So much algae its ridiculous...

[ninjaofthe9seas]

I dont know what to do with my tank. It looks like a swamp. There is algae everywhere. I have tried algaecide, cyanobacteria treatment, just scraping it off of everything... I have 3 live plants in my tank too. I thought that was supposed to help? I'm trying to get my CO2 thing to work, but i guess i have a faulty airstone cause water goes IN instead of air coming out... Conquistador Tomate isnt very happy either. Help please?
-5gal tank
-Banana Plant and Java Fern x2
-Took the marimo out because i used algaecide about a week or more ago, should i put it back in?
-The light is on a timer. I think its only 8 hours a day.
I dont know what else to do.

[Sena Hansler]

I have a question... Do you have a 10 gallon or something? If so, I suggest an SIAMESE algae eater (not a chinese one!). I have one and he rotates through my tanks LOL. He's cleaned my 20 within a day x.x Afterwards just feed algae wafers :)

[aokashi]

invest in a nerite :) one should be able ti cleab your aquarium well in no time.

[registereduser]

I'm sold on nerites and they won't reproduce!

[Oldfishlady]

Can you post a pic and do you know what kind of algae it is.....

What kind of lights-age of bulb, kelvin, watts-with the PP at 8h/day

Type of substrate, how deep, filter and filter media care, how much and how often are the water changes, additives used, how long has the tank been setup and does it get any direct sunlight.

Some algae is normal and expected in a container of water, some can be a sign of a healthy system, help the tank look more natural and provide area for microorganism to colonize, however, since its a closed system it has to be controlled with manual removal on occasion along with the water changes.

With live plants it all about balance....to control it you have to figure out the cause and correct the balance.....

[registereduser]

The nerites can't get all the algae on the silk plants but that's OK, as OFL says above it makes them look more natural and a little algae is good.

[aokashi]

I think fabulously green clear water, algae cover tanks are great!

[ninjaofthe9seas]

I usually keep a snail and there werent problems then... Guess I'll have to get a new one. The tank is the one in my profile picture, but theres different plants in it now. otherwise its the same. Oh, different fish too. Its five gallons. I'm pretty sure this is the lightbulb i have http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=11147169 And this time i think the algae is just regular common green algae... It looks fuzzy on the leaves of the plants n stuff. My filter is a carbon filter... I change it once every 3 weeks cause thats what the box says. It gets no direct sunlight and its been set up for about a year now. I havent had algae this bad before. Maybe its because i've had snails? I dunno. :/

[aokashi]

I would suggest you let the tank cycle and save some money on the filter cartridges. Just leave the old ones in. it's where ur beneficial bacterias grow. dont be in a hurry to get rid of all the algae, It's helping keep ir tank on balance right now.

[Sena Hansler]

I have not thrown out my filter cartridges, unless there was a disease or medication used that I didn't want to use the cartridge.