Algae taking over the tank

That's a big problem.

 

In the short term you can siphoning and scraping off the areas where the algae is growing. In the long term you should look at possible causes of the algae growth. There are some commercial dry foods also contain excess nutrients and other undesirable things like nitrates, phosphates etc so I strain/rinse my fresh/frozen foods before feeding my tank. You may want to consider feeding your fish less often. Also, changing your photo period, light bulbs, adding more flow, using RO/DI water. Adding a phosphate remover like Tropic Marin Elimi-Phos and increasing flow in your tank may help too.

 

Hmm I used to get a bit of that algae on the back of my glass. Never really much of an issue. Hopefully you get a solid ID but it does look like the starting phase of Lyngbya.

 

For reference, I feed the 14 fish I have between 3 tanks 1 full cube per day. As you know, 1 cube for only 3 fish is definitely too much.

 

Started it in April or May. So yes, it's fully cycled. I'm feeding daily, but will be feeding 50% less. My photo period is 12 hours for 4 bulbs, and 10 for the other two. So, my 4-bulb one comes on, then an hour later, the 2-bulb comes on. Then an hour before the 4 go off, the 2 go off.

I'll try that later on..

Not really. Some people get by with never doing water changes. Others do them daily/weekly, etc. I still think it's better to not do water changes, than to have chemical-leached water put into my system, regardless of what people might say.

I blew off some of it with a turkey baster. I sucked up the big pieces with the baster, and let the overflow & skimmer get rid of the smaller pieces.

I use flake food sometimes, but not often, as my goby doesn't eat it (he gobbles it, but then lets it pass out of his gills. My bulbs were brand new in April, so I guess it's about time to change them.. I have one "Hydor Koralia Evolution Powerhead 1500" and one "Hydor Koralia Evolution Powerhead 1150 gph" in the tank at the moment. My return pump is a "Danner Mag-Drive Supreme 12 – 1200 GPH Water Pump". I think my powerheads are enough, but just might be facing bad places.

I also already use RO/DI water.

Wow. Sounds like I should be doing half a cube every two days, if that.

 

Well I still believe in feeding fish daily (although not all do). But yes, I would say at least get it down to 1/2 cube per day; maybe alternate between 1/2 cube one day, then maybe some pellets the next.

 

UPDATE:

After a lot of searching for a suitable and safe water container, I found that a local meat market sells these for 15$!




So I picked it up! I'm going to wash it out a few times tomorrow, and start filling it with water. Hopefully I can have the water ready on Thursday or Friday and do a much-needed water change on Saturday.

The algae is still all over my tank, but it's starting to peel off by itself, which I think is a good sign