Is it worth it?

[danifacetastic]

I have a 10 gallon tank divided 3 ways and I do a 50% water change once a week. I try my best to get around all the ornaments and get all the poop and leftover food. No matter what though I get greenish brown algae on some of the decorations and on the tank walls. I also get condensation builldup above the water line. I scrub the walls every week with a toothbrush but it keeps coming back. I know it's nothing harmful but everyone who sees my tank thinks it's filthy. And it LOOKS dirty even though it's not. Would it be worth it take out my fish and completely strip the whole aquarium and completely clean everything, gravel and all? Or is there another way? Or should I leave it the way it is...water stains, algae and all?

[SmokeNLark]

I find that it goes away. How long has this tank been set up? The brown algae is diatoms. I've had them in some of my tanks and then they go away. I would take out the decoration they were on when it got back and scrub it under water. But I would bear with it and keep it clean.

The other thing it could be is over feeding, how much do you feed them? And how long is the light on? If it's on too long, that helps algae grow.

I know it's gross looking. Everyone goes through it at some point in some form. I had the nastiest white stuff on my driftwood in my 5 gallon for a while. It went away and I havn't seen it since.

Oh, and the condensation/water lines can be taken care of if you just top off the tank between water changes when it evaporates off.

[danifacetastic]

The tank has been set up almost a year now and I've noticed the algae for about 4 months or so. The light is on from about 5pm-11pm every day. They get about 3 pellets each in the morning and 2 and night because my grandma feeds them but I'm going to tell her to start letting me feed them cause she gets pellets all over my desk and there's always so much uneaten food in the tank.

[SmokeNLark]

It sounds like the uneaten food might be the cause. Once you get that under control, it should be better :) Just bear with it.