My Algae Is Out Of Control!

Hello. I am a new fish owner of a few months and I still know very little about the ins and outs of taking care of fish. I have a 55 gallon aquarium with about 12 fish in it, two of which are Chinese Algae Suckers. I have no live plants or rocks. I feed a pinch of flake food twice a day. A few weeks ago I noticed some green powder-like algae growing on my glass and rocks so I did a water change and siphoned the rocks and cleaned the glass with a tank scrubber. About two days after that I noticed more algae already growing again. It’s been about two weeks since the water change and the algae has seemed to multiply over night. My algae eaters aren’t doing anything to help it. I really need help, it’s getting to the point to where I don’t even want my tank anymore.

 

Hello. I am a new fish owner of a few months and I still know very little about the ins and outs of taking care of fish. I have a 55 gallon aquarium with about 12 fish in it, two of which are Chinese Algae Suckers. I have no live plants or rocks. I feed a pinch of flake food twice a day. A few weeks ago I noticed some green powder-like algae growing on my glass and rocks so I did a water change and siphoned the rocks and cleaned the glass with a tank scrubber. About two days after that I noticed more algae already growing again. It’s been about two weeks since the water change and the algae has seemed to multiply over night. My algae eaters aren’t doing anything to help it. I really need help, it’s getting to the point to where I don’t even want my tank anymore.

how much light do you give the tank a day? also is your tank near a window?

 

Do you have high nitrates? What kind light do you have and how long is it on per day?

 

I have my tank right under a window in my bedroom and it always has light.

 

I have my tank right under a window in my bedroom and it always has light.

If you have blinds or a shade try closing them for a while each day. If your tank is in daylight all day then that's probably a major reason you have an algie problem.

 

Definitely shut that window, and limit your lights to about 8 hours a day, or even just while you're around to watch the tank. Too much light will most definitely result in algae.

I'd also bet you've got a bit of nitrate going on as well, and excess nitrate will result in algae.

 

Welcome to FishLore!

I see from your Aquarium Information that you are not aware of the nitrogen cycle (click words to be taken to an article explaining it). I highly recommend you read up on and fully understand it. The nitrogen cycle is the most important thing to understand when keeping fish.

What tipped me off and made me check to see if you were aware of the nitrogen cycle is when you stated that it had been 2 weeks since you had done a water change. You generally want to perform a partial water change every week (once you have a cycled tank). In an uncycled tank you may need to perform daily water changes until cycled. There are methods of cycling that do not require daily partial water changes, but well cross that bridge once you read up on what the nitrogen cycled is.

All healthy fish tanks will have some algae, it really can't be helped. But you can control the amount of algae to a large extent by limiting the amount of light the tank receives, and by not having nutrients in the water that act as algae fertilizer. Managing a cycled tank properly will help remove those nutrients.

best of luck and feel free to ask any additional questions you may have.

 

Whatever you do, keep after it. It can and will get out of control and ruin your tank if left unattended. When the conditions are right (wrong?) more aggressive, difficult-to-mitigate varieties will start popping up and it's game over before you know it.

 

Definitely shut that window, and limit your lights to about 8 hours a day, or even just while you're around to watch the tank. Too much light will most definitely result in algae.

I'd also bet you've got a bit of nitrate going on as well, and excess nitrate will result in algae.

How do I get my nitrate levels under control?

 

Well, as Jdhef said, if you're unaware of the nitrogen cycle, you most definitely need to do some reading on that.