# Why won't the algae stop?



## Riekk (Apr 3, 2017)

How long do you run your light each day? A UV filter should help with the cloudy water. 

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## Dman911 (Nov 24, 2016)

I don't exactly advocate managing algae through stocking but I will say 6 ottos, 5 amino shrimp and 3 merited snails keep my 55g pretty close to spotless. I don't clean my glass or anything. Don't mind my dig and ar mini they are recovering from high temps and low co2.

Dan

Dam phone auto correct but you get the idea


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## dealend (Oct 29, 2016)

have you set your light with timing? no longer than 8 hours/day. that is also including the sun light, if your tank is close to window.

I am guessing its too much light(excessive light), try to raise your light a few inch above your tank.

get some algae eater, such as Oto, SAE , Pleco or Shrimps.


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## DaveK (Jul 10, 2010)

You have a large tank, and what seems to be a green water problem. In addition to adding a FW clean up crew of fish and shrimp, and cutting back on the light, here are some additional options.

Get several bunches of cheep stem plants and plant them all over the tank in open areas. They grow fast can can absorb a lot of excess nutrients. 

Consider adding a UV unit. This can wipe out green water overnight. You don not need a huge UV unit to do this. It doesn't take much to kill algae in the water.

Test the water for nitrates and phosphates, for best plant growth you want something like a 10 to 1 ratio of nitrate to phosphate. If this is way off, test your tap water also. That might be a source of nitrates and phosphates.

Consider using dry frets and mixing your own stock solutions.


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## Rickie Briana (Dec 6, 2016)

dealend said:


> have you set your light with timing? no longer than 8 hours/day. that is also including the sun light, if your tank is close to window.
> 
> I am guessing its too much light(excessive light), try to raise your light a few inch above your tank.
> 
> get some algae eater, such as Oto, SAE , Pleco or Shrimps.





DaveK said:


> You have a large tank, and what seems to be a green water problem. In addition to adding a FW clean up crew of fish and shrimp, and cutting back on the light, here are some additional options.
> 
> Get several bunches of cheep stem plants and plant them all over the tank in open areas. They grow fast can can absorb a lot of excess nutrients.
> 
> ...


First off I run my tank lights for 8 hours on the dot, and I will test my nitrates and phosphates and get back to you. Also I have dry ferts but I have never had any luck using them. As in solving my algae problem.


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## awesometim1 (Oct 31, 2013)

This is why I don't like dirting tanks. If you don't start out with a bunch of plants in the beginning and do constant water changes, you have yourself a tank full of algae. That being said, if you're willing to do the things above, then it'll give you great growth, especially for root growers. 


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

It would be good to see if you can get a test of your source water from like the municipal's own testing, if available. Or are you on city water, or on a well?

Bump:


awesometim1 said:


> This is why I don't like dirting tanks. If you don't start out with a bunch of plants in the beginning and do constant water changes, you have yourself a tank full of algae. That being said, if you're willing to do the things above, then it'll give you great growth, especially for root growers.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


After taking my tank almost 9 months to get straightened out, ( hint: add lots and lots of really fast growing plants like Rotala and Hygrophila with CO2 assistance..) I'm of the same opinion, dirted tanks are a gamble if you don't stock heavily from the start.


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## Kayak83 (Apr 18, 2017)

Rickie Briana said:


> I'm on the edge of getting rid of my fish tank.
> So I set up my tank about a month ago. 75 gallon planted tank with:
> Pressurized CO2 with all diffusers, CO2 tubing etc
> Walstad method (dirted tank)
> ...


Have you put any Phosguard in the filter media yet? That stuff does miracles on algae bloom, especially brown diatoms.


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