# Unstoppable algae



## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

Algae has been a pretty bad problem in my 90 gallon for a long while now. Even with regular water changes, the lights being on for only 8-10 hours a day, and having a bristlenose pleco, the stuff keeps growing and spreading. I had been blaming the growth on a bad light system, telling myself maybe the light just wasn't intense enough for a tank that deep, but I've just come home from an 8 day vacation only to find that while I was gone beard algae has grown over a lot of the rocks and other objects in the tank, and brown/green algae has spread further over the glass. I left the lights off the entire time I was gone. I really don't know how to stop it. Help.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

I had the same problem. I went to the lfs, picked a up a pleco. Problem solved. But I see you have one..Weird. I have a Chinese algae eater in one of my tanks, and hes eaten all algae.


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## jlpropst00 (Jun 12, 2011)

Does the tank receive any direct sun light?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Do you have any plants in the aquarium? Also, it might be your tab water having nutrients in it that support algae growth. So every time you change water you give the algae more food. Maybe you should get your tab water tested.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

bba doesn't need much light and plecos don't care for it. IME, it likes high nitrate, but is hard (as in break the tank down, scrub everything, run rocks thought the dishwasher hard) to get rid of once established. Better to keep lights on a timer.


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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

My Pleco, honestly, doesn't seem too interested in anything other than the piece of driftwood in the tank. There are windows in the room that the tank is in, but it's on the opposite wall across the room and very little, if any, direct sunlight reaches the tank. I keep the blinds closed pretty much at all times as well. I figured getting a serious routine of water changes would help to slow the growth, but it hasn't seemed to deter it at all. I did have a really bad beard algae outbreak before, and a lot of it disappeared, but I guess the little amount that remained has started to spread again. I know it's not really unhealthy for the fish, so I'm not terribly concerned. It's just an eyesore in what could be an attractive tank.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Get your tab water tested for unusually high amounts of nitrates and phosphate.


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## Fuzz (Jan 27, 2012)

different plecos like different kinds of algae/food. i don't think i've encountered BBA, but I had a pretty nasty algae problem(see some of the recent threads) that I solved with a handful of otos. Now that I've seen the difference between a tank with/without them I swear by them!

I had a clown pleco in the tank but it didn't seem to do much as far as algae control, either. Those otos only took about 3 days to clean up most of the tank and now after a few weeks my tank is pretty much immaculate. I love those little dudes and as long as you don't have any big fish that'll chomp them down, I highly recommend them.

One bristlenose for a 90 gallon might not be enough. You might need to get a few more to make a difference...or try out a common pleco that gets to be 24". You might be able to find a LFS that will trade out your big one(when it gets too big) for a smaller one. 

Either way, good luck to you and I sure hope I don't have to deal with BBA


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I don't think otos would live in Tang. water. Goodieds might, but even though they love the green hair algae, that black stuff isn't appetizing. I'd be tempted to try the "squirt peroxide on it" method, but that works best for small patches.


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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

I've been tempted multiple times to just take down the entire tank, scrub it down and start fresh, but without knowing the root of the problem I have no way of preventing it from happening again. That, and I don't know if I trust myself with taking down the whole tank and keeping all of my fish alive long enough to get it all done.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

Do you have the kind that spreads on the glass and ends up looking really unsightly? You said "brown/green" which is what makes me think that's what you have. 

This might sounds crazy, but leave it alone. Don't do water changes if you can (just top off as needed) and it will eventually overrun the tank. But then it will run out of steam and just seem to die all by itself. 
We had this issue in our 37 gallon, even though it was getting no outside light, and maybe 10 hours a day from the tank light. I stopped scrubbing it off, and about a week or two ago, my husband and I noticed there was hardly any on the back wall anymore. It's slowly receding, and I'm pretty sure we can't blame the single otto that may or may not be in there. I put him in over a month ago but haven't seen him, so we suspect he might have died.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I have said this two times but I'll say it again. Do a water test. I mean what can it hurt? I think petco will do it for you if you don't want to buy a test kit


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

Your best bet would be a chinese or siamese algae eat they are the only a.e's that eat brown algae in their lifecycles also invest in either a uv sterlizer or low mainteance plants i like marimo moss balls and java ferns. The problem usually stems from high levels of nitrates and nutrients from water if the lighting is being controlled plecos "don't really" eat algae. They eat green algae alot but thats about it. I had a huge issue with brown algae thanks to a piece of driftwood being put in the tank and i did my reasearch on all the common types of algae eaters. i fixed it by doing exactly what i said. Baught 6 siamese a.e then baught 5 moss balls for my 75.


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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

So it's safe to say that my lighting has nothing to do with it?


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

if you are keeping it on how u say so then not really but dont think that you can leave your light on 24/7, lighting does take into effect but its prob your water composition causeing the problem


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## Fuzz (Jan 27, 2012)

Algae is similar to plants, but aren't plants. They can adapt to grow in low light conditions as well as high light conditions. They suck up all the nutrients in the water and use it to grow. Fish waste, excess plant fertilizers, and dead/dying plant matter serve as nutrients for algae. 

Algae eaters will help reduce algae and keep your tank clean, but if the eaters can't keep up with the new growth of algae, then you've got a problem. I'd shorten the photoperiod(the time your tank lights are on) an hour or two. I would also do more frequent OR bigger water changes. 

If you don't have live plants in your tank, then you're always going to have excess nutrients in your tank. Even if you only get a moss ball or an Amazon Sword, your algae will have to compete with your AS for nutrients. This will slow the growth of the algae and give your tank a little color.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Superfly724 said:


> So it's safe to say that my lighting has nothing to do with it?


Oh absolutely not! Lighting can definitely be the cause. What exact fixture do you have?

those fancy high output fixtures can really create some issues if you dont know what they change about the aquarium.


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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

I received the light fixture with my 55g when I bought it off of CL. As far as I can tell, this is the exact fixture http://www.marineandreef.com/Aqualight_Compact_Fluorescent_4X65W_48_Coralife_p/res53106.htm

It appears to be pretty old, and only 2 of the sockets work. One of them just stopped working and one of them fell apart in my hand from corrosion while I was changing a bulb. I have two 50/50 bulbs in the fixture right now, and it's over my 90 gallon tank which is having the algae problem. 

My original guess was that the light wasn't intense enough for such a deep tank, so the low intensity was just right for the algae.


Note: My 55 gallon had no algae problems whatsoever, and had a much larger bio-load. That's why this 90 has me so troubled.


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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

Would extra filtration help my cause at all? Say, adding another filter rated for a 55g to the mix? My girlfriend has one just collecting dust at her place, so free equipment is nice.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I really doubt it. more filter = faster conversion of ammonia to nitrate, but its rare to have any measurable ammonia. 

More filtration never hurts and you will be able to 'instant cycle' the next tank, but I predict no effect on algae.


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

the uv sterlizer will handle algae problems i personally use the green killing machine i baught at petsmart on a 29 planted i have http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYh3eodE0Zg thats a link to my youtube page with my tanks


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