Titi

Hi, I'm new to this website and its really cool. I have a problem, I started my fish tank in June (its a 14 gal Oceanic biocube), and decided to cycle it with pure ammonia. I put in some live plants and had it going for a few days, but then I went on vacation for a week and decided to leave the plants with the lights on so they wouldn't die. I also accidently dumped in little more ammonia then I meant to before I left but I figured it would go down in a week. When I came back from vacation the plants had turned purple and white and started to decay. I waited for the cycle to complete, and by the time it was ready, I had really bad algae and the water was so green you could't see anything in the tank.
The guy in the pet store sold me some phospate foam stuff and told me to put it in the filter. I also got an algae scraper and tried to get rid of the stuff on the glass.
None of it worked, so I went back to the fishstore and the guy there told me an algae eater would help and told me to get a pleco and a corydoras. I knew the pleco would outgrow the tank and I didn't really want either of them ( I had been planning to have guppies and a dwarf frog), but he told me I could trade it back in for store credit. I brought them both home, and the pleco really cleaned off the glass but the water was still green and I went online and found that the cory cat needed protein and couldn't live off algae so I started feeding it shrimp pellets.
Anyway, I had them for about 2 weeks and was doing water changes every other day and the water cleared up, but today when I changed the water I found the pleco dead. He was stiff and kind of discolored.
I tested the water and it was normal- ammonia&nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 10ppm, pH 7.4.
I don'y know why the pleco died or what I'm doing wrong and I don't want the other fish to die- he looks fine right now- active and swimming-but I don't know what the problem is and the water is still green, could that be it? I don't know I'm new to this. I need help Please!!!
P.S. Sorry this is soooo long

Amanda

Welcome to fishlore!
The pleco may have died from lack of nutrients in the diet. I may be wrong, but the diet needs to supplemented with veggies, even if there is algae in the tank. The water is still green? Ottos may be a good addition if there is still algae on the glass/ornaments. Keep doing water changes. Is the tank near a window? Sunlight can cause an algae bloom. Apple snails will also eat algae.

Lucy

I'm sorry you lost your pleco, they're really cute.

Amanda may have a point about the nutrition.

I don't know if this will help or not, it's just a thought.
It's my understanding that phosphates 'eat' algea. Is it possible that the stuff you added removed the nutritional value of the algea?

Maybe someone can tell me if I'm way off base.

clinton1621

I think its the other way around, true algae (not cyanobacteria) is a plant and like other plants phosphate will make it grow like nuts.... but the real cause of "green water" outbreaks is a combination of too much light (especially direct sun as already mentioned), too much waste (nitrates and phosphates), and low dissolved oxygen.... the pleco probably died from lack of food, they dont tend to eat a lot of algae as most people think, they need to be fed just like other fish or they will starve

Lucy

Thanks, clinton, after I posted, I sat here wondering if I had it backwards.

Titi

I was feeding the pleco algae wafers and I gave him one the day before he died. Is it possible that he had not been eating them? Should I have been giving him something else?
If he didn't die from lack of food, could he have died from something that could spread to my cory cat?
Is the green water bad for my fish?

clinton1621

No "green water" is not harmful to fish, the algae looks bad but it actually absorbs ammonia and nitrates, it also releases oxygen... in my experience with algae wafers plecos dont really seem to eat them very well, they usually just end up dissolving and polluting your water... plecos also need a source of protein which algae wafers dont always have, but he could have died from something else so its hard to say, keep an eye on your other fish for a few days just to be safe, it could have just been stress related given that he was new

Titi

Thanks everyone!

clinton1621

No problem

Heres another possible cause for the pleco, which I think may also be causing your algae... obviously you have a lot of light coming from somewhere, plecos dont like bright lights and without some sort of hiding place like a "cave" or overhang where they can be in the shade they will be constantly stressed and end up getting sick

Titi

Thanks! I'll try that if I ever get another pleco. I'll also try to limit the amount of light I let into the aquarium. Another question, I've been keeping the lights off in the aquarium day and night to try to get rid of the algae, is this bothering the fish?

clinton1621

No, the fish dont require light to live so that wont hurt them at all

Titi

Thanks alot!

Blub

Try a total blackout. Cover ALL the glass panes so there is abo****ely no light in the tank, turn of the light, and leave it for a few days - a week. Algae needs light, remember!

MrsM3197

That worked like a charm for mine. When I blacked out mine I used black plastic garbage bags, like the kind for outdoor work (grass clippings and such). Taped the bags around the outside of the tank, turned off the lights and within a week the algae had died and fallen to the bottom, mostly. I vaccumed the tank well and did a 50% water change, and the water was just pretty and clear. None of the fishies seemed to mind it at all, and now since I know how long to keep the lights on I haven't had another algae problem.