One of my tanks sits in our sunny kitchen and I’ve battled various algae (including BBA) for several years. Tried all the “usual” tricks: cutting down light, water changes, less/no extra fertilizer, adding more plants (which didn’t thrive with less light and ferts), Amano shrimp… Finally after some advice from our FishFam friend Mridul, I retried some stem plants and started dosing extra fertilizers. I think there must not have been enough fertilizer or the right range of nutrients to help the plants outcompete the algae before, because now the tank is full of beautiful plants and almost zero algae after a couple months.
I lowered my lighting hours, and 10% of the intensity, twice. I replanted my plants as they grew tall, and added neocardina shrimp, which I have never kept before, and still, I was twirling hair algae spaghetti every couple of days. I even dosed with Excel. Then I tried changing the location of my filter to change the circulation in my tank. Bingo! Immediate results. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for tiny filter less containers, but my 30 gallon tank is solved now.
I feel the solution for algae problem can vary from tank to tank even if you're having the same type of algae(unless you nuke it with chemicals). Most of my solutions are less light/more light(weird, I know), nerite snails, sae, more suitable nutrients and floating stem plants. Also, I find that pouring red liquid that comes out from defrosting blood worms and turning the tank into low light somehow works too. That red liquid will cloud up the tank for 4-5 days once it's cleared up, most algae will be gone too.
I had similar trouble and decided to add fast growing plants to try and out compete the algae and wisteria was the champion that I needed to hog all those extra nutrients up from the algae
Great video. You give me hope. Been having a bit of a hair algae problem in my 6g (not horrible) I'd take as much out as I can with a toothbrush spot treat with a bit of peroxide...it definitely is all about patience. I do have kubotai rasboras and some shrimp in there so hopefully they're helping me
I've got shrimp & snails & oh my goodness, the one that's worked the best so far: Siamese algae eater. But he won't touch the stuff on the glass, so I might get a couple of otos & swamp them around my tanks as they're needed. The algae eater's devoured all the algae in my 20g in a month & I supplement him with algae wafers & DIY repashi (chlorella & spirulina in agar agar, frozen into 1cm cubes - I didn't know they made ice cube trays that tiny, but here we are.)
Best algae eater for this algae, PERIOD. BUT...when they grew to about 2 1/2", they also ate the slime-coat of my goldfish, killing both. Though I separated them when I saw it happening, both goldfish eventually died (and the 7-fish lived together for four years. I WAS warned this could/would happen as the SAEs grew, and it did. Overnight. And I lost my favorite fish as a result). I still have the SAEs in my 90G: they don't bother the guppies/minnows/tetras/neocaridina/snails at all.
The secret is to start the tank with zero Algae tolerance 😊. I starts with WALSTAD low tec by 1 inch of gravel over 1 inch of potting soil. Then lots of fast growing plans but must add Java moss in nice portion (hide my hitter) then a lot of light 16 hours and CO2 I made with bottle of yeast , use 1 spoon of yeast on 05 liter of water in 1.5 liters bottle. I waited 3 months for the plants grow and add some snails to eat algae from the glasses. After 3 months of cristal clear water and no algae at all. Put some Siamese algae eaters (6), take out CO2 and reduced light for 8 hours with break of 4 hours (4 Light,4 no light, 4 light) with automatic electric plug. Then feed the fish with vegetables and vegetarian food because they had no Algae to eat but keep eating it if appeared. Than other fish and shrimps too. I have the Aquarium for 1.5 years , with cristal clear water, no algae, no water exchange and very happy fish. Try no trim the plants just if necessary.I have sponge filter that I cleean once a week. Just add water to confersate . In this case I take out 2 litters and add two litter with anti chloride. That is all I do. I don't know if I really lucky or my system really works. 🎉.
In only had issuess with greenspot algae (new tank) and cyanobacteria. Wille the GSA is easy to get rid of, it's a new tank, CBA still hangs around but in small areas on some leaves. It died off the glass and substrate. My only true issue is with BBA...Only good thing is that it grows only on the wood i used for the hardscape. It stays off the plants and rocks. I'm waiting for some Flourish Excel to arrive, hoping it will help.
This algae hit my goldfish tank. Two fish, one Nerite, 50 Gallons, live plants, low light, high water-flow, dropped my fertilizer by 50% (Aquarium Co-Op EZ Green)... Siamese Algae Eaters DECIMATED this ALGAE in my 90G, but they've ALSO eaten the slime-coat off other large fish, so I can't do that again. I could try hornwort... Thank you.
Do your plants do poorly if not fertilized? I'm surprised with goldfish tanks generally suffering from high nitrites. You like to grow your own herbs? My wife was gifted some Mexican oregano from a co-worker, threw the two stems into my tank and the root system exploded. Turned my community tank into a jungle. The plant above water has also quadrupled in size in a short time, my other plants started suffering so I threw more critters to create more waste. I'm too cheap and don't like wasting money on additives. More plants, more critters, more better. The only place with algae growing is the side facing the window and I can't be bothered to clean it. The nerite snails and shrimp do enjoy that side of the tank more though. My viewing side is crystal clear. I added a shoal of Corydoras to keep the substrate free of left over food but don't think that'll be a problem with goldfish. Algae eaters are a pain when they get bigger, probably beat the goldfish to all the food if they had survived. Some people swear it's the blue spectrum light that causes algae, I clipped off all the blue LEDs on one light strips for a smaller tank, didn't notice a difference. Raising my lights a few inches higher did make a big difference, found my floating plants also did better with less intense light. Also found it easier to work in the tanks when the lights up and out of the way.
I have a 33L which is planted and has 20 Cardinals and 10 pigmy cories. It has an algae problem. First thing I did was to add 6 nerite snails and they got to work on the rocks and glass. The snails have made a big difference. I have also added salvinia which is helping but not enough. I would like to add shrimp but have no idea how to proceed since I have never had shrimp.
That would be cladophora algae right there. Currently having this problem in 20 of my tanks 🤬 I just used peroxide to spot treat a small section yesterday in one tank. This morning the cladophora was dead and white so I know what I'll be doing today.
Is hair algae long filaments that are more goopy/slimy than cladophora? I also have had the type of algae that has filaments but is not as slimy as hair algae.
@heaven7360 so cladophora is another type of hair algae, it just has a hard "shell" making it hard to get rid of and nothing really eats it. What most people are familiar with is the stringy and slimey hair algae. My mollies love to eat it as do amano shrimp, siamese algae eaters, and several other species.
What about BBA? I'm starting a new tank since I moved, so new gravel etc, but using the same plants that I sprayed some hydrogen peroxide on and let sit for 2 min to hopefully destroy any remnants of it. Or just hope it doesn't take over. But I would really like to prevent its takeover in the new tank.
Do you have to worry about amano shrimp eating the neocardinas? I have one tank with a major algae issue but I’m worried about the amanos eating my neocardinas because I’ve read mixed things on that possibility
Partly. I'd say it's a combination of excess nutrients, lighting, a lack of competition, and in some cases flow. All tanks have algae though, it's just a matter of how prolific it is.
Why do people never talk about what causes the algae in the first place? Phosphate!!! Use granulated ferric oxide (GFO) in a power filter of your choice. A fluidized reactor works best. Remove the phosphate and the algae disappears. The live plants use other macronutrients to thrive. Excess phosphate is the root cause of almost all nuisance algae. Freshwater tanks should be maintained at less than.05 ppm phosphate.
Thanks for the update. Food for thought. Hair algae is the bane of most every aquarist I know.
One of my tanks sits in our sunny kitchen and I’ve battled various algae (including BBA) for several years. Tried all the “usual” tricks: cutting down light, water changes, less/no extra fertilizer, adding more plants (which didn’t thrive with less light and ferts), Amano shrimp… Finally after some advice from our FishFam friend Mridul, I retried some stem plants and started dosing extra fertilizers. I think there must not have been enough fertilizer or the right range of nutrients to help the plants outcompete the algae before, because now the tank is full of beautiful plants and almost zero algae after a couple months.
I lowered my lighting hours, and 10% of the intensity, twice. I replanted my plants as they grew tall, and added neocardina shrimp, which I have never kept before, and still, I was twirling hair algae spaghetti every couple of days. I even dosed with Excel.
Then I tried changing the location of my filter to change the circulation in my tank. Bingo! Immediate results. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for tiny filter less containers, but my 30 gallon tank is solved now.
I feel the solution for algae problem can vary from tank to tank even if you're having the same type of algae(unless you nuke it with chemicals). Most of my solutions are less light/more light(weird, I know), nerite snails, sae, more suitable nutrients and floating stem plants. Also, I find that pouring red liquid that comes out from defrosting blood worms and turning the tank into low light somehow works too. That red liquid will cloud up the tank for 4-5 days once it's cleared up, most algae will be gone too.
We've all been there... the two most powerful warriors are patience and time!
Helpful video, thanks 😊👍
I had similar trouble and decided to add fast growing plants to try and out compete the algae and wisteria was the champion that I needed to hog all those extra nutrients up from the algae
Great video. You give me hope. Been having a bit of a hair algae problem in my 6g (not horrible) I'd take as much out as I can with a toothbrush spot treat with a bit of peroxide...it definitely is all about patience. I do have kubotai rasboras and some shrimp in there so hopefully they're helping me
Stay 💪 strong and good luck! 😌
I've got shrimp & snails & oh my goodness, the one that's worked the best so far: Siamese algae eater.
But he won't touch the stuff on the glass, so I might get a couple of otos & swamp them around my tanks as they're needed.
The algae eater's devoured all the algae in my 20g in a month & I supplement him with algae wafers & DIY repashi (chlorella & spirulina in agar agar, frozen into 1cm cubes - I didn't know they made ice cube trays that tiny, but here we are.)
Best algae eater for this algae, PERIOD. BUT...when they grew to about 2 1/2", they also ate the slime-coat of my goldfish, killing both. Though I separated them when I saw it happening, both goldfish eventually died (and the 7-fish lived together for four years. I WAS warned this could/would happen as the SAEs grew, and it did. Overnight. And I lost my favorite fish as a result).
I still have the SAEs in my 90G: they don't bother the guppies/minnows/tetras/neocaridina/snails at all.
The secret is to start the tank with zero Algae tolerance 😊.
I starts with WALSTAD low tec by 1 inch of gravel over 1 inch of potting soil. Then lots of fast growing plans but must add Java moss in nice portion (hide my hitter) then a lot of light 16 hours and CO2 I made with bottle of yeast , use 1 spoon of yeast on 05 liter of water in 1.5 liters bottle.
I waited 3 months for the plants grow and add some snails to eat algae from the glasses. After 3 months of cristal clear water and no algae at all. Put some Siamese algae eaters (6), take out CO2 and reduced light for 8 hours with break of 4 hours (4 Light,4 no light, 4 light) with automatic electric plug. Then feed the fish with vegetables and vegetarian food because they had no Algae to eat but keep eating it if appeared. Than other fish and shrimps too.
I have the Aquarium for 1.5 years , with cristal clear water, no algae, no water exchange and very happy fish.
Try no trim the plants just if necessary.I have sponge filter that I cleean once a week. Just add water to confersate . In this case I take out 2 litters and add two litter with anti chloride.
That is all I do.
I don't know if I really lucky or my system really works. 🎉.
In only had issuess with greenspot algae (new tank) and cyanobacteria. Wille the GSA is easy to get rid of, it's a new tank, CBA still hangs around but in small areas on some leaves. It died off the glass and substrate. My only true issue is with BBA...Only good thing is that it grows only on the wood i used for the hardscape. It stays off the plants and rocks. I'm waiting for some Flourish Excel to arrive, hoping it will help.
The one thing I love about a pH of 8.1 and hard water is that I never get algae even with planted tanks with a healthy stocking
wow you are lucky, my pH is 8.4 and I can grow algae like a pro.
I suggest to lower light intensity, if your light doesn't have feature, just raise the light by an inch every week till you find the sweet spot.
Thanks!
😊
This algae hit my goldfish tank. Two fish, one Nerite, 50 Gallons, live plants, low light, high water-flow, dropped my fertilizer by 50% (Aquarium Co-Op EZ Green)... Siamese Algae Eaters DECIMATED this ALGAE in my 90G, but they've ALSO eaten the slime-coat off other large fish, so I can't do that again. I could try hornwort... Thank you.
Do your plants do poorly if not fertilized? I'm surprised with goldfish tanks generally suffering from high nitrites.
You like to grow your own herbs? My wife was gifted some Mexican oregano from a co-worker, threw the two stems into my tank and the root system exploded. Turned my community tank into a jungle. The plant above water has also quadrupled in size in a short time, my other plants started suffering so I threw more critters to create more waste. I'm too cheap and don't like wasting money on additives. More plants, more critters, more better.
The only place with algae growing is the side facing the window and I can't be bothered to clean it. The nerite snails and shrimp do enjoy that side of the tank more though. My viewing side is crystal clear. I added a shoal of Corydoras to keep the substrate free of left over food but don't think that'll be a problem with goldfish.
Algae eaters are a pain when they get bigger, probably beat the goldfish to all the food if they had survived.
Some people swear it's the blue spectrum light that causes algae, I clipped off all the blue LEDs on one light strips for a smaller tank, didn't notice a difference. Raising my lights a few inches higher did make a big difference, found my floating plants also did better with less intense light. Also found it easier to work in the tanks when the lights up and out of the way.
Coincidentally, I am buying myself a new nano tank for Christmas 😂, and planned on copying this scape along with the inhabitants too!
I'm trying to make up an excuse to buy a nano tank too, maybe a breeding tank so I have a reason to buy more tanks. ahahaha
I really need amano shrimp for two of my tanks. Every time I look for them they are sold out from my preferred fish place.
Oooh good luck! They are amazing little workers 💪😊
I would say light intensity might play a bigger role. It might be too strong. Specially because it is a shallow tank.
I have a 33L which is planted and has 20 Cardinals and 10 pigmy cories. It has an algae problem. First thing I did was to add 6 nerite snails and they got to work on the rocks and glass. The snails have made a big difference. I have also added salvinia which is helping but not enough. I would like to add shrimp but have no idea how to proceed since I have never had shrimp.
That would be cladophora algae right there. Currently having this problem in 20 of my tanks 🤬 I just used peroxide to spot treat a small section yesterday in one tank. This morning the cladophora was dead and white so I know what I'll be doing today.
🙌 thanks for sharing the fancy name!
@thesmallscape Welcome! I'm glad you were able to overcome it!
Is hair algae long filaments that are more goopy/slimy than cladophora? I also have had the type of algae that has filaments but is not as slimy as hair algae.
@heaven7360 so cladophora is another type of hair algae, it just has a hard "shell" making it hard to get rid of and nothing really eats it. What most people are familiar with is the stringy and slimey hair algae. My mollies love to eat it as do amano shrimp, siamese algae eaters, and several other species.
What about BBA? I'm starting a new tank since I moved, so new gravel etc, but using the same plants that I sprayed some hydrogen peroxide on and let sit for 2 min to hopefully destroy any remnants of it. Or just hope it doesn't take over. But I would really like to prevent its takeover in the new tank.
💙💙💚💚
Do you have to worry about amano shrimp eating the neocardinas? I have one tank with a major algae issue but I’m worried about the amanos eating my neocardinas because I’ve read mixed things on that possibility
I had Amanos in with my Neos. The Amanos did not eat my Neos, but they did step all over them and hog any food I put in the tank.
This 100% happened because of the substrate setup you used...and too much light...
How smaller the tank how longer it takes to mature
Is the basic cause for algae too many nutrients? Or with certain algaes an excess of a certain nurient, etc.?
Partly. I'd say it's a combination of excess nutrients, lighting, a lack of competition, and in some cases flow. All tanks have algae though, it's just a matter of how prolific it is.
Have you ever tried a 7-day black-out, if not for what reasons ?
black outs are for green blue algae, cyanobacteria only, you can deal with it in 4-5 days, no need to do 7
Why do people never talk about what causes the algae in the first place? Phosphate!!! Use granulated ferric oxide (GFO) in a power filter of your choice. A fluidized reactor works best. Remove the phosphate and the algae disappears. The live plants use other macronutrients to thrive. Excess phosphate is the root cause of almost all nuisance algae. Freshwater tanks should be maintained at less than.05 ppm phosphate.
What's algae⁉ I get green on rocks, but not on glass or plants.
If it's GDA it usually starts on the rocks but can later spread to the glass and plants. How long have you had it?