I rebuilt my tank two months ago to get rid of algae, but it came back already. I use algae destroy, cut down on lighting, and have an algae eater. What else can I do to reduce the algae?
by 
tjlong1
ANSWERS: 7
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what kind of algae? hair alage? green? brown? I had a brown gross puffy algae problem for months, tried all those algae killer things, nothing helped. I asked a fish store owner who's a trusted one who does his best to educate rather than sell. He said just take out the ornaments/decorations making the algae problem and sit them in a bucket of bleach water for a few mintues, and scrub them with a toothbrush. I thought he was joking at first saying bleach, but he was serious, I did it, feared for the lives of the fish. If I could afford it I'd just buy new things for them, but couldn't. After a 10 minute bleach and scrub bath I rinsed their castle off in water, hot/cold, I didn't know which was better, over and over again. The bleach smell was slightly there. I took the chance of putting it back in, and everything was fine afterwards. The castle had never looked so "white." Don't bleach colored things too long. But at least the gross instant algae mess was gone. This was back in September, now it's May so it worked. It gets the usual green algae on it, but nothing more than normal and it looks great.
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You are going to get a little algae. Make sure your tank isn't getting any direct sunlight. You need to clean everything once in a while.
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Give your fish less food.
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Well what I did to take care of the algea in my tank was to get some snails. Within 24 hours the algea was gone. The snails should reproduce. If you get too meany you can sell them to the pet store. They are really neat creatures.
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If you have gold fish then you will need algae eaters. goldfish tanks tend to be breeding grounds for algae. Although they are ugly, they do the job well.
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Plecos work better than algae eaters. AE's like to suck the mucous coating off other fish....very bad. Light is key. Are you near a window? Can you change bulb strengths? Reduce the hours of illumination. Green algae can be eaten. Brown = dead and has to be wiped out. Paper towels or clean sponges. Live plants also promote algae growth. They are pretty, but require light, thus more algae. The snails also work, but seldom lived long for me.
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your lighting has to be soft light and i don't recommend the light being on 24/7.for example,a 75 gal.tank would require at least 10 3" suckered mouth cat fish to take care of the algae. every three days you should take out the filters and wash them.this is an effective way to control algae. if possible,you should be the only one doing the feeding and this can be done by hiding the fish food.fish should be fed once daily,preferably at nights.do not leave the light at night.too much light will stress the fishes and that can result to negative results. finally,do not overpack your tank with displays. i personally avoid small gravel for the tank.
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