# Do I have an Algae problem? Algae taking up 50% of my 75 gallon tank. How do I fix?



## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

Do I have an Algae problem? Algae taking up 50% of my 75 gallon tank. Some of the fish get stuck in it or are squished against the side of the aquarium. 

I basically went on a vacation for a month and used an autofeeder, put the light on a timer and came back to this!! 

Should I use an algae control chemical product? This is with a UV sterilizer on my filter. 

Maybe turn off the light and tape blackout plastic on the sides? 

Any suggestions, it has probably taken over 50% of the 75 gallon tank.

I feel that it has gotten out of control and need some drastic change. 

Thanks.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)




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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

If this happened to me???

3 Day blackout, very minimal fish food, dose Excel daily.

Just my thoughts before I would take more drastic measures.

Wanting to blame it on excessive food.


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## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

Could this be from having 3 watt LED bulbs with a lens to spread out the light vs my 55 gallon tank which has 1 watt X 72 lights, no lens.


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## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

burr740 said:


>


+1. Nuke it and start by burning your auto feeder.

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## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

jrill said:


> +1. Nuke it and start by burning your auto feeder.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


I am pretty sure the bleach will kill the normal plants and all my fish, and basically every living thing in the tank so that might not be the best solution. 

Secondly, I don't have nuclear weapons so I can't nuke my feeder however even if I could, the fish would die when I am not around to feed them. 

What about the chemical product that are suppose to target and kill algae? 

Would that work? 

Thanks.


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## project28 (Apr 3, 2016)

I've had this happen to a slightly lesser degree and was able to recover. The remedies and resulting dead algae are horrible for fish and for good bacteria. You really should rehome your fish (and some, not all, filter media) until balance is restored. Products like API algae fix will do the trick. Following the instructions. No matter what the product says about being safe for fish, again, it is horrible for them. Plants will be fine.
You really need to tame your auto feeder and cut back light hours when you are gone.

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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Just nuking the algae, will cause a massive toxic spike.
I would rip out all the plants and algae from the tank, then clean the plants up manually in a bucket, before rinsing them under a tap.
Vacuum the tank bottom and replace as much water as possible.

Short of using a commercial algaecide (which brings us back to my first statement), I don't see a magic bullet here.


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## thedood (May 30, 2015)

@SpaceLord if it was me I would pull as many clumps out by hand or net as a lot of that looks very bulky and would come out in clumps. Pull the floating plants and rinse with tap water. Add a good algae eater like oto, maybe 9 or 10 depending on current stock. Add a quality uv sterilizer (oops I see you have one). Lots of water changes. Take some of that green water and start some food cultures that require green water and you will have a nice natural food source for your fish. Look at the bright side, if you ever wanted to start a natural food source you have the materials right in front of you and it could be covered in bba or bga instead. I think it looks worse than it is. This is what I would try first as I never look at nuking as a first option.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Lol yeah, I actually grow green algae like that outdoors to put in my fry tanks.


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## thedood (May 30, 2015)

Nordic said:


> Lol yeah, I actually grow green algae like that outdoors to put in my fry tanks.


I wouldnt want to come home and see my 75g looking like that but if I did I would view it as an opportunity to be taken advantage of.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Their is a day and night difference between fry that has green water and algae available as soon as they can eat (immediately for livebearers), and those kept in clear water.

Actually wish I could switch thick diatom algae on and off on command as that is the most common thing found near fry nests.

Also in terms of immune system, it is not unusual to for me to take a batch of 40 fry and raise them from birth to adulthood without loosing 1 to disease.


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

Looks like it's mostly hair algae which in the grand scheme of things is one of the better algaes (they try and get this one in the algae turf scrubbers) Just scoop it out with your hands, pick it off the plants with some tweezers do a large water change and get rid of the auto feeder (or at least find something different) and go about business as usual. If algae wasn't really an issue before, then it should continue to be minimal.


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## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

Will something like a BristleNose Pleco help? Do they eat the hair algae?


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## project28 (Apr 3, 2016)

SpaceLord said:


> Will something like a BristleNose Pleco help? Do they eat the hair algae?


They do not. They eat driftwood and good green algae.

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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

Rehome the fish, tear down the tank. Lessen everything with new tank; light, food, ferts. See if that works.


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## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

AWolf said:


> Rehome the fish, tear down the tank. Lessen everything with new tank; light, food, ferts. See if that works.


Tank update. 

Look at all the algae I took out. That is a 5 gallon home depot bucket filled with nasty, gross and disgusting long hair algae. 

https://goo.gl/photos/Tds7pmueyXyeo5AaA

Did some massive water changes. 

The tank looks much better without all that algae and 90% of the poll numbers said that was a big algae problem.


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

SpaceLord said:


> Tank update.
> 
> Look at all the algae I took out. That is a 5 gallon home depot bucket filled with nasty, gross and disgusting long hair algae.
> 
> ...


LOL! Yep, that's some algae farm you got there. Good job on that! Looks much nicer. My two favorite pieces of equipment: Vortex Diatom Filter & Green Killing Machine. I'm working with a friend to make an LED UV light, like you spoke of in another thread. I'll let you know if anything comes of it.


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## thedood (May 30, 2015)

@SpaceLord I'm glad to see you cleaned it up and didnt tear it down. The tank looks much better. That is one nasty bucket of goo you have there!


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## Cheetah2 (Nov 24, 2015)

I wouldn't nuke the autofeeder, just tame it.
It looks the Eheim feeder, which should have an adjustable dispenser. Make the opening smaller and test it while you're home so you can fine tune it. These feeders are helpful imo.


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## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

thedood said:


> @SpaceLord I'm glad to see you cleaned it up and didnt tear it down. The tank looks much better. That is one nasty bucket of goo you have there!


it even smells disgusting and nasty. This algae was all like one big piece!! I pulled it out with one scoop. There was so much junk trapped that I had to do an aggressive water change to clear up the aquarium. The fish can finally swim again!


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## thedood (May 30, 2015)

SpaceLord said:


> it even smells disgusting and nasty. This algae was all like one big piece!! I pulled it out with one scoop. There was so much junk trapped that I had to do an aggressive water change to clear up the aquarium. The fish can finally swim again!


I'm just glad you didnt have to do a tear down. Kind of amazing how fast algae can completely take over without regular maint. Do you have a garden? That should make some good fertilizer for a garden or plants.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Yup, all you need is 









Any tank with a lot of light, left alone for a few weeks will end up like that.


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