green algea

oliesminis · 03-09-2007, 09:20 AM

it on my fake plant a nd a tiny bit in ma lid

it looks like mini grass. should i remove or what

my mollies and gouramis are eating it

coral reefer · 03-09-2007, 11:34 AM

The algae growing is probably a result of your lighting or too much food!
Are you using old bulbs(1 year or older)?
Try decreasing the amount of food either in amount or amount of feeding per day!
I would leave alittle of the algae for eating but not much as you don't want it to overpopulate your tank IMO!
Finding the reason why you are getting this algae will help you to stay ahead of the game!
Do you have any Plecostomus' in your tank? If not I would strongly urge you to get one or two to help combat the algae and uneaten food on the bottom of your tank!
I love Synodontis Cats also for my tropical and African Tanks!! They are very colorful and have wild patterns and designs, though some get rather pricey, they make wonderful additions to a tank-you have some small Guppies and Tetras though which would do well with the bigger cats, but something to think about and at least research!!!

oliesminis · 03-09-2007, 01:33 PM

ok
the light is less than a month old
i feed them every otherdays with a small amount
i have 2 cories which do a lot of work cleaning the bottom.
should i take the plant out and wash it in running water

Dyngoe · 03-09-2007, 04:01 PM

Hi olie,

So, you're still doing freshwater? I'm sure it won't be long before you switch. Anyway, you have hair algae. Not impossible to control, not easy to eliminate. Here are some "quick fix" suggestions:
1. Get a nitrate remover from your LFS.
2. Do more frequent water changes for a little while
3. BEST SUGGESTION! Get a few American Flag Fish. NOTHING eats algae like a flag fish! I used to love mine. Small, fun to look at an semi-schooling.
That's all you can really do. Oh, of course manually remove the algae as best possible.

coral reefer · 03-09-2007, 07:22 PM

Yeah, you could remove the plants and rinse them off to rid the algae, however, you want to get to the root of the problem so that it doesn't continue to happen for ya!
As Dyngoe suggested, a nitrate reomver/sponge and water changes more frequently will help!

Dyngoe · 03-09-2007, 08:32 PM

Don't forget the FLAG FISH! Sorry, I used to love mine. Well, love in a sorta plutonic fish type of love. Not that weird PETA beastiality type thing.

oliesminis · 03-10-2007, 06:50 AM

thanks to both of you

my nitrates are at 5 now after 2 water changes

i cleaned some of but my mollies are eating most of it (is it bad for them?)

most recent results are

nitrate 5
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
ph 7-7.5

dark126 · 03-11-2007, 08:52 AM

it come becuse you keep the light too much more than 8hrs aday or you dont clean your filter you keep it dirty for long time