# Green algae.



## Lozbug (15 Oct 2007)

My coldwater tank suffers badly from green algae, it covers rocks, gravel, wood, sides of glass â€“ you name it!! It is currently unplanted â€“ bar one lonely moss ball. 

100 ltr, housing 1x Tosakin, 1x Ranchu & 4x wcmm. Fluval external filter, plus tetra internal. 

Any thoughts on best course of action, where Iâ€™m going wrong, etc.

Cheers

L


----------



## ceg4048 (15 Oct 2007)

Hi Lozbug,
                  How long has the tank been setup and how is it lit.? Also maybe a description of the algae's form would help. Is it like a blanket? does it come of in sheets? Or, is it threadlike or hairlike? Does it smell bad? Is it slimy or coarse? 
The reason I'm asking all these questions is that the type of algae in a tank is often related to the cause and thus the corrective action. If you have a blanket-like alage that is a dark green color and is slimy it could be BGA or blue-green algae. This is actually a type of bacteria and can be an indication of low nitrates. If your tank is highly lit it's very easy to induce algae. Light is a primary driver. If you can post pictures it would help. 

You should also check out JamesC's algae guide. There are some pictures there to compare: http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

Cheers,


----------



## Lozbug (16 Oct 2007)

Hi, the tank has been running for approx 3 months (had to strip it down). my tank i was using previously was too 'deep' for the fish. 

it is non hair algae, blanket ish (but not like youd have in a pond). slimey. 

will check my light setup when im home, and try for pic too (thou it had a bit of a clean up yesterday)

will have a good read of that guide to this evening, 

cheers


----------



## Lozbug (16 Oct 2007)

okay....

100 ltr
30W GRO T8 lighting (on approx 10 hrs per day)
Tetratec in800
Fluval ex 105
Tetratec APS100
Temp currently 24C - no heater.
PH 7.5
Nitrate 4
Nitite 0
Ammonia 0

TAP Water
PH 8.5
Nitrate 0
Nitite 0
Ammonia 0


----------



## ceg4048 (17 Oct 2007)

Hi Lozbug,
                  I'm having difficulty identifying this. The one shot from the side looks like it might be Blue Green Algae (BGA) covering the gravel near the glass. It alos looks like you may have wiped something off the glass which may have been Green Dust Algae (GDA). I'm having trouble with the pot though.

I'm looking at your tank details and nothing looks outrageous (other than the assumption that NH4 can ever be zero). A 25G with 30 watts of T8 isn't excessive by any means and the tank should have cycled in three months. It took me a while to realize that "1x Tosakin, 1x Ranchu & 4x wcmm" is referring to the type and quantity of goldfish, so the fish loading doesn't seem excessive, unless they are very large and/or are known to be messy.

As always, my first suspicion is an NH4 spike so I'd have to ask what kind of maintenance schedule you do, such as water change and filter cleaning. What kind of filter media are you using and did you clean the media too much are obvious questions. Also, did you suddenly just put the fish in recently? Could something have died and gone unnoticed? Do you overfeed and perhaps have uneaten food rotting in crevices somewhere?

The current concensus is that GDA, (if that's what it is)  has to be left to it's own devices for 3-4 weeks, and then it goes away. If it were confirmed that the coating on the gravel were BGA, and if the tank were planted I would say dose more NO3 but this seems incongruous in an unplanted tank. You could try a 3 day blackout. Long term, more frequent water changes might help, but what bugs me is that it took three months for this to occur. That indicates to me something happened recently that lowered the water quality.

I'm afraid my attempts at ID are purely speculative. Check JamesC's algae guide and see if you can compare with his photos. There's not enough acuity in these photos so I'm trying to judge strictly on color and location. Sorry I couldn't be more definitive. Perhaps another member can help here?

Cheers,


----------



## Lozbug (17 Oct 2007)

Hi & Thanks. 

cleaning schedule is 30-40% water change every 2 weeks. external filter cleaned approx every 2 months, internal 1 month. sponge media replaced only when absolutly needed, cleaned only in tank water. 

nothing added recently, last additon was the ranchu, but that was well over a month ago. both tosakin & ranchu are young 18 months tops, so still relativly small. wcmm are about same - but fully grown. 

i dont see a lot of uneaten food, and i vac the gravel on every change and only see the usual dirt youd get - no clumps of uneaten. 

the glass had been 'wiped' with a magnet earlier that day.

i want to plant the tank up, would taht help matters maybe?

will definatly read that artical thou.

thx


----------



## JamesC (17 Oct 2007)

Keeping algae out of an unplanted tank is always going to be hard unless you limit the light. What Clive has said is good and to be honest I haven't really got much to add. If the algae on the glass is difficult to remove then it could be green spot algae rather than green dust algae wich wipes off fairly easily.

James


----------



## Lozbug (17 Oct 2007)

wipes of the glass pretty easy, so it'd be dust then? dosnt come of the pot, and rocks as easy thou.

bets thing to do is plant up then yeh? (was gonna anyways, so i can just bring it forward some)


----------



## ceg4048 (17 Oct 2007)

Lozbug said:
			
		

> i want to plant the tank up, would taht help matters maybe?
> 
> thx



Well, I have it on good authority that anyone who answers "no" to this question will be immediately flogged. I have to confess it was traumatic to have to study your pictures. It was like staring into the abyss. The answer to this question therefore is; "YES and please do it yesterday."

I'm not conversant with these particular fish enough to know what they would nibble at  so perhaps it would be better to start with plants having tougher foliage.

Cheers,


----------



## Lozbug (17 Oct 2007)

lol - kinda guessed hat would be an answer. sorry for the bearness of the tank, i dont know why i didnt plant this one up?!, as every tank ive had ive always had planted. may not be beautiful looking, but always planted (thou am working on the beauty-ness now lol)

varietys of goldfish are know to nibble, my fantails and ryukin i had in past didnt nibble on the plants, just liked to pull them out, these guys havent had a planted tank yet, so can but hope! the wcmm wont nibble luckily. 

thx for all your advice


----------

