algae

[Elizabeth Leef Jacobson]

Well its freezing and sunny here in NYC and we are lucky enough to have
south and east exposures. In the cold weather, we keep the blinds up a
little more often than in the hot summer when we tend to keep them closed.
The tank is not in a window. It gets mostly indirect light.

We've had our GF for 2.5 years now, and finally gotten the swing of a number
of problems. We've battled several episodes of fin rot (though they seem to
recur).

So here we are after all of this relative stablility with the fishtank and
now are faced with a losing battle of algae. We are largely chemical free
in the tank and are thus loathe to add an algicide unless you all tell us
its ok. Frequent water changes seem to do nothing for the algae-it grows so
fast.

Short of depriving ourselves of light or covering the tank in a dark sheet
do you all have any suggestions to beat the algae? We did recently put in
another air stone-could the addition of air to the water be helping the
algae more than the fish? Are any of the chemicals ok to use?

Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih finrot would be
nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia and nitrates and
good pH.

Thanks in advance.

[Donald Kerns]

Elizabeth Leef Jacobson wrote:

> Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih finrot
> would be nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia and
> nitrates and good pH.
>

How big is the tank and how big are the fish?

How sure are you that the nitrATEs are near zero (as opposed to
nitrITEs)? If the nitrAtes are near zero then the algae shouldn't
have enough to eat... Unless it is actually the bacteria type of
algae...

-Donald
--
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
proof." -Galbraith's Law

[Janie Thomson]

"Donald Kerns" > wrote in message
...
> Elizabeth Leef Jacobson wrote:
>
> > Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih finrot
> > would be nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia and
> > nitrates and good pH.
> >
>
> How big is the tank and how big are the fish?
>
> How sure are you that the nitrATEs are near zero (as opposed to
> nitrITEs)? If the nitrAtes are near zero then the algae shouldn't
> have enough to eat... Unless it is actually the bacteria type of
> algae...

Can you elaborate on the bacteria type of algae, Donald? What would that
look like, and would it be dangerous to the fish?


--
Janie
http://www.janie-thomson.co.uk
http://www.tomomusic.com

[[email protected]]

Algae on the front and viewed sides of a tank are kept in check with an aquarium
sponge once a week at the time of water changes. If your nitrates read zero, then
you need new test kits cause there aint no way nitrates are zero except in a pond
that has loads of algae on the side.
leave the algae alone on the back and sides and it acts as a waste sink. even if
your filter goes out, the algae mostly can prevent ammonia spikes if the fish per
gallon is low. dont use chemicals.
algae will keep nitrates down, which are a big contributor to fin rot. fin rot is
almost always due to poor water quality. altho parasites can cause fin rot problems
and parasites bloom when water quality declines. fin rot is a sign that more water
changes are needed. higher salt levels can also make fins ragged. small water
changes often contribute to "salt creep" in tanks, so 3 or 4 50% water changes in as
many days will get rid of accumulated salts. Ingrid

"Elizabeth Leef Jacobson" > wrote:
>So here we are after all of this relative stablility with the fishtank and
>now are faced with a losing battle of algae.
Frequent water changes seem to do nothing for the algae-it grows so
>fast.
>
>Short of depriving ourselves of light or covering the tank in a dark sheet
>do you all have any suggestions to beat the algae? We did recently put in
>another air stone-could the addition of air to the water be helping the
>algae more than the fish? Are any of the chemicals ok to use?
>
>Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih finrot would be
>nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia and nitrates and
>good pH.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[BErney1014]

>now are faced with a losing battle of algae.

Your level of phosphates are too high, maybe change food.

[Donald Kerns]

Janie Thomson wrote:

>
> "Donald Kerns" > wrote in message
> ...

>> If the nitrAtes are near zero then the algae shouldn't
>> have enough to eat... Unless it is actually the bacteria type of
>> algae...
>
> Can you elaborate on the bacteria type of algae, Donald? What would
> that look like, and would it be dangerous to the fish?

"Blue green" algae is actually a bacteria not a plant...

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/algae.html#cyano

-D
--
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
proof." -Galbraith's Law

[Janie Thomson]

"Donald Kerns" > wrote in message
...
> Janie Thomson wrote:
>
> >
> > "Donald Kerns" > wrote in message
> > ...
>
> >> If the nitrAtes are near zero then the algae shouldn't
> >> have enough to eat... Unless it is actually the bacteria type of
> >> algae...
> >
> > Can you elaborate on the bacteria type of algae, Donald? What would
> > that look like, and would it be dangerous to the fish?
>
> "Blue green" algae is actually a bacteria not a plant...
>
> http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/algae.html#cyano

Thanks. That answered more than one question :-)


--
Janie
http://www.janie-thomson.co.uk
http://www.tomomusic.com

[liz]

Thank you for all your replies.

Donald-you are right--It was nitrites we have been checking. Not nitrates.
I just (wrongly) figured if the ammonia and nitrites were zero the nitrates
must also be zero. We change the water about once week when things are going
well and daily when there is turbulence like this.

It is a 10 gallon tank with 2 fish, (I know you have all yelled at us for
this before, but it used to be a 5 gallon tank.), 2 plastic plants and a
tetra whisper filter with a biobag.

We have treated the finrot with some nitrofurantioin a couple of times in
the past, with along with more frequent water changes.

After some reading from Donald's post last night, along with a nitrate
detector, we were looking at a product called Algon.

Any thoughts on this?

Once again, thank you all for your invaluable help. (last time was 2.5
years ago and we're still hanging in there with the same two fish)

[Donald Kerns]

liz wrote:

> It is a 10 gallon tank with 2 fish, (I know you have all yelled at us
> for this before, but it used to be a 5 gallon tank.)
>
> We have treated the finrot with some nitrofurantioin a couple of times
> in the past, with along with more frequent water changes.
>

Not to be an AH, but please note the correlation...

-D
--
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
proof." -Galbraith's Law

[liz]

Donald wrote:
> Not to be an AH, but please note the correlation...
>
Not at all.

Well. This is Manhattan. Space is at a premium. We already have a whole
shower stall devoted to the sitting water in a bucket for the next change of
water. I cannot carry the bucket without help and cannot imagine how I
would carry an even larger one from the sink to the shower stall and then
the next day to the tank.

By the way one day under dark towels and a water change later, the green is
decidedly lighter. We still need to get the nitrate tester.

Maybe we would be amenable to a bigger tank, but it would be a lifestyle
change for all of the family, fish included.

Liz

[Happy'Cam'per]

I would have to agree with Donald, I don't think your Nitrates are at zero.
No Nitrates=NO algae.
If you have a light over the tank you could stick a few floating plants in
there, hornwort and anacharis would be good at sucking up excess nasties. I
also think you should do more (or bigger) water changes.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**


"Donald Kerns" > wrote in message
...
> Elizabeth Leef Jacobson wrote:
>
> > Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih finrot
> > would be nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia and
> > nitrates and good pH.
> >
>
> How big is the tank and how big are the fish?
>
> How sure are you that the nitrATEs are near zero (as opposed to
> nitrITEs)? If the nitrAtes are near zero then the algae shouldn't
> have enough to eat... Unless it is actually the bacteria type of
> algae...
>
> -Donald
> --
> "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
> that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
> proof." -Galbraith's Law

[[email protected]]

no point in carrying water. http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/hardware.html
see the pumps for moving water. I dont care for the python thing since I dont need
the suction on the gravel (no gravel). So why not run water from the shower into the
buckets? how long and why are you aging the water?
Ingrid

"liz" > wrote:
> Well. This is Manhattan. Space is at a premium. We already have a whole
>shower stall devoted to the sitting water in a bucket for the next change of
>water. I cannot carry the bucket without help and cannot imagine how I
>would carry an even larger one from the sink to the shower stall and then
>the next day to the tank.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[liz]

We let the water sit b/c there seems to be a fair amount of chlorine. (we
can smell it some days more than others) So we let it sit at least 24 hours
until the chlorine can go away. I am not sure, but don't think we have
chloramine. We gave up on water treatment drops a while ago b/c it was our
impression we were screwing up with the cycling by using dechlorinating and
deaminating drops so we gave them both up.

BTW also add 2-3 tsp salt per change. No gravel (thanks to Ingrid 2 years
ago), but we do have some river rocks on the bottom which are pretty big and
easy to take out and clean. I guess we could put in some floating plants,
but whenever we put on the light the fish go nuts, so we pretty much leave
it off.

> wrote in message
...
> no point in carrying water.
http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/hardware.html
> see the pumps for moving water. I dont care for the python thing since I
dont need
> the suction on the gravel (no gravel). So why not run water from the
shower into the
> buckets? how long and why are you aging the water?
> Ingrid
>
> "liz" > wrote:
> > Well. This is Manhattan. Space is at a premium. We already have a whole
> >shower stall devoted to the sitting water in a bucket for the next change
of
> >water. I cannot carry the bucket without help and cannot imagine how I
> >would carry an even larger one from the sink to the shower stall and then
> >the next day to the tank.
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
> www.drsolo.com
> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
> endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Tom La Bron]

That's right Happy'Cam'per,

I have philodendrons growing out of my tanks and tubs and I have zero
nitrates and no algae.

Tom L.L.
------------------------------------
"Happy'Cam'per" > wrote in message
...
> I would have to agree with Donald, I don't think your Nitrates are at
zero.
> No Nitrates=NO algae.
> If you have a light over the tank you could stick a few floating plants in
> there, hornwort and anacharis would be good at sucking up excess nasties.
I
> also think you should do more (or bigger) water changes.
> --
> **So long, and thanks for all the fish!**
>
>
> "Donald Kerns" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Elizabeth Leef Jacobson wrote:
> >
> > > Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih finrot
> > > would be nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia and
> > > nitrates and good pH.
> > >
> >
> > How big is the tank and how big are the fish?
> >
> > How sure are you that the nitrATEs are near zero (as opposed to
> > nitrITEs)? If the nitrAtes are near zero then the algae shouldn't
> > have enough to eat... Unless it is actually the bacteria type of
> > algae...
> >
> > -Donald
> > --
> > "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
> > that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
> > proof." -Galbraith's Law
>
>

[Happy'Cam'per]

Good god, you have a philo what growing in your tank ;)
Got pics, would love to see?
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**



"Tom La Bron" > wrote in message
...
> That's right Happy'Cam'per,
>
> I have philodendrons growing out of my tanks and tubs and I have zero
> nitrates and no algae.
>
> Tom L.L.
> ------------------------------------
> "Happy'Cam'per" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I would have to agree with Donald, I don't think your Nitrates are at
> zero.
> > No Nitrates=NO algae.
> > If you have a light over the tank you could stick a few floating plants
in
> > there, hornwort and anacharis would be good at sucking up excess
nasties.
> I
> > also think you should do more (or bigger) water changes.
> > --
> > **So long, and thanks for all the fish!**
> >
> >
> > "Donald Kerns" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Elizabeth Leef Jacobson wrote:
> > >
> > > > Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih finrot
> > > > would be nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia and
> > > > nitrates and good pH.
> > > >
> > >
> > > How big is the tank and how big are the fish?
> > >
> > > How sure are you that the nitrATEs are near zero (as opposed to
> > > nitrITEs)? If the nitrAtes are near zero then the algae shouldn't
> > > have enough to eat... Unless it is actually the bacteria type of
> > > algae...
> > >
> > > -Donald
> > > --
> > > "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
> > > that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
> > > proof." -Galbraith's Law
> >
> >
>
>

[[email protected]]

it would be better to use dechlor and age it (with a big airstone) rather than depend
on sitting alone to get rid of the chlorine (must find out about chloramine).
I have never heard of dechlor screwing up the cycling.
if the lights go on when it is dark I can see it would be a shock, so time em to come
on after it is already light in the room. Jo Ann tested many different brands of
fluorescent and find the fish didnt like some and liked others. maybe try a
different kind, something with more red in the spectrum. Ingrid

"liz" > wrote:

>We let the water sit b/c there seems to be a fair amount of chlorine. (we
>can smell it some days more than others) So we let it sit at least 24 hours
>until the chlorine can go away. I am not sure, but don't think we have
>chloramine. We gave up on water treatment drops a while ago b/c it was our
>impression we were screwing up with the cycling by using dechlorinating and
>deaminating drops so we gave them both up.
>
>BTW also add 2-3 tsp salt per change. No gravel (thanks to Ingrid 2 years
>ago), but we do have some river rocks on the bottom which are pretty big and
>easy to take out and clean. I guess we could put in some floating plants,
>but whenever we put on the light the fish go nuts, so we pretty much leave
>it off.
>
> wrote in message
...
>> no point in carrying water.
>http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/hardware.html
>> see the pumps for moving water. I dont care for the python thing since I
>dont need
>> the suction on the gravel (no gravel). So why not run water from the
>shower into the
>> buckets? how long and why are you aging the water?
>> Ingrid
>>
>> "liz" > wrote:
>> > Well. This is Manhattan. Space is at a premium. We already have a whole
>> >shower stall devoted to the sitting water in a bucket for the next change
>of
>> >water. I cannot carry the bucket without help and cannot imagine how I
>> >would carry an even larger one from the sink to the shower stall and then
>> >the next day to the tank.
>>
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
>> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
>> www.drsolo.com
>> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
>> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
>> endorsements or recommendations I make.
>



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Tom La Bron]

Happy"Cam'per,

Is this your real email address listed below or is it a bogus one to prevent
spam. Give me a holler at my addy and I will send you a pic privately since
the newsgroup won't handle it.

Tom L.L.
============================
Happy'Cam'per" > wrote in message
...
>
> Good god, you have a philo what growing in your tank ;)
> Got pics, would love to see?
> --
> **So long, and thanks for all the fish!**
>
>
>
> "Tom La Bron" > wrote in message
> ...
> > That's right Happy'Cam'per,
> >
> > I have philodendrons growing out of my tanks and tubs and I have zero
> > nitrates and no algae.
> >
> > Tom L.L.
> > ------------------------------------
> > "Happy'Cam'per" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > I would have to agree with Donald, I don't think your Nitrates are at
> > zero.
> > > No Nitrates=NO algae.
> > > If you have a light over the tank you could stick a few floating
plants
> in
> > > there, hornwort and anacharis would be good at sucking up excess
> nasties.
> > I
> > > also think you should do more (or bigger) water changes.
> > > --
> > > **So long, and thanks for all the fish!**
> > >
> > >
> > > "Donald Kerns" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > > > Elizabeth Leef Jacobson wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih
finrot
> > > > > would be nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia
and
> > > > > nitrates and good pH.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > How big is the tank and how big are the fish?
> > > >
> > > > How sure are you that the nitrATEs are near zero (as opposed to
> > > > nitrITEs)? If the nitrAtes are near zero then the algae shouldn't
> > > > have enough to eat... Unless it is actually the bacteria type of
> > > > algae...
> > > >
> > > > -Donald
> > > > --
> > > > "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
> > > > that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
> > > > proof." -Galbraith's Law
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>