Need advice on freshwater probelm

[Drag Racer]

I know this is a reef site but figuring that most of us probably started with freshwater maybe someone can help.

Little background. Have had freshwater tanks since i was in grade school with great success. So been doing it for 15+ years. I have a 75 gallon tank with 2 large driftwood pieces and have about 10 tropical fish in there. 1 being a giant angel fish. I had a tank crash about a year back and lost all but my angel fish. I always used tap water with no problems. Well got my RO unit and didn't know about that's not good for freshwater. My bad. Well my problem is algae. It grows everywhere. I only feed flake food once day. I do water changes once a week 10 gal at a time. For about 6 months I was using tap water with a conditioner with no improvement. Over the last month and half I have been using RO water with the addition of RO right. Seen a slight improvement but still comes back fairly fast. Tested my water tonight and everything seems in line perfect. What else could be causing my algae issue. I put in extra power heads for water movement. I use a canister filter that is filled with carbon and ammonia remover. Like I said never had this problem till I put in the driftwood.

Here are the readings I took tonight.

Please any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ostrow]

Take a photo of the algae, sign in to fish forums dot net, and they'll take care of you!

 

[Drag Racer]

Was hoping someone would know here. Im signed up on enough forums as it is. Dont really want another. Although it looks like a nice site. Very simallar to this one.

 

[ostrow]

IME it is the only freshwater site to belong to. Great people, great advice there, when I was active anyway. I noticed some same people still there.

Was a time I'd have known! LOL

 

[Drag Racer]

ok thanks. If no one chimes in by tomorrow I will put a post up there and see what they say.

 

[Jeff]

One thing stands out when I read your first post. If I were to guess, I would say that the driftwood is releasing phosphate possibly. It looks like everything you are doing is correct. I cant think of anything else other then the food you are using is high in phosphate.
Are you dosing any iron or fertilizers for plants?

 

[larder]

If there's only fish in it, a very effective way of dealing with algae is to black the tank out. Literally, for three+ days, cover the tank entirely with cardboard or some kind of heavy fabric (making sure the tank can breathe.)

Using RO is not the cause. But if you moved the driftwood from another tank that had algae in it, you could have introduced some kind of mutant strain into your tank. But it is impossible to tell without a pic of the algae. Are you sure it is algae and not cyanobacteria?

 

[Drag Racer]

The plants in the tank are fake plants. The driftwood was dried wood from a LFS. I soaked and soaked it before putting it in the tank. No dosing of any kind. Maybe I will try switching food. I dont overfeed. Like I said Once a day. Sometimes miss a day here and there. We are usually gone over the weekend couple times a month and trhe tank doesnt get fed. So overfeeding i wouldnt think is the cause.

Here are a couple of pics of the algae. i really appreciate the help. Go figure get the saltwater tank right and the FW tank messes up. I just did a water change and syphoned alot off hte rocks. it will cover the floor like a blanket. I also syphon the rocks each time to remove fish waist.

(those arent scratches, the camera shutter is slow becasue of the lack of light and those are air bubbles)

 

[cet98]

how about buying a Plecostomus? they love micro algae
I know that's not correcting the problem but when I kept FW, they were a must have in my tanks...kept my tanks clean as a whistle

 

[Drag Racer]

Have two differnet kinds in there. Small but theres always working.

 

[cet98]

OK...when is the last time you changed your bulbs?...
I would think that the change in spectrum, as it would in SW, would have an effect on algae growth as well....just a thought

 

[Drag Racer]

Possable the bulb is well over a year old. In the past I have had the same bulb on a tank till it didn't work anymore and never had an algae problem. I appreciate the input.

 

[ashtree68]

Try some apple/mystery snails? Where'd they get the driftwood from? How long has it been in your tank and how long did you have it soaking? I've heard of some causing algae breakouts for the first couple weeks to a month, after they're first introduced.

 

[dohc97]

Im with Jeff on this one, i think the driftwood is leaching phospates into the water, you wont get a reading on your test kit if this is the case. take out the driftwood and see what happens then, if you must use driftwood i usually boil it then flush it a few times before using it.

Jose

 

[wookie]

I had the same type of algae in my fresh water, it turned out to be a form of cyano if I remember correctly, I dosed it with some antibiotics and it cleared up and never came back. I don't remember the brand I used.

 

[Drag Racer]

I got the drift wood from aquarium adventures about a year ago. Soaked it in the tub with hot water flushing it down every couple hours for a couple days. It still leached brown in the tank for a couple months. It stopped turning the water brown. (looked like tea) Then abou the last couple months been fighting the algae issue. Maybe have to take a trip to the LFS and see what kind of products they have for this algae/cyano. Being htat it may be a type of Cyano could be. It grow so fast and comes off in sheets. Algae usually has to be scraped off with force.

 

[Pufferpunk]

That is cyanobacteria, not algae.

 

[Drag Racer]

Ok so if its Cyano then what should I do to cure it? Is it becasue of phosphates? If it is coming from the driftwood should I just wait it out till its done leeching?

 

[larder]

It looks like cyano and some type of hair algae. I would be more worried about the hair algae than the cyano.

I think you should siphon the gravel, clean your filters, make sure all your pumps are working at full capacity, take the deco out and scrub it down, and then just shut your light off for a couple weeks (I don't think you will have to black out). You don't need to do so many water changes. In fact, try stopping for a month or so, it could be feeding the problem.

Snails and algae eaters don't eat cyano. You could use algaecide, but sometimes you end up with fish that swim sideways.

 

[cet98]

Ok so if its Cyano then what should I do to cure it? Is it becasue of phosphates? If it is coming from the driftwood should I just wait it out till its done leeching?

I found this link that talks about Blue-Green Cyano causes and cures.... hope this can offer some help for you Drag Racer