Algae still after more than two months

[Tammy]

I need help with my 15 gallon planted tank which has run for a year and in the past 2 1/2 months it has what looks like green algae it looks like it’s just floating in the water until after about a month and a half it started showing a little bit on the side but I don’t have algae growing on top of rocks plants it really just looks like it’s in the water. With that being said I don’t know how to treat it I saw Cory‘s videos on algae and it looks like it’s In the water. I have a total of  10 copies platies Molly’s in the tank. For the past four weeks I have been changing 4 gallons of water a week. One of the weeks I changed the water three times a week and it started getting clear and now it’s going back to getting greener. The fish are doing fine. I have the filter that came with the tank which I believe is a hang on Flow 10. I’m wondering if my problem is that I need a stronger filter. I know that you should not get rid of the bacteria on the filter and the filter was being changed every 2 to 3 weeks and a new one put on which gets rid of a lot of your bacteria. This is my granddaughter’s tank and I am trying to get everything running right for my son. I keep water testing and my nitrates after a month and a half are showing a little pink not white. I would like to get quite a few things from Aquarium Co-Op including a better test kit Bio rings and Cory’s in tank round filters that he invented , wondering if by adding the filter for in the tank along with the hanger one is what I need. Please help!!!

[Nyssa]

Do you have your lights on a timer? How long are the lights on per day?

I find that algae can easily be reeled back in by reducing the time that the lights are on for. I'm currently battling some hair algae and saw an improvement when I reduced the amount of time that that lights were on for.

[Tammy]

I would like to put it on a timer but my daughter-in-law is worried about that because a friend of hers had a fire with her light hood on her fish tank and it caused damage to the Sun‘s room so she fears that to happen. So my hands are tied there

[Nyssa]

On 3/25/2022 at 2:00 PM, Tammy said:

I would like to put it on a timer but my daughter-in-law is worried about that because a friend of hers had a fire with her light hood on her fish tank and it caused damage to the Sun‘s room so she fears that to happen. So my hands are tied there

Hmm... perhaps she can have the light on only when people are home/viewing the tank? That's how I go about it—I have my lights on in the morning while I get ready for work and turn them off before I leave, then turn them back on when I'm home, and off again before bed.

That would put a massive dent in the algae, if the lights are on for 16 hours a day, that's a lot of fuel for that pesky algae to gobble up!

[Tammy]

It’s hit and miss when they even put the lights on because it’s upstairs in the bedroom and she has four kids and they probably should never have gotten a fish tank they don’t have the time to keep a schedule on any of that. It’s a shame because the kids love fishing and a fish tank is a good thing for them. But their lifestyle is very busy. It might be good if they just didn’t do plants in the tank at all but they were having problems with the tank when there was no plants so someone from Petsmart told them to put plants in a tank. And yes it’s a good thing to have the plants in a tank but I don’t know if they should do one or the other at this point

[lefty o]

is it near a window. direct sunlight is one of the main culprits towards making green water. 

[Tammy]

No Not near a window

[sumplkrum]

On 3/25/2022 at 1:53 PM, Tammy said:

I’m wondering if my problem is that I need a stronger filter. I know that you should not get rid of the bacteria on the filter and the filter was being changed every 2 to 3 weeks and a new one put on which gets rid of a lot of your bacteria.

The filter shouldn't need changing that often and it should be plenty strong enough for a 15 gallon tank.

Light + Nutrients = algae

The trick is that Light + Nutrients also equals plant growth.

Right now your tank has an excess of one or the other and the algae is growing faster than the plants can use the excess.

It also sounds like no one really has time to care for a tank that needs a lot of attention.

My suggestion would be floating plants. They'll block out excess light and use up excess nutrients in the water, essentially out-competing the algae. If you end up with too many floating plants, it's a simple matter to remove a handful to thin them back out.

[lefty o]

On 3/27/2022 at 10:24 AM, sumplkrum said:

The filter shouldn't need changing that often and it should be plenty strong enough for a 15 gallon tank.

Light + Nutrients = algae

The trick is that Light + Nutrients also equals plant growth.

Right now your tank has an excess of one or the other and the algae is growing faster than the plants can use the excess.

It also sounds like no one really has time to care for a tank that needs a lot of attention.

My suggestion would be floating plants. They'll block out excess light and use up excess nutrients in the water, essentially out-competing the algae. If you end up with too many floating plants, it's a simple matter to remove a handful to thin them back out.

this is a very good point, it is all about the balance of light and nutrients. it is a fine line at times between plant growth, and algae.

[Bev C]

please test your water from both tank and your sink spigot /water tap  

for high phosphates and silicates and  nitrates 

that is what was wrong with mine i fought algae for close to a year  i tried everything adjusting fertilizer,  lights , cleaning and seachem excel and Easy Green Carbon and still had brown algae on plants and them melting or dying never growing ,,

I got both tank and tap water tested by my city and fish shop my tab was very on phosphates and silicates and nitrates 

i have to pretreat my water before adding to tank  the water for high phosphates and silicates   with along with adding  a Pothos plant to tank for nitrates i have  it cleared my water and have had no brown algae for 2- 3 months  on the plants and i see them growing some i am slowing adding new plants to replace the ones the algae destroyed or killed  Wishing the best 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Bev C