I have a 29 gallon Cichlid tank that we are having algae problems?

Question

The light is never on for more than 6 hours a day..it is not in direct sunlight..we do not overfeed and we do water changes once a month..we have tried to put a Chinese algae eater in and all we found was his head on day two..we had a snail before that..they sucked him out and yes, it was a large one..it only is on the decorations for some reason and grows back real fast after a cleaning..we would like to avoid a chemical fix..any ideas about what kind of scavenger would do well with South Africans?BTW..we do have a lobster in and he does well on the bottom but does nothing for algae control.

Azedenkae · Accepted Answer

Sounds like the algae (NOT A PLANT BTW) actually found its way into crevasses and the likes of the decorations, and hence maintaining itself there (so even after removal, the remaining will start growing again). The only way really is to not have light at all for a period of time (2 or so weeks), or very, very minimal lighting so the algae disappears completely. That, or take the decorations out and soak them in boiling water (if possible) for a few minutes, which should completely kill off the algae, and any other lifeform on it. The latter option is easier and better and faster, but may not be suitable depending on what sort of deco you have - i.e. could be bad if it's made of plastic.

It'd be hard to put in algae-eating fish/whatever in the tank, because the lobster will eat 'em. Also actually, how much of a problem is it? If you don't clean it, do the algae spread all over the place?

Anonymous · Answer

1. leave the light off, the fish are not reading while you are away
2. algae is a plant, reduce light and waste/fertilizer/fish food,

that's it, do not get a fish expecting it will eat algae.

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I have a 29 gallon Cichlid tank that we are having algae problems?

2 Answers