dacota34

Hi this is a daft question but how often should you vacuum bottom of the tank, I have been doing it every two weeks and it is always very dirty is it poo or food that has not been eaten??.
Thanks in advance.

Callum The Cat

COBettaCouple

we clean out the tanks weekly before doing the PWC.

capekate

A real good vacumming once a week and stir up the gravel while vacumming to make sure you get it all up. It will help to keep the nitrates down and the water quality up!

dacota34

Thanks all for advice.
I also had my tank at the back of the room but we could not enjoy it so we moved it into the middle of the wall now i am getting green gunk on the glass. Before you reply it is not getting direct sunlight onto it but is this the problem??
Thanks

capekate

It sounds like its possibly green algae.

dacota34

Thats what i thought, and the cure is?

lilsoccakid

a great cure would be to get 2 or 3 otos!

COBettaCouple

otos, shrimp or a magnetic scraper.. just don't get any algae removing solutions - they can really wipe out the tank population.

dacota34

Ok i understand BUT what causes the algea?? would it help if i did not have the light on as much or draw the curtains ?

COBettaCouple

algae mainly is caused from light growing bacteria i believe so less light would help. also live plants help take nutrients from algae.

griffin

usually algae is caused by nutrient imbalance in the tank. the lights also might help

dacota34

Ok so how do i address the imbalance??

sgould

Excess nutrients and light are big contributors to algae. To knock out the algae growth, black the tank out for 3 days. By black out, I mean cover it so absolutely no light gets in, and do not feed the tank. Don't worry about the fish...3 days with no food is not going to hurt them. After the 3 day period, do a 50% water change and clean the decor. That should stop your current outbreak. To prevent it from coming back, look very closely at how much food you are giving, and how long the tank lights are on. If at feeding time there is food making it to the bottom of the tank before the fish eat it, you are over feeding and need to reduce what you give them. Plan roughly 2 flakes of food per fish. As for lighting, do not leave it on more than 6 hours per day. Even at 6 hours per day, if the ambient light in the room is bright, you could still have problems, which would make controlling the food even more important. If you have room in the tank, a pair of otos would also be a really good idea. They'll have the algae for breakfast! Literally!

Dasha

What kind of lighting do you have? How long do you leave the lights on? do you grow live plants?

the formula is : less light + more live plants = less green algae.

I would shorten the time you keep your lights on.

It sounds you have great food supply for otos or shrimp!

COBettaCouple

lol.. otos or shrimp would be in heaven with a good algae supply like that.

dacota34

Thanks guys good advice. I put the light on for about four hours, My tank is 97lt i only keep 20 small fish all mixed tetra's and two catfish peppered. The light is left on for about four hours 75% water change every week every second week bottom vacuumed and all orniments cleaned.
As for feeding i put in about 10 flakes crushed up and two small sinking feeders for cat fish.
Also what are otos and will they be ok with other fish??
Cheers

griffin

otos are about the best fish algae eaters i know of. it sounds like they would be ok with your tetras.

capekate

Hi Dacota..
I agree with grifin, I have otos with my assorted tetras and they all get along fine. Funny how most fish totally ignore those lil ole worker fish!

Trpimp147

if you want you can send me some algae i need it for my tank

capekate

LOL and Im running out of diatoms for my otos!! Anyone want to send me some of theirs ...

armadillo

he he he. If my algae farm was producing, I'd gladly!

COBettaCouple

we've got some in that cycled tank on the back porch that still needs cleaned up.. but i'm too lazy, so you'll have to come over & scrape it off. :P

armadillo

Scrape it off?! Dear me, don't, doooooon't! Some of us are waiting weeks for a spot of the stuff, you know!

Trpimp147

soon as i deside to get my 10 gal tank from gfs house and fill it with some water ill sit that out side and get it growing some algae and hope that the plecos dont get it and let some of the algae seed the rest of my 75 gal tank up!!!

COBettaCouple

i'll put it in a sack and mail it to you.