2 Gallon Tank How to get rid of Stubborn Green Algae??

So I have a 3gallon partially planted tank for my Blue Betta (Louie) and my Blue Mystery Snail (Gary), and I can NOT get rid of this freakin' green algae! It isn't the type that just sloughs off when you wipe it, and my tank is acrylic so I can't really take a razor blade to scrape it off... I haven't treated with any chemical treatments yet because I was hoping I could get it to go away with regular water changes, but I think it's just getting too much light so the algae is thriving I don't want to decimate the oxygen it's providing to the tank, but it looks awful....

Suggestions?



Edit to add a photo with the most recent parameters and water change info. I just started tracking with the Aquarium Note app so I don't have a ton of water change history here, but I've had this tank since September 2021, it's been cycled since January (I actually crashed my cycle just after Christmas by rinsing all of my filter material absentmindedly...)

by

 

You could turn on the light less. For how many hours to you leave the light on daily? There are some products to clean off algae that can be on acrylic tanks.

Btw, what tracker is that? Is it like an app or website? Looks extremely useful!

 

If it's near a window you'll likely need to move it or black out the parts where the sun hits with a background. If it has indirect or direct sunlight it will be an ongoing issue.

 

shrimpscaper is right. I find that algae grow more easily in sunlight then in other types of light.

 

You could turn on the light less. For how many hours to you leave the light on daily? There are some products to clean off algae that can be on acrylic tanks.

Btw, what tracker is that? Is it like an app or website? Looks extremely useful!

I usually leave my light on from around 8am to 10pm, and my desk with the tank is about 3ft from a big north-facing patio door. I've got a moss disk and Amazon sword in the tank, so I want to make sure they get enough light to thrive, but I think that's giving the algae that opportunity too...

The app I use is called Aquarium Note, I have it on Android! I used to use the API AquaSpin website, but after a few water changes where I couldn't get the site to load I switched to this app.

 

Ok, it’s too much light. Try keeping it on for only 8 hours.

 

If it's near a window you'll likely need to move it or black out the parts where the sun hits with a background. If it has indirect or direct sunlight it will be an ongoing issue.

Yeah, my desk with the tank is about 3ft from a big north-facing patio door, so it doesn't get a lot of direct light in the Midwest US, but it does get lots of indirect light.

I've been thinking about trying to black out the back of the tank, maybe just taping some construction paper to the back of the tank? That sounds so silly but I don't really have a good place I could move it...

If I do block out the light, would the algae eventually die on its own and I'll be able to clean it off? Or should I get AlgaeFix or something to stop it from continuing to grow?

 

It should slowly die out, but if I’m not wrong cleaning it off helps. The idea is not silly at all btw! Not sure about algaefix.

 

It should slowly die out, but if I’m not wrong cleaning it off helps. The idea is not silly at all btw! Not sure about algaefix.

Yeah I'm probably going to avoid chemical treatment. It's not like the algae is hurting my Betta or snail, or even the other plants. It just looks kinda gross lol.