Suave

I have some algae in my tank.. growing on the glass on the gravel.. i hear if you throw some CLEAN pennies in the tank it should take care of it yes? well its not working for me

Lucy

I'm not sure, but I'd be afraid they'd leach something into my tank.
Did you ever see a penny turn green after it's been in the water for a while? That can't be good.

jdhef

I don't know about pennies killing algae, but it will kill any invertebrates in your tank, due to the copper leaching out. Generally, excess algae is caused by either to much light (either sunlight or your tank light) or overfeeding your fish. Uneaten food will break down and release phosphates which leads to algae.

Having live plants in your tank will reduce algae, since they will out compete the algae for nutrients.

Butterfly

Excess nutrients and excess light = algae salad bar
Decreasing amounts of food fed, extra water changes will help keep the algae in control. If the tank gets any strong reflected light, direct sunlight or prolonged tank light it will encourage algae also. But a little algae provides fish food and makes the tank look more natural.
Carol

jdhef

My Dwarf Gourami's seem to especially enjoy grazing on any algae in my tank.

Harley

personaly I like some algea in my tanks I think it adds some personality to the tank but I usually scrap it off the glass and sture up the gravel if its in those places! Also get a timer for your lites and have them turn off ever 4hours or so for a bit! Because i read somewere once that it takes algea 8 hours of continous light to finish a growth cycle! or try a snail, oto's, or chinese algea eaters I've always had luck with all this stuff!

clinton1621

The reason the pennies dont work anymore is because any pennies made since 1982 contain almost 0 copper... they are almost entirely zinc... and zinc is actually a fertilizer lol. Also Copper wont kill all types of algae anyway... and it is toxic to invertebrates and even some fish!

gremlin

What size tank? If it is at least 20 gallons, you could go with one chinese algae eater or one of the plecos that stay smaller. If it is under 20 gallons, I've heard oto's are pretty good for algae.

Suave

its a 29g tank.. i guess ill have to try to find some snails.. i already have a timer on the light but my mom usually works late and insists that the light stays on.. not the tank light but room light.. so ya... :/

Barbrella

Get a Bristlenose pleco and say goodbye to algae!