algae over growth and gH, pH, kH

Question
QUESTION: The algae in my tank is growing to fast for me to handle is their a way to stop my algae from growing to fast?I also keep my light on all the time is that bad and one more question what should my pH, gH, and kH be?

ANSWER: Hi Paulina,

I pulled your question from the question pool.

Having too much algae in a tank is not healthy.  I would need to know if it's green or brown before I can advise you on how to handle it.

You should only keep your light on about 8-10 hours a day.  Fish need night and day just like we do.

I cannot advise you on what your pH, GH and KH should be until I know what kind of fish you have, how many, how many gallons your tank is and how long it's been running.

Good luck :) April M.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello
My algae is green and it grows on the glass and the bottom of the gravel.I do keep my light on all the time, but when I turn my light off my fish freak out.I have 2 silver dollars, 2 tiger barbs,1 rainbow shark.I have a 20 gallon tank I do not know how long it has been running because I got it from a pet shop that was all ready using it and when they sold it to me they did not take out all the water so I would not have to cycle it for a long time before i got my fish.

Answer
Hi Paulina,

You really do need to turn the light off at night.  The light should never be on longer than 12 hours a day.  This is attributing heavily to the green algae growth.  The light on 24/7, coupled with the large amount of algae, is simply not good for the fish.  They may seem a little agitated at first when you turn the light off but they will eventually get over it.  It really is better for them to have it off at night and for the general health of the tank.  Also, make sure you move the tank away from natural sunlight.  Tanks should never be in the path of natual light, this will cause excessive green algae as well.

You can remove the items from your tank, fill a small bucket with water from the tank and get a clean, soft bristled toothbrush and some aquarium salt.  Scrub the plants and decos with the toothbrush and aquarium salt and rinse throughly in the water from the tank and replace the plants and decos back into the tank.  This will clean off your decos and plants from all of the algae.  You can get a cleaner magnet for the glass at any petstore and clean the walls of the tank.  You should change 20% of the water twice a week until you notice an improvement.  This, coupled with less light should help very quickly.  Never use a chemical to get rid of algae, it will likely kill any live plants and your fish too.

Green water and excessive green algae can also be an indicator that there is too much waste in the water.  Have you checked your ammonia, nitrite and nitrates lately?  Your ammonia and nitrites should always be flat 0 and nitrates should be 5-20 ppm.  Only feed fish 2 mouthfuls each day and no more.  Make sure you thouroughly vacuum the gravel every 3 weeks with a syphon and are replacing 25% of tank water at that time.  If ammonia or nitrites is not 0 or nitrates are not 5-20 ppm you should be changing 20% of the water 2-3 times a week and double dosing Seachem's Prime (a water conditioner with a detoxifier) until the levels are in check.  You can also add a Phos-X insert to your filter, Fluval makes a good one, and this helps reduce phosphates that are produced by waste.  You won't have to use this permanently, only to help in the interim.

Your 20G tank is also far too small for the fish that you have.  One redtail, even small, requires a 50 gallon tank.  They are extremely territorial and need to be able to stake their claim.  Silver dollars get to be 6 inches each and are schooling fish and are best kept in groups of 4-6+ to stay happy and healthy.  Otherwise they stress and can get ill and die.  The same for tiger barbs, except when barbs aren't in shoals they nip and pick on tank mates as they get older, leaving them open to bacterial and parasitic infections.

Your temp should be around 74-77 F.  pH should be 6.5-7.0, although I will tell you pH is a bit overrated in my opinion and fish can adapt to many different pHs.  The key is keeping it consistent.  What no fish can tolerate is a swing in pH, or big, sudden changes.  GH should be 60 ppm & KH should be 80.

Good luck : ) April M.