gmann21193

My 5 gallon hex has a huge algae infestation... I wiped it down less than 3 days ago and its back! and bad..... the tank is near a window... but its the only place availabe for it because my parents said i can only keep fish in my room and I already have 3 tanks so theres not alot of space. anyways, I THINK the tank is fully stocked... with two bamboo shrimp and 2 zebra danios, even though i have never ever in the 6+ months of keeping them ever seen my shrimp poop. anyways, I was thinking of resorting to pest snails or something... Id add a mystery snail but i think that would be overstocking the tank a bit. what should i do? I really dont feel like scrubbing the tank down every few days. anyways... I videotaped the problem so you can see how severe it is. The video is currently uploading, so ill post the link in a little bit.

COBettaCouple

would it be possible to keep the shrimp and danios in another tank for a little while? (and any live plants you might have in the 5g hex)

if so, you could try doing that and putting a heavy blanket over the 5g hex to block out ALL light for at least a few days. (i'm not sure but i think that would be long enough to starve the algae) Just add some fish flakes to the tank every 12 hours or so to keep it cycled. Then clean the tank up, being sure to clean out any algae remains and fill it up with clean treated tap water and re-acclimate the danios and shrimp to the 5g hex.

you might have to improvise some sort of screen to cut out as much sunlight to the 5g hex as you can to reduce future algae problems.

gmann21193

can the algae harm my fish at the moment?

COBettaCouple

i could be wrong, but i don't believe algae can harm them.. although heavy amounts might make them more open to sickness or steal nutrients from the water they need.. i'm not an algae-expert though, so that could be off.

sgould

Plain ol' green algae won't hurt the fish. *Just looks bad.

gmann21193

what about brown algae...

Semantic Drift

If you're not drastically over-feeding the fish, I don't see how the algae could hurt the fish. The only problem I know of is eutrophication, where the algae grows out of control, and then dies off when nutrients run out. Then, decomposers go to work on the dead algae, using up all the oxygen that the fish are also competing for - the fish suffocate.

But in a well-aerated, oligotrophic tank, this shouldn't ever happen. I'd say you're good.

armadillo

Oligotrophic, he he he. Honestly, Semantic Drift, I think you've swallowed a dictionnary or you were born in one! This is all verrry impressive. I love really specific words. What does that one mean?

Gmannn. What sort of algae do you have? Brown or green or both? I just got Oto cats in my 5G to get rid of brown and they're not doing a great job at it, but I think there is a small difference. They're tiny, so am not sure they would lead to a severely overstocked tank just by adding them. You might want to look into it. I did hear that there was one type of algae they didn't eat.

Close to a window, bummer. Very silly question: can you have the blinds constantly down/curtains constantly closed?

COBettaCouple

Otos love the diatoms or brown algae. that 5g is already on the overstocked side, but 2 otos would have a real time of it with so much algae to eat. If you wanted to go that route, i'd just recommend 25% water changes every day or 2 and treating the water with Prime.

gmann21193

here is the video... as you can see the problem is pretty bad

susitna-flower

OH MY GOODNESS, you made us think! I love a challenge, don't stop. When the brain stagnates at 12 years of age, it is just down hill (and a very slippery slope it is) from there! You didn't mention that the stage of the "decomposers" is a dystrophic condition. Really keep it up, this is why I love this forum, it keeps me thinking........

Land of the Midnight Sun 8)

COBettaCouple

yea, that looks like what we had in one of our tanks that was getting more light than the others. our otos died suddenly for some unknown reason, but the 2 of them were super cleaners in her tank. Too bad you can't rent a few for a few days. the key with that tank is going to be starving the algae out after cleaning off as much as you can, then finding a way to cut the amount of light to that tank or it will just keep growing.. is there any way to shield that tank from so much light?

gmann21193

I dont really know... maybe a blanket or something but i still want to be able to see the tank.

armadillo

OK, I really need help on all this trophic business. Any volunteers for an explanation?

COBettaCouple

maybe blanket the window?

gmann21193

hmmmm... never thought of that.... o wait my planted 5 gallon is right by the window and every now and then rays from the sun creep in and I think my plants like it a lot while my mystery snail keeps the algae to a minimum so I dont know if covering the window is the best solution... what if I introduce pest snails like ramshorns to the tank? would that be an option? What are the pros and cons to pest snails?

vin

How about using some tank background and covering a couple of the sides - maybe 3 sides would do?

gmann21193

well its a hex tank so how would that work