Still doing water changes still algae comes right back in few days

[Tammy]

I’ve written about this a few times I have a 15 gallon fish tank I keep having my water tested they said all of my numbers are good no ammonia. I have a copy a couple platies couple Mollys a painted neon fish in a planted tank with about four plants. I have change the water out for gallons each week for a month and a half sometimes twice a week. I’ve had the water tested that I use from Wellwood or I treat it with prime chemical. The lighting is hit or miss if it gets put on if it doesn’t get put on it’s my granddaughter‘s tank in her bedroom and they won’t put it on a timer. A friend of theirs had their tank light catch on fire and ruin the Sun’s room so they fear that happening to them. Do I get rid of the plants completely and just have fake plants or can I leave the plants in there some of the leaves are dying on them but it’s been like that since we’ve had the tank. The tank was good for a long time. I wonder if The algae got bad when they started to add more fish. Is it that the filter that came with that 15 gallon tank is not enough for that many fish can I get a sponge filter that Cory sells to put in my tank to go with it and will that solve the algae problem. The algae is mostly in the water a little bit was on the side of the tank one week. But mostly it just floats a light green in the tank, clouding up to a medium green to where you can’t see the plants in the bottom of the tank towards the back. There is a window in the room it is 8 feet away but mostly the blinds are kept closed, no direct sunlight at all. Don’t know what to do at this point. Each time I test at the Petsmart the numbers are good. So is it that I need a sponge filter in the tank also.

[jwcarlson]

 

Sounds like it my be Cyanobacteria if it's mostly "in the water".  Never experienced that myself, but I think Cory covers it in this video.  Might be helpful to at least diagnosis what type it is.  Is your granddaughter overfeeding them?

Also, try getting a test kit yourself (strips are OK).  I know a lot of people say to take your water to a store and have it tested.  But these are (in a lot of cases) the same stores that we typically wouldn't necessarily trust advice from... so I would be skeptical.  For example, you could take your car with a flat tire to a shop and they could air it back up and say "its good" when they haven't really fixed anything or diagnosed any problem.

I struggled with hair and staghorn algae in my first (and only) planted tank.  And I think I overreacted a few times.  I've kind of let things ride with reduced lighting and it has mostly sorted itself out.  Gut feeling is the kid might like to feed the fish too much and that can and will cause all sorts of issues.  

[Tammy]

I don’t believe she is feeding them too much, I always tell her just a pinch and when I feed them I feed him a little bit more than just a pinch but there’s 10 fish and they haven’t gone in a matter of three seconds. Yes I have watched that video and I wondered if it was the algae that is mostly in the water until two weeks later I noticed a little bit of green algae on the side of the tank so that made me think it wasn’t the floating algae. Inquiries video says that you have to complete darkness in the tank for a week which he said would probably kill off the plants I don’t care what I have to do at this point. But I do wonder if once they started adding more fish the algae slowly started creeping up there little by little. And they keep using those throwaway filters I keep telling them just rinse it out in the fish water that you take out of the tank and keep reusing it. So if the fish are being fed too much you can get too much algae to grow in your tank? And thank you for your help

And I go to Petsmart and yes sometimes it’s OK but most of the time they know less than I do and that’s just for me watching all Coreys videos the most of them don’t have a clue, I agree with you

[Tammy]

Is it true if I have a hang on the back filter and a sponge filter in the tank it will allow me to have more than a couple fish in a 15 gallon tank. Is it OK to have 10 fish in a 15 gallon tank the tank is tall it’s got plenty of room in it so if I have the two filtration is that OK for a 10 fish

[sumplkrum]

On 3/30/2022 at 2:43 PM, Tammy said:

Is it true if I have a hang on the back filter and a sponge filter in the tank it will allow me to have more than a couple fish in a 15 gallon tank. Is it OK to have 10 fish in a 15 gallon tank the tank is tall it’s got plenty of room in it so if I have the two filtration is that OK for a 10 fish

Two filters on a 15 gallon is more than enough filtration.

Ten fish should be fine unless the molly's are large. However, ten smallish fish should be fine for a 15 gallon.

If they are large adult molly's, you will need water changes more often. Having extra filters is not a replacement for water changes.
 

On 3/30/2022 at 2:38 PM, Tammy said:

Yes I have watched that video and I wondered if it was the algae that is mostly in the water until two weeks later I noticed a little bit of green algae on the side of the tank so that made me think it wasn’t the floating algae.

So if the fish are being fed too much you can get too much algae to grow in your tank? And thank you for your help

You will always get some algae on the glass. That's pretty normal. If you have lots of it, that's means there's too much light or nutrients. If they are not overfeeding then it's a light problem.

If you have green water, that's also a 'light plus nutrient' problem. Unfortunately, you can't really water change your way out of an algae bloom. If the root problem doesn't get solved, it'll just come back.

What kind of plants do they have in the tank? You say four, but they could be tiny or very large. Rooted, floating, do you know what type?

Having more plants could correct the balance. Darkening the tank for a while will only temporarily solve the problem. It's not a guarantee that your green water won't come back.
The root of the problem is that the nutrients in the water (waste, food, minerals) and light are not in balance with the plant load.

If you can't reduce the amount of light, your options become rather limited.
If timers are not an option, you can put electrical tape over some of the nodes on LED lights. Say block out half or one-third of them to reduce the light intensity.

[JoeQ]

As above, you are treating a symptom, not the cause. I've read above that a timer for your lights is not doable in your situation. Question, does this tank recieve sunlight? If so I would suggest a fast growing /low light plant that can compete with the algea whether the light is on or off. 

[Patrick_G]

@Tammy, the best way to take care of the green water is a UV filter, but controlling the light is also key.  Algae on the glass, plants etc is pretty normal. To control it you’ll need to do a few things. 
1. Manual removal, you’ll need to scrape or wipe it off with a scraper, folder paper towels etc. It’s easy but you need to keep up with it. 
2. A clean up crew. Otocinclus catfish, Amano Shrimp and Nerite snails are my favorites. 
3. The right amount of light. If possible get a low temp LED light that they feel comfortable with and get it on a timer. 6-7 hours of light should do it.  This should also help your green water situation. 
 

 

[Widgets]

On 3/30/2022 at 2:06 PM, Tammy said:

The lighting is hit or miss if it gets put on if it doesn’t get put on it’s my granddaughter‘s tank in her bedroom and they won’t put it on a timer. A friend of theirs had their tank light catch on fire and ruin the Sun’s room so they fear that happening to them.

Is it possible to just use a light that has a built-in timer function?

[Tammy]

This is my tank I wasn’t sure how to take a photo and send it but these are the plants I have I clean them up a little bit today some of them are brown but they’re still living through all these weeks of green in the water I did a 70% change of water today I’m just trying to see if that’ll do anything I really think is algae in the water . I don’t squirt anything in to feed the plants. I have been doing water changes like I said once to twice a week usually 4 gallons at a time. So do you think those fish that are in the tank? Should I keep the lights off completely for a week. Should I use some kind of algae  Treatment in the tank, so far I have not used chemicals. One more thing every time I change the water and suck it up through the siphon I barely get poop I thought I would get a lot more poop than I got and I don’t so I don’t believe they’re being overfed

[Patrick_G]

You can try covering the tank for a week but like Cory says in his video on algae control, it’ll be hard on the plants. Making sure the light isn’t on more than 6-7 hours a day might be your easiest and less expensive solution. 

The Java fern are epiphyte plants and will probably die if they’re buried in the gravel. You’ll want to pull them out and attach them to a piece of wood or rock. Gel super glue seems to be the preferred method of attachment but you can also tie them on with cotton thread. 

Nice looking tank BTW, to me it looks clean and well kept! 

[Tammy]

If I take a piece of driftwood or a rock is there a certain way I have to prepare it to have it clean before I put it into the tank? And from the looks of my plants I have Java ferns? I don’t know what any of them are my son bought them, and he probably doesn’t know. The lights are almost never put on in the tank. My granddaughter told me about a month or more ago she poured too much fish Food in the tank. So I guess that’s what jumpstarted the algae

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/30/2022 at 11:06 AM, Tammy said:

The lighting is hit or miss if it gets put on if it doesn’t get put on it’s my granddaughter‘s tank in her bedroom and they won’t put it on a timer

is there any way to control this?  Wifi plug or just an old school timer? It's the only way to start to solve this issue.

On 3/31/2022 at 12:31 PM, Tammy said:

Should I use some kind of algae  Treatment in the tank, so far I have not used chemicals

You should not need to at all. You would use chemical fertilizers (easy green) for the plants to feed them nutrients, but without normal lighting the plants aren't going to get into a growing schedule and it can lead to some major issues.

In terms of "keeping it clean" I would recommend adding some amano shrimp.

[Odd Duck]

On 3/31/2022 at 5:04 PM, Tammy said:

If I take a piece of driftwood or a rock is there a certain way I have to prepare it to have it clean before I put it into the tank? And from the looks of my plants I have Java ferns? I don’t know what any of them are my son bought them, and he probably doesn’t know. The lights are almost never put on in the tank. My granddaughter told me about a month or more ago she poured too much fish Food in the tank. So I guess that’s what jumpstarted the algae

Just scrubbing the wood or rock is enough cleaning, but boiling the wood will help it sink if it isn’t attached to a piece of slate or rock to hold it down. The plant at the back right is a sword plant, looks like an Amazon sword (Echinodorus grisbachii).  The rest are varieties of Java fern, right front looks like a Windelov variety (Leptochilus pteropus ‘Windelov’), the rest look like regular Java fern.

The sword is a medium to low light plant, the Java ferns are low light plants.  The ferns do need to be lifted enough that their rhizome (the green, sideways stem) is above the gravel or attached to wood or rock.  Their roots (usually some shade of dark brown and wiry) can be in the gravel, but not the rhizome or it’s at high risk for rotting.

If you do put them on a rocks or wood pieces, superglue gel works great.  One to three tiny dots of glue on the rhizome and hold the piece in place against the rock/wood for about 20 seconds.  Superglue sets faster wet, so dry off the rhizome and the spot you want to place it if you feel you will need some time to position them.  You still don’t have a lot of time so check the fit and angle before you apply glue.  Once you have it where you want it, you can dribble or spray water on it to set the glue faster.

The Amazon sword would really appreciate some root tabs and ACO makes some good ones.  The Java ferns can also use root tabs but they also pull nutrients from the water very well, which is why they don’t “need” their roots in the gravel.  Easy Green would be my recommendation for the ferns.

It is quite possible the extra food last month triggered the algae bloom, but sporadic lighting is likely a big part of keeping it going.  Plants really like a regular schedule and a timer is your best option.  If you can get a timer set for 6-7 hours per day, then the plants have a better chance of outcompeting the algae.  The right fertilizer will also help the plants outcompete the algae.

[Tammy]

Is there a certain kind of wood that works better in a fish tank and does it need to be driftwood that I can find on the river or can I take it from a tree in my backyard that’s been sitting for a year?

[Widgets]

Here is an article on types of wood that are safe and unsafe. It is a good start.

https://injaf.org/articles-guides/general-guides/guide-to-aquarium-wood/

[Tammy]

On 4/1/2022 at 11:10 AM, Widgets said:

Here is an article on types of wood that are safe and unsafe. It is a good start.

https://injaf.org/articles-guides/general-guides/guide-to-aquarium-wood/

Great advice on the wood I documented all of it thank you so much for your advice.

[Torrey]

On 4/1/2022 at 9:00 AM, Tammy said:

Is there a certain kind of wood that works better in a fish tank and does it need to be driftwood that I can find on the river or can I take it from a tree in my backyard that’s been sitting for a year?

I use any wood (including pines) that no longer has any smell, any sap, and has been dead over a year. Think like aging wood before burning, just like sap is a danger to the chimney, sap is a danger to fish (will leave an oily film on the water surface, best case scenario). Water logged wood from a creek, river or lake works as well, though it might bring some hitchhikers you weren't planning on.

Personally, I like the more natural effect of scavenged wood. I appreciate the amphopods and microfauna that help my fish have a nonstop buffet. I don't get upset when I discover damselfly larvae, as the adult damselfly eat far more bugs than the larvae eat of my baby fish.

I just believe in full disclosure, so people can make a fully informed decision regarding which risks they are willing to take.