Can i leave lights off to stop algae?

[pyro]

I have had this problem (green water) in a 28g ViaAqua freshwater tank. It used to have an oscar in it, but now it only has 2 clawed frogs in it (Oscar outgrew it). The filter is not strong enough, and I'm guessing that is one of the primary causes. Another thing I am going to try soon is to remove an inch of gravel (I think the waste is building up too much in the 3" of gravel my sister put in). We've ran the diatom filter for almost an entire day every other day for a week with carbon in it - didn't even change it a tint, the carbon won't help (at least in my case). I haven't had the time recently to do vigourous every other day water changes, thats the next step.
Good Luck - lemme know how you solve the problem!

 

[ophiura]

Hey, Pyro -
This may be a stupid question but did you run the diatom filter with diatomaceaous earth or just with the carbon in it? I reckon some of these can be different than what I am familiar with. I can see where the carbon wouldn't help in this situation, but if running it truly as a DE filter didn't help - at least temporarily, then :notsure:

 

[pyro]

yep, had the diatomaceuous earth in it aswell. The thing works wonders on tanks normally, and for some reason, I can't get the darn green out.
By the way, I would recommend a diatomaceous filter to anybody with multiple tanks in their house, expecially cichlid tanks, we run ours when we vaccuum the gravel.
Anyways, good luck romeo, I'm outta ideas.

 

[jake15]

to clean it get one of those Mag-Float and that should help the algea on the glass alot

 

[ophiura]

Unfortunately, from the sound of it, it is not on the glass but in the water.

 

[romeofoeve]

OK! did a complete tank make-over today. i did a 100% water change, thoroughly cleaned my substrate, and re acclimated all my livestock. my fish actually are visible and my 2 week old royal gramma actually comes out now. my lfs said either run a uv, which might kill benificial bacteria or do a water change. i figured a water change would be cheaper and quicker results. he also said to leave the lights off for 2 days to prevent any more blooms.
the substrate was black in the inner bed about an inch or more deep (its white sand), and it smelled like mold. is that normal? maybe it was from some rotton leaves or food from a while back.
also, i rinsed out my sand with freshwater. will that restart the nitrogen cycle?
im just so happy that my water is crystal clear again, i havent seen it clear in over a month.

 

[romeofoeve]

pic

 

[ophiura]

Originally posted by romeofoeve
also, i rinsed out my sand with freshwater. will that restart the nitrogen cycle?
Yes, it may very well do that. Complete cleanings like this may result in the tank recycling again.

 

[romeofoeve]

i just noticed the 3rd dat, its starting to get a greenish tint in the water. oh no, its starting all over again. what should i do? i added phosphate sponge, to remove phosphate. whats next?

 

[traib]

You've got something in there that's feeding the algae. You could try 'AZ NO3' and 'PO4 minus' I've used both products with success. They work in concert with you skimmer to get rid of Phosphates and Nitrates. But I'd also try to figure out what's causing the algae in the first place.