I just came home after about four days and my entire fish tank is filled with algae, it's an orange/ brown color. The fish are not overfed so I know it's not from that. Is this harmful to the fish? How can I stop it from growing? I'm not using any algae killing chemicals because I have a snail.
What size is the tank, how much and how often are the water changes-water temp, how long has the tank been set up, what kind of lights (watts & kelvin) and how old are the bulbs, does the tank get any direct or indirect sunlight, how long are the light on, any live plants and if so, how many and what kind, any plant food added and what kind, how much and schedule, what is the stocking other than the snails...is the algae growing on things in the tank, walls and/or in the water column.....
What size is the tank, how much and how often are the water changes-water temp, how long has the tank been set up, what kind of lights (watts & kelvin) and how old are the bulbs, does the tank get any direct or indirect sunlight, how long are the light on, any live plants and if so, how many and what kind, any plant food added and what kind, how much and schedule, what is the stocking other than the snails...is the algae growing on things in the tank, walls and/or in the water column.....
The tank is a 10 gallon, water changes are 25% once a week, 80 degrees, new lights 2 fluorescent 15w 6500K brand new about a week or two. Doesn't get direct sunlight. Lights are generally on about ten hours a day or less. 5 bamboo, 3 aponogetons, one java fern, one anubias round leaf, one tiger lotus. I give it tetra pride plant food every wc, the recommended dose for 25% change. I have one snail, and one male and one female. The algae is growing on the walls, the plants, the heater, the divider.
It sounds like you are doing everything right...good lights and photo period
Diatoms or brown algae-are normal in new set ups-once the tank matures(can take 3-6months) they should resolve on their own...until then...wipe them off and vacuum out with the weekly water changes
Algae in general is normal and expected in a tank of water with both light and nutrients and can be a sign of healthy water....but since this is a closed system it has to be controlled by the hobbyist...just part of normal up-keep......weekly removal to keep it under control, adding stem or floating plants to out compete algae, increase photoperiod to get faster/better plant growth and to out compete algae sometimes(however, 10h for your species of plants should be fine) limit plant food especially with slow growing plants-what the plants don't need and use the algae will
Good that you are not going to use any harsh chemical-not only can the algae-cide type products harm inverts it can also harm some fish and plants.....
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