algae

Hiya everyone, this is the first question asked here so I would be really grateful for some help.

I have a 60 Litre Juwel aquarium tank (Rekord 60). Completed a fishless cycle successfully and added 6 neon tetras and 6 Harlequins. The tank has been running now for about two months but now I have a constant problem with algae, it just covers my gravel in green all the time and I dont seem to be able to get rid of it.

This is what I have been doing. Every time the gravel gets green I remove the gravel and replace it with well washed clean stuff, but after a couple of days it just comes back again. I seem to be doing constant water changes, and changing the gravel and rubbing green stuff off the glass but I never have to do it in the betta tank.

Does this seem the right approach? When can I add more fish to this tank i.e. the 'Algae eater' to the tank. What else should I do?
Any help would be much appreciated.

In case it helps, this is my routine -

I feed my fish every other day - flakes

I leave my light on for about 12 - 14hrs a day

Tank not in direct sunlight.

I don't have any plants in the tank.

Water reading -

Ammonia - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 20

Thanks everyone

Hiya bettabetty, algae is a pain isnt it! A couple of things might help, firstly, cut down on the lighting time, no more than 8 hrs would be ok I think.

Make sure that you are not giving the fish too much food - do they eat all you give them?

You could think about getting some live plants, they help keep algae down.

I am not sure what you are doing with the gravel. I wouldnt replace it, but do a decent gravel vac every time you do your weekly water change.

As for the algae eaters, some plecs are very good at eating it, others not so good, or some otto's might do it too.

You have the tank lights on for too long, BB, that's your problem. The fact that you have no plants in the tank means you should only have the lights on for 2-3 hours max. in the evening. Plants absorb excess nitrates, nutrients and utilize the light in order to grow. Without plants, the algae is taking all of these requirements and flourishing. Fish don't need the lights, it's only for my viewing pleasure that I turn them on in the non-planted tanks at all so cut back on the lights and I bet you'll soon see an improvement.

Go with Mary's recommendation for the lights etta, she helped me with my algae probs! :lol: I think if you do get an algae eating fish though that you will be able to have the lights on more then.

Ah Mary, the forum font of all knowledge :lol:

Not quite - just had the same problems early on.

even plants dont need much more than 8 hours light anyway

sorry to ask another question on this, but do I need to do anything else than just turn the lights off for a bit longer?? Is there anything I can add like a fishy weedkiller or something. I just hate seeing my tank ornaments going green!

If I was you, I'd just leave the tank lights off for 2-3 days and don't feed the fish either during that time. That should kill most of the algae for you. Then when you turn them on again, do a water change and while the water level is low, take out anything accessible and scrub them with a clean toothbrush or nailbrush. Also, clean the glass with an algae sponge.

Once everything is clean, you can fill the tank up again and just have the lights on for 2-3 hours in the evening. You might find that you'll need to do a little bit of weekly maintenance to clean any algae that might reoccur but if you are consistent (I do my cleaning at each water change) then the levels should remain low.