GREEN ALGAE!!! help!!!

Question
Hello, I have a problem with the water in my tank. I change 20% of the water in my 55 gal fish tank every couple days due to this "green" algea that keeps coming back. It gets really bad. I bought a really big ground filter to keep it extra clean with my other 2 filters. But it doesnt seem to help. I dont have many fish in the tank just 2 small oscars. I have had this tank set up for 2 yrs now. New filter for 4 mths now. I have tried to even transfer the fish into a new tank and clean the entire tank out and even bleach it. I also moved the tank far away from the windows wondering if it was from sunlight But after i set up the tank and put the tiny bit of fake plants inside. (no gravel) after i make sure the ph levels are set and put the fish in. A week later. It starts up again. Starting off getting a little clowdy. (like new tank sindrom) Then right away. green algea forms. I have a huge algea eater too. But it dont seem to help. A few weeks ago my tank started up again and before I could clean it again I had to leave my house for a week and go into the hospital (childbirth). I had my mom come feed the fish and she told me the tank was getting realy bad. Well now that I am home and can see the tank for myself. (it is the worst it has ever been) What can I be doing wrong???? Pleeeaase help! I will take a picture of how bad it is right now. I took the fish out and need to figure out this problem for them so they can stay healthy! Thank you.  

Answer
Hello,

Congratulations on your baby! :)

Now, onto the aquarium... Algae can be caused by several different factors in your aquairum, and yes- light is an important one. Moving your tank out of direct sunlight was a good first step in controlling your algae. Something else that can cause algae in your tank is excess nutrients in the water. You mentioned that you did not have gravel in your tank. If you still do not, I would recommend coating the bottom of your tank with a layer of gravel at least 1/4 inch thick. This helps hold wastes down so that they do not make your water cloudy or cause excess nutrients in the water. This way, you can also do weekly gravel syphonings to get the gunk out, making it an easy way to keep the waste levels low.

There is also a product called 'Green-X' which you add straight to your filter. It helps control levels of phosphates as well as several other nutrients that algae thrives on. I found that it helped the algae problem in my own aquarium a lot.

Also make sure that your weekly tank maintanance is a good routine. Every week you should change 10-15% of your water, syphon your gravel and clean your glass. Every month you should change the filter media in one filter, and clean the filter media from the other filter in a bucket of removed aquarium water. This allows you to always have an established colony of good bacteria in at least one of your filters.

Finally, to reduce bad nutrients in the water, I also recommend decreasing the amount you are feeding your fish by a little bit so that there isn't too much excess waste.

I hope one of these suggestions will be able to help your algae problem! Best of luck.

Kindest Regards,
Stephanie