Rate My Fish Tank

Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:40 am GMT   Reply      

I see i'm starting to get brown alge well thats what it looks like i thot it was suppode to be green? i have done some reading how do i know if i'm getting the proper lighting for green alge to grow or i do i know my silicates are to high the ph is dead on 7 an temp is 75 amonia an nitrites an nitrates are good so whats next....I have only noticed this brown alge for about 2 days an i would say that when it first appeared kuz i look at my tank everyday

Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:56 am GMT   Reply      

Just ask us. :P What kinda lights do you have? how many hours a day? silicates.....i know you have a freshwater tank......but they should still be 0. Thats a BIG culprate of algae. Im going to go out on a limb and say you use city water with a bottle of dechlorinator. If possible try to use Reverse Osmosis water...your tank will be a LOT more healthy.

Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:01 pm GMT   Reply      

yeah i used tap water with cycle, an i'm not sure what type of light it is it says 32 watt HG an gives off a purplish tint an its usually on from 9 in the morining to about midnight or 1

Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:39 pm GMT   Reply      

WWWWAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY to much light - - -2-3 hours in the morning 2-3 hours at evening viewing times...........the purplish hue light sounds like a grow light in which case it is doing exaclty what its supossed to be doing ..........lol not what you want it to be doing

i would suggest a 6500K bulb or higher {whiter light} for one, cut your lighting time way back, definatley use RO water {i get mine from walmart in a culigan dispense for 33 cents a gallon} treating tap water with cycle isn't treating the contaminents or chlorine in thewater, it ust adds bactiera for the fish in the tank {i don't like it because its a fake fix for a natural process} also, make sure the tank isn't sitting in direct sunlight too


not bad for a salt guy eh? ..........lol good luck man

Boss

Tue Jan 06, 2009 2:13 pm GMT   Reply      

ph is dead on 7..raise it to 8.2, wait do you have a saltwater tank ?

Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:21 pm GMT   Reply      

Tap water is your main problem......as far as lighting.....you should probably change that too. Your in the LOW spectrum....i mean probably close to red....which is grow lights like boss said. VERY bad for algae problems. Your going to have an algae farm soon. higher kelvin bulb and some RO water.......your tank will have FAR less problems. :)

Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:45 pm GMT   Reply      

okay i will try do a 50% water change an use ro water until it eventually is gone, the people at the fish store said to wait a month before getting a alge eater but the tank is starting to stink so what do i do??? i just did a 25% water change an its stinking again in 5 days i'm lost

Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:53 pm GMT   Reply      

i have a 90 gallon with a aquaclear 110 w/ 3 oscars an a jack dempsey, i'm going to buy another aquaclear 110 this week is the reason its stinking not enough filtrtation???

Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:03 pm GMT   Reply      

An its a freshwater tank saltwaterpimp

Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:35 pm GMT   Reply      

Brown algae is common in freshwater tanks. I have some all the time. Some people swear by algae eaters, but I have 2 and still get the brown crud all the time.

They are right way too much light! I give mine a max of 8 hours a day, and its a planted tank. 15-16 hours is way too long to keep the lights on. If I turn mine on at 9am I make sure to turn it off by 6-7 pm.

More filtration may help. I added a filter in my tank that is made for a tank twice the size I have and it cleared up some problems I was having.

Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:41 pm GMT   Reply      

add some more carbon. carbon will help on odor.......your main problem is that water. the water has chloramines silicates metals chlorine and other sediments that your algae is blooming off of like crazy. algae smells.....trust me you dont want to stick your head in my refugium......it gives off a nice aroma. My reef tank lights run 12 hours a day, and everything in it depends on those lights. its a long day for the reef....and a little extended of what it is in the wild....but I like to see my tank. I see you said its 90 gallon.......thats pretty damn big. lol. Thats a lot of problem algae. nothing is going to happen fast in that much water. I got out of freshwater because I couldnt control algae....went to saltwater where you control algae with algae. :-) I would assume it would work the same in freshwater......do you have a sump? Would you consider running one so you could have an algae filter in the bottom? It might solve your problems forever......but you still have to switch to RO water. :-) haha. Good luck man!

Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:05 am GMT   Reply      

i would run a sump just don't know how they work or how to do it, an if the water is the biggest problem i will take care of that asap but how do i move 90 gallons of ro water??? what if i conditioned the water before i ran the tank kuz i used both a water conditioner an cycle i don't think i mentioned the conditioner earlier

Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:55 am GMT   Reply      

first off the oscars are probably the biggest producers of waste in the aquatic world, goldfish being a close second....so definately get another 110 i would strongly suggest running 3 110's easily....you really want to filter {turn over} a minimum of 3-4 times the tanks capacity - - -i ran a 110 on my 20 gallon tank before i bought a wet/dry system also with a protein skimmer and 2 power heads so i was moving more water in a 20 than you are in a 90 right now

Go to a walmart and see if they have a culligan water dispenser - - - if so they are RO filtered, the first time you buy the 5 gallon jug it's like 13.00 full but after that it's just 33 cents a gallon to fill em back up...........i have 6 five gallon jugs that i rotate all the time.......it's a pain in the tail but a good RO system starts at a couple hundred bucks...............which i will be getting soon as im setting up a 200 gallon tank and that would require a friggin truck dedicated to water .......lol

definatley change the bulbs and cut back on the lighting

also watch your feeding....oscars are pigs and will eat when ever they can....that doesn't mean they are starveing, once a day or even once every other day until you get this under controll won't hurt them

in the interum, get a plastic turkey baster and gently "blow" the algae every day or even a couple times a day and let the filter take care of it, clean the filter every couple days and in a few weeks you'll have this beat I'm sure


Keep us posted,

Boss

Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:23 pm GMT   Reply      

okay sounds good, but now i have another problem i think one of my oscars is getting ich how the hell does that happen???

Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:38 pm GMT   Reply      

well i picked up another aquaclear 110 an some ich medicine i had a tank before an have never had the problems i'm having now an it was the same size an everything so i don't know if i'm trying to keep everything to perfect an over treating a problem that doesn't really exist or what but its wearing me out