alge

[NewFish3]

I am just starting out. I have a #14 Bio Cube. It has about 7-8 gal of water. I have 1- True Clown, 1 - Royal Gramma, 1- 6 line Wrass, 1 - Fire Shrimp. Its only been running for 1 month. 3 weeks with the fish. I am now getting green alge on the glass. Is this normal ?? I have 3 snales. I was told that Iam running the lights too long. What is correct. Please someone help. I dont want to kill the poor fishies.

 

[jdmcivicek9]

the fish should be fine...but i only run mine for like 7 hours max...a day

 

[NewFish3]

So the elge wont hurt them???. I plan on cleaning the tank every 3 to 4 weeks. Will they be ok.

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

the alage won't hurt them. why wait so long to clean? nano tanks require more care than bigger tanks.


what are your parameters?

 

[FishFace28]

As a general rule, algae won't hurt your fish. You definitely will need more than 3 snails though. For your size tank, a good cuc should probably consist of approx 8-10 each of snails and crabs. This will help with the algae.

Also, as far as the tank cleaning every 3-4 weeks... there are some things you will need to do every few days (like cleaning the glass, adding top off water). Some things to do each week (rinsing any sponges in your filter). You will have to be diligent with a small tank because mistakes are much more costly in a small tank vs. a larger tank.

I do approx 10% water changes every two weeks, but during the first several months of its life, I did weekly water changes.

 

[NewFish3]

Kau_Cinta_ku & FishFace28

Thank you very much for your help. I was only going by the guy at my LFS. I was only doing what he said because I could always go back to him & say HAY you told me to do this. WELL live and learn right.

FishFace28, are you saying that I should have 8 to 10 snails & 8 to 10 crabs.... or 8 to 10 total.

Thank you very much & my Fishies thank you too

 

[Bambalam]

NewFish3 - welcome to the best website you could imagine for free and honest advice.

Hopefully your lfs will be straight with you and not sell you anything you don't need.

The advice you've already got in this thread is good - don't overfeed, do regular water changes, test your water, etc. I agree with Fishface28 that you might need to beef up your cleanup crew (cuc).

Keep posting, keep asking questions - the only dumb question is the one not asked.

 

[FishFace28]

NewFish,

I would recommend 8-10 of each. I know it seems like a lot, but it's really not that many. I have a 24 gal, and I have about 15 of each (30 total). They are always busy, and even with that many snails, I still have to clean the glass. A fairly heavily stocked cuc will keep your tank looking nice and clean without using any chemicals. It's a lot easier to keep algae under control than it is to get algae under control.