[jerrym]

guess iv been lucky 8 years and no algea till yesterday green algea is on one of my decor and is starting to dot small on my glass. got a 75 gall sand substrate 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 0 ammo 7.1 ph dk and kh are both under 125 ppm lighting is at 1.8wpg i have not changed any thing but put some bulbs for live plants in. my light is being reduced since i got the plants dont want to buy any plants or more fish till this is under control for my fish i got 4 - black skirts - 4 serpeas - 4 mickey mouse - 2 algea eaters - 2 albino red fins the tank has been doing good i was getting to add some more live plants and a few more fish i thought the tank was fine till yesterday dont want to scrub everyday what am i doing wrong to get this light was left on for more than 12 hrs a day when bulbs were put in i reduced them to 11 - 12 hour of light.

 

[Dmaaaaax]

Planted tanks should get 8-10hrs of light a day max. Unplanted tanks can go with less then 8. Frankly I am surprised that you had the lights on that long and did not get algae blooms.

Another factor you may want to check is the temperature of your tank. During the summer months the temp could go up a degree or 2 and this could be just enough change in your parameters for algae to start. Higher temp, less O2.

 

[jerrym]

my temp is running about 76 degres ll try to go with 10 hr light to see if that works the community fish are alot different and easy to care more than my rbp would trumpet snails be good to help with algea green control i was thinking them for sand areation to help out

 

[Dmaaaaax]

For a 75g, I would go with a few SAEs (Siamese algae eaters)...not chinese. Go for the trumpet snails to aerate the sand (or fresh water clams) and also some nerite snails for more algae eating....especially on the glass.

 

[jerrym]

i got two chinese algae eaters those were given to me when my rbp died to clean the tank i didnt know what they were buy they dont seem to bother any fish yet i got cave under the sand they seem to be happy with that and had no prob yet they do there own thing 1. aint they aggresive to each other and the tank mates? 2. what would the temp run to help keep the snails from breeding aint the temp controll and food that stimulate the breeding? i dont want to over come my tank with them i have a chemical free tank and dont want to put something in there to purposely kill them and thats not right either i just want a natural tank

 

[jerrym]

thanks for the advice trying to get to the pet store tonight and see if they swap them for different algae eaters maybe some snails there hard to come by around here that might be a chore is it safe to order them on line with the shiping and all or better to go in person?

 

[Dmaaaaax]

Siamese algae eaters are fairly hard to find. They really do a great job compare to chinese algae eaters though. They are often confused with another fished called a flying fox, so do an internet search before trying to buy one. Look for wiskers, and the black line should have more jaggedness to it and goes through the tail.

Chinese algae eaters are not always bad, but they don't really eat much algae. Some are caught trying to eat the slime coat off of fish, especially flatter fish like angel fish and gouramis.

Not sure about trumpet snails, but nerite snails cannot reproduce in fresh water. However, they can lay eggs. They typically lay a lot when they first get into a new tank but then slow down. I don't care about the eggs unless they are on the glass, then I just use a razor blade to scrape them off. Snails should be fine to get online, keep them in a seperate take for a week if possible just like new fish.