[eazyea]

Hey guys just looking for a little help here, so heres my problem. I have a 55 gallon tank that has been operational and happy for just over a year, with 19 chiclids, average size is 3 inch (variuos types....but i dont think the species will make a difference, if you think it will i can make a list) It seems as of late, allot of algae (the hard green type) grows rapidly on the glass of aquarium. I have been doing 25% water changes weekly, aswell as using a razor blade to clean the algae (almost 2x a week). In my filter (fluval 404) i have used, and currently am using the filter media used to controll algae, (green x is what it used to be called). I do have a moon light set up in it, which is basically just a string of 10 or so blue LED's. i have it turned on, on the lowest setting everynight, and the lights are on from 7AM until 5PM. so i was just wondering if the tank is overpopulated? or maybe just a little to much light, the tank does never see direct sunlight. any replies would be muchly aprreciated!! THANKS!!

 

[jhunbj]

Try bristlenose pleco, do more water change like 2x/week and turn off the light if ur not in front of the aquarium.

 

[Jake at River City]

Your photoperiod is fine. It's possible your nitrates are just consistently too high. Have you tested them on a regular basis recently? I would increase the frequency or volume of water changes, or consider thinning the herd down.

 

[Boomr99]

10 hrs a day is too much light, reduce that.

I agree with jhunbj, lights are typically for our benifit, not the fishes. I only turn my tank light on when I'm in the same room for a while.
Never had an algae problem.

 

[chief773]

I added a sailfin pleco to my tank about 6 months ago, haven't had a single sign of algae since then. He's a very social pleco as well, rarely hiding and very entertaining to watch, they can get big though, 18 inches from what I've read. Mine is about 6 inches.

 

[Joea]

A trick I use it to stagger the lighting. Put your lights on a timer so they come on in the morning for a few hours and then shut off in the early afternoon for a few more hours. Then have them come on again at dusk and keep them on for another few hours.

The break in the light seems to keep the algae down for me.

 

[alicem]

I use a similar light pattern as Joea. I think it is called "siesta" lighting.

I like them on when I get up so I can feed them before starting my day. The lights go off after about 4 hours.
Then back on in the afternoon, when I'm around, into the evening (about 6 hours) so we can enjoy the tanks.

I like the tank lights to go off at night before the room lights, so the fish don't get that shock of total darkness.

If you have live plants, then you should have lights on for about 4 hours each "on" time, for photosynthesis.
Alicem

 

[Cichlid-Guy]

I'll second one the person said above. Having a sailfin pleco can eliminate your algae problem.

 

[gacichlids]

I just got a twig catfish called a Farlowella and posted above. It has been a better algae eater than a pleco even and a reply to my post said that they are so good at keeping a tank clean they can actually starve to death. They are very skinny, like less than pencil thin with a nose like a pipe fish and a mouth like an pleco kind of, that suctions to the glass or whatever. It is so docile, I just pick him up and move him from tank to tank. He cost me four dollars and I plan to get more. He has been in with my breeding ramphochromis and socolofi and zebras, daffodils, kribensis, who even had babies out around him, and has been no trouble. I think he is so slow the fish don't even see him as a fish, but a stick. He cleans every nook and cranny even the heaters and filters, rocks and gravel. He cleaned a dirty 10 near a window in 24 hours and it had a lot of green algae. They also eat brown algae. He has made my tanks look like new and never gotten picked on or started anything. He may be incredibly dumb or something, but he is the best cleaning fish I ever had. And being able to just pick him up without a net and a hassle, is great. You might try him, especially if you have timid fish. This is the most timid fish I have ever had and he puts my plecos to shame and looks cool to boot. The max length is 7" but they are incredibly thin, like pencil thin with a long whiptail and pointed nose.