines of a fork and shove the fork handle down into the substrate on the floor of the aquarium.

Also...just for reference, what's the fish load in this aquarium? If it's high, they're expelling a lot of ammonia into the water which cycles through nitrite to nitrate...which is a very fine fertilizer and perfect for growing algae.

[GuppyGal]

19. Is it green algae really because that's an easy fix I got rid of all algae in all my 19 tanks.... Cyanobacteria.....

is it that? Because that's a different story

[RamblingRose]

20. It looks like there is more algae in the water than on the sides of the tank. It is very cloudy & I cleaned it just a

couple of weeks ago.

I've got 2 Zebras & 3 Tetras

[GuppyGal]

21. It could be green dust algae or even green water. What's worked for me is up the water changes...do not overfeed!!!

Manual removal - I know turn the lights down but I could never do that so once I got Dwarf Water Lettuce and duckweed going it totally outcompeted all the types of algae I had in my tank. Find some good floaters that work in your water.

Nerite Snails are good for algae and they're inexpensive and readily available. They eat just algae ....often to a fault and some will starve themselves when the algae is gone.

There's also the blackout method where you cover the tank

[RamblingRose]

32. 19 Tanks!!?? (I added a picture to this thread)

[kerouac2]

26. Green killing machine

My turtle tank water was so bad. This cleared it up in a couple days. I was amazed.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/green-killing-machine-internal-uv-sterilizer-with-power-head-1237020?store_code=3786&mr:device=m&mr:adType=pla_with_promotionlocal&cm_mmc=PSH%7CGGL%7CCCY%7CCCO%7CPM%7C0%7CkUMWcWiLY5b1EHQjK6kSR6%7C%7C%7C0%7C0%7C%7C%7C18145199970&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA6KWvBhAREiwAFPZM7ogLrS3Y2iF7RsO_yZ_Rp3ck5rnpIrdsElgFp4TtMwakaECCDjBAshoCUnkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[RamblingRose]

31. Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I tried attaching a photo w/ this post. Green Aquarium Algae??

The water is a cloudy green & the sides look fairly clean. Again, I just cleaned & did a water change about 2 weeks ago but it never got that fresh clean tank look.

After one poster mentioned Green Dust Algae, I did some more reading & am thinking maybe it's Green Aquarium Algae.

I'll try another water change this weekend & maybe take a water sample to be tested before adding anything.(?)

I still really want to add plants once this gets under control.




Thanks again for all the help