General Care Discussion :: Algae Control???

[Vas]

Hi all,
Before I ask my question, I would like to thank DavidY, SpotsMama, and steve for some excellent advice on getting my two baby turtles to bask. Worked great.
Now my question. I have split my 150 gal tank in half to seperate my koi from the baby turtles and can't help but notice the overwhelming amount of Algae on the turtle side. It's a defferent world on one side of the divider vs' the other. Tha algae is not only on the glass it's all over the rocks. It's also brown in color instead of the normal greenish algae.
Is there something that can be purchased or a tactic that can be used to control it? Also, what's the best way to clean it?
Thanks everyone and keep up the great work. I hope one day I will have enough experience to help someone esle down the road.
Vas

[steve]

I haven't had to deal with brown algae before. Is the filter on the turtle side or the koi side? Whenever I had a green algae problem, I would scrub everything down. I prefer not to use treatments such as Algae Fix, though many people do have some success with it.

[Vas]

hi steve,
I actually have 3 filters running throughout the whole tank. And the water and drit can flow freely through the divider. As fro the brown algae, perhaps someone might consider it dark green and not brown. At any rate all you do is scrun it off the glass? What about the rocks? I would prefer to avoid chemicals if possible.
Vas

[grey goose]

If you don't like it sticking to the glass, you can get one of those algae magnets. Some people swear by them.

[steve]

I use a toothbrush, though your lighting might be the cause. How long are the lights on for? Any direct sunlight reaching the tank?

[makoa]

I'm noticing some algae in my pond too. But its nothing a little scrubbing won't fix. But what I'm wondering is if a a larger placostamus would be ok or would the 2 turtles I have go after it?

[Vas]

the lights are on constantly. The heat lamp and the UV light. The side of the tank that has the koi also has a UV light but doesn't look 10% as bad. Should the basking light stay on all the time? should the UV light stay on all the time? And no, no sunlight is getting to the tank.
Thanks again.

[grey goose]

No! 12 hours on, 12 hours off is the rule. You have to imitate the sleep cycles for your turts!

[Vas]

Crap. I am learning as i go despite a great deal of research prior to purchasing. My turts are in the basement w/ minimal ambient light. Does it make a difference when I should leave the light on? For example, light on during the day and off at night, or on at night and off durring the day. Perhaps a combination??? Or does it not matter?/

[kmichael55]

I would think it best to mimic sunlight hours, ie light on during the day and off at night, to keep it natural.

[megcornell]

It's ideal to attempt to copy the seasons as best as possible, so now during the summer I keep my turtle's light on 12 hours, and I shorten this a little in the winter. I bought a timer that automatically turns the lights on and off so that my turtle has a consistent schedule.

[Billy Black]

I also have a problem with algae in my tank. I never had a problem before, but since my turtle ate the pleco, it's gotten really bad. About a week ago, I took all the rocks out of the tank and scrubbed them really good, and I also scrubbed the sides of the tank. Everything was fine for a couple days, but it's starting to look bad already.

I really don't want to have to take all of the rocks out every single week. It was a lot of work the first time. Is it normal for this to be happening? I have a three inch turtle in a thirty gallon tank with a Rena Filstar XP2.

[octpusgirl8]

I got really annoyed by algae in my tank for a long time, despite a good filter, regular water changes, and a reasonable lighting schedule. I didn't want to use algae killer because that just makes me uncomfortable. I did a little research and found that algae needs phosphate to grow, so i looked for filter media that removed phosphates from the water. I tried a few but nothing got the phosphate levels down. I finally got this thing: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... &N=0&Nty=1
It's a bit of a hassle to set up, and you have to get a pump and tubing to go with it, but my tank is 99% algae free, which makes me a happy girl.
Maybe your problem will be solved now that you won't have the lights on all the time though, that would surely cause an unusual amount of algae to grow. Good luck!

[marisa]

The brown algae is most likely the result of a lack of lighting. (I'm going to assume it is brown---the green algae on rocks has always turned a very dark green/black color in my tanks when it's been allowed to remain for longer periods of time.)

How is the 150-gallon tank being lit? If there's not much lighting, try increasing it.

How often do you change the water or do partial water changes? Also try doing more frequent partial water changes to dilute the nutrients in the tank. The brown stuff likes silica, and if the level in the water is high, it will help it grow.

[Kayra33]

I also had algae in my tank only it was bright green and it's the first time it's happened since I moved my turtle upstairs. I loved her being in the basement but I thought that she got lonely down there so when I got my 125 gallon tank I moved her to our living room. I have a patio on the front of my house which blocks most of the sun and blinds so it's dark in there but it has been in the 90's here in Pennsylvania. I just kept cleaning and recleaning which sucked *a* but my now my water crystal clear.