Algae Problem! Thinking Of Resorting To Pests! What Should I Do?

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 there's not a lot 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 don't 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.

 

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 5 gallon hex)

if so, you could try doing that and putting a heavy blanket over the 5 gallon 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 5 gallon hex.

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

 

can the algae harm my fish at the moment?

 

can the algae harm my fish at the moment?

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.

 

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

 

what about brown algae...

 

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.

 

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?

 

Otos love the diatoms or brown algae. that 5 gallon 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.

 

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

 

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.

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)

 

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?

 

I don't really know... maybe a blanket or something but I still want to be able to see the tank.

 

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.

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)

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

 

I don't really know... maybe a blanket or something but I still want to be able to see the tank.

maybe blanket the window?

 

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 don't 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?

 

I don't really know... maybe a blanket or something but I still want to be able to see the tank.

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

 

well its a hex tank so how would that work

 

well its a hex tank so how would that work

maybe cutting some black construction paper to fit? you could glue aquarium paper on top of it so that you'd have that to look at when you look in the aquarium, but the thicker black paper behind it might keep a lot of sunlight out. just a thought.

 

"Trophic" refers generally to food or nutrients - so, for example, you have a "trophic level" in a food web, which is how many steps are between the consumer and the producers (the ultimate food source). Terms like "eutrophic," "oligotrophic," and "dystrophic" refer to the concentrations of nutrients (and dissolved oxygen) in water, particularly lake or pond water (faster-running rivers and streams usually do not encounter the same algal problems).

Anyway - eutrophic - "eu" means good (euphony, eulogy, et cetera), "trophic" means "food," so eutrophic water is water with high levels (good levels) or nutrients (food). This leads to algae growth, and an associated decline in dissolved oxygen.

Dystrophic - "dys" means bad (cf. dystopia, dysentery), so dystrophic water is water with low nutrient concentrations, and therefore small amounts of plant life. This occurs after the available nutrients have been consumed by the rapid growth of algae and plants, and as the decomposers (or saprotrophs, if you will) are in the process of disposing of the plant matter. The metabolism of all this dead organic matter produces humus, and the water takes on the brown color and low pH characteristic of dystrophic waters (caused by the presence of humic acid, which also gives compost and rich soil its dark coloration).

Oligotrophic is similar etymologically, but has different connotations - "oligo" means few, so oligotrophic water has very few nutrients, or is otherwise not very suitable to sustain life (it could have an extreme pH, for example, or be highly saline). Keeping a body of water oligitrophic means that very little plant life will be able to grow, and, consequently, little animal life will either - it'll have nothing to eat. Your fish, though, can thrive here because there is little competition for the aliments you hand-feed them.

The happy medium, then, would be a mesotrophic body of water - a mesotrophic body has enough nutrients to support a thick bed of plant life, as well as edible phytoplankton, and has enough food and dissolved oxygen for plenty of fish and invertebrates. It is a fragile balance, though, and a small change could throw a prosperous self-sustaining lake into a vicious eutrophic cycle.

Maybe that was a little long. Phew! Can you tell I'm a bio/ecology major?

 

yikes.. i'm glad I went for something simple like computer programming!

 

"Trophic" refers generally to food or nutrients - so, for example, you have a "trophic level" in a food web, which is how many steps are between the consumer and the producers (the ultimate food source). Terms like "eutrophic," "oligotrophic," and "dystrophic" refer to the concentrations of nutrients (and dissolved oxygen) in water, particularly lake or pond water (faster-running rivers and streams usually do not encounter the same algal problems).

Anyway - eutrophic - "eu" means good (euphony, eulogy, et cetera), "trophic" means "food," so eutrophic water is water with high levels (good levels) or nutrients (food). This leads to algae growth, and an associated decline in dissolved oxygen.

Dystrophic - "dys" means bad (cf. dystopia, dysentery), so dystrophic water is water with low nutrient concentrations, and therefore small amounts of plant life. This occurs after the available nutrients have been consumed by the rapid growth of algae and plants, and as the decomposers (or saprotroph, if you will). The metabolism of all this dead organic matter produces humus, and the water takes on the brown color and low pH characteristic of dystrophic waters (caused by the presence of humic acid, which also gives compost and rich soil its dark coloration).

Oligotrophic is similar etymologically, but has different connotations - "oligo" means few, so oligotrophic water has very few nutrients, or is otherwise not very suitable to sustain life (it could have an extreme pH, for example, or be highly saline). Keeping a body of water oligitrophic means that very little plant life will be able to grow, and, consequently, little animal life will either - it'll have nothing to eat. Your fish, though, can thrive here because there is little competition for the aliments you hand-feed them.

The happy medium, then, would be a mesotrophic body of water - a mesotrophic body has enough nutrients to support a thick bed of plant life, as well as edible phytoplankton, and has enough food and dissolved oxygen for plenty of fish and invertebrates. It is a fragile balance, though, and a small change could throw a prosperous self-sustaining lake into a vicious eutrophic cycle.

Maybe that was a little long. Phew! Can you tell I'm a bio/ecology major?

Thanks, SemanticDrift. I am a zoology major and they never taught us that! I knew all about the 'eu', 'meso', 'trophic[, etc. latin roots (eukaryots! ), but couldn't for my life tell what the whole word meant. Very clear explanation, thanks! Ooooo, I so want you on my quiz team!

 

semantic drift.... why oh why can't you sit on my shoulder in biology class!!

 

And in my pub quiz!

 

hmmm sounds good. I would put them fish in and see how it goes then once they clean up the tank some put them in the larger tank that you have. use tape and tape a black background on the tank and face that to the window. just and idea if not there are small megnetic tank cleaners y ou can always keep in your tank.

 

well its a hex tank so how would that work

I realize it's a hex tank so it has 6 sides, but since all sides are flat it would work the same way it would on a rectangular tank only you're cutting it to fit 3 sides instead of 1.....Cut it to fit 3 sides and leave 3 sides exposed for viewing.

 

But I guess it's not going to look very pretty. If it's a decorated background (like a picture of something), it may appear quite disjointed. Not that it's critical, but I see how having a hex might be slightly less suitable for a background than regular tanks. But it's just esthaetics, really.

 

I've actually seen it done and it doesn't look that bad...They have a snake display in a hex at one of the LFS's....That's where I got the idea from....I guess you have to judge what's more important....

 

Cool. Sounds like it works.