Stringy Alge

smpillai11

I cant seem to get rid of stringy alge in my 300 lt tank, they are growing on all plants. I remove them with a toothbrush every couple of weeks, but they grow back soon. I change 20% water every two weeks and have an external canister filter. I have an alge eater but he prefers fish food

Any suggestions to get rid of the alge?

kylith

I find nerite snails invaluable algae eaters. Females will lay eggs all over the place, but they won't hatch. They are a pain to try remove though.

buzz

is the tank in direct sun light?

What is your nitrate reading?

smpillai11

kylith wrote: »

I find nerite snails invaluable algae eaters. Females will lay eggs all over the place, but they won't hatch. They are a pain to try remove though.

I have 2 nerite snails, they look great. Should I keep more?

smpillai11

buzz wrote: »

is the tank in direct sun light?

What is your nitrate reading?

No its not in direct sunlight, gets plenty of daylight
What's the best way to check nitrate levels?

kylith

smpillai11 wrote: »

I have 2 nerite snails, they look great. Should I keep more?

That depends on the size of your tank. I have a Siamese Algae Eater I can let you have if you're in Dublin.

lynchie

smpillai11 wrote: »

No its not in direct sunlight, gets plenty of daylight
What's the best way to check nitrate levels?

Do you not have a liquid test kit for testing Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

smpillai11

kylith wrote: »

That depends on the size of your tank. I have a Siamese Algae Eater I can let you have if you're in Dublin.

Thanks for the offer, I am in Dublin , I already have one but he does not seem to eat much algae. Do you think adding one more would be better?

smpillai11

lynchie wrote: »

Do you not have a liquid test kit for testing Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

Will this do the job?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nitrate-Test-Kit-for-Ponds-and-Aquariums-/110998193587?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item19d80205b3

lynchie

And what about your tests for ammonia and nitrite? Do you not test these regularly?

Anyway, I use the API master test kit. There are several different brands

CruelCoin

smpillai11 wrote: »

I cant seem to get rid of stringy alge in my 300 lt tank, they are growing on all plants. I remove them with a toothbrush every couple of weeks, but they grow back soon. I change 20% water every two weeks and have an external canister filter. I have an alge eater but he prefers fish food

Any suggestions to get rid of the alge?

Algae will grow whenever there is an overabundance of nutrients in the tank.

Either the tank is in sunlight,
You leave the lights running for too long each day (most people run for 8 hours a day only),
You are overfeeding.

You should really also be doing a 20% water change every week, or enough to prevent your Nitrate from going above the 50 parts per million mark.

buzz

Also, add a product called "ROWAphos" into your filter.
You can buy it in aquatic stores and comes with a little bag that you fill.
100g per month would be enough.
It is a Phosphate remover but was also recommended to me for Alge problem I had, notice HAD and no more since I started using this:)

Clearly water changes as well but my tank is in sunlight so had to act fast!!

CruelCoin

buzz wrote: »

Also, add a product called "ROWAphos" into your filter.
You can buy it in aquatic stores and comes with a little bag that you fill.
100g per month would be enough.
It is a Phosphate remover but was also recommended to me for Alge problem I had, notice HAD and no more since I started using this:)

Clearly water changes as well but my tank is in sunlight so had to act fast!!

This is a bad idea.

You should be controlling water quality through water changes, avoiding excess feeding, removing rotten food and other detritus, etc.

Adding chemicals to combat a nutrient overabundance is like taking cocaine to combat the downer from another drug.

It'll work, but its not as good as proper maintenance.

CruelCoin

smpillai11 wrote: »

Will this do the job?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nitrate-Test-Kit-for-Ponds-and-Aquariums-/110998193587?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item19d80205b3

Not really.

Proper test kits (ones that give accurate, reliable readings) are all liquid based.

An API test kit would be good for you.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/API-Freshwater-Master-test-kit-for-tropical-cool-water-Aquariums-/390473171771?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item5aea03c33b

You should be testing for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate on a regular basis.

mrtom

Well smpillai11 , at this point you may be feeling overwhelmed with the advise here. The algae is primarily just a symptom of raised nutrient levels in your tank. I also lived with a toothbrush as I searched for a solution.
In my case I started using a product “Easycarbo”, just 4 ml a day. By raising the carbon levels in the tank, my plants grew more rigorously and began out competing the algae for available nutrient and balance was restored.
I also reduced my light cycle to 8 hours.

Results were evident within a month.

http://www.athriftymrs.com/2012/03/15-uses-for-old-toothbrushes.html

buzz

CruelCoin wrote: »

This is a bad idea.

You should be controlling water quality through water changes, avoiding excess feeding, removing rotten food and other detritus, etc.

Adding chemicals to combat a nutrient overabundance is like taking cocaine to combat the downer from another drug.

It'll work, but its not as good as proper maintenance.

I totally agree with the water changes as the best way however.

But phosphates will feed algae which can overrun plants and stimulate alge growth etc, this simply controls the phosphate and can starve the alge and with regular water changes, the problem will go away within a very short time, and Rowaphos can be removed.

muckyhands

So would Rowaphos be similar to using a carbon sponge or similar to remove ammonia then?

Another thing to look out for is 'phosphate free' foods/ plant foods etc... Some things are full of Phosphates... Try testing the tap water for phosphates too, as well as the tank... If theres high levels already in the tap water its likely to be worse in the tank Id imagine.