General Care Discussion :: Dealing with algae

[Gokuh]

My tank has algae in it. I have tried getting rid of it but I am having difficulting. I will live with it. My problem is my turtles. They have developed an algae infection on their shells. What is the best way to deal with this? I know in the wild turtles have a bit. I want to minimize or get rid of any algae on my turts!

[flutterby]

Is your tank near a window? You can always use a soft tooth brush on their shell to remove the algae.

[Gokuh]

No, the tank is not in direct sunlight.

[turrbee]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh CRAP
ive never thought of an algae infection on the shells
damn...
i gota get rid of the algae too then
ahhhhhh! so much trouble

[industrial_girl_2000]

My tank has algae in it. I have tried getting rid of it but I am having difficulting. I will live with it. My problem is my turtles. They have developed an algae infection on their shells. What is the best way to deal with this? I know in the wild turtles have a bit. I want to minimize or get rid of any algae on my turts!

From what I know about algae in the tank, there isn't much you can do about it. They have those magnets (one piece is the scrubber & goes inside the tank, the other piece is on the outside of the tank.....magnets inside both pieces hold it against the glass) where you can use it to scrub the glass walls of the tank without having to reach your arm in the tank.

Do you have a basking light for your turts & a place for them to be able to get out of the water? Drying off periodically is very important for a turtle's shell health. In the meantime, you can use a baby toothbrush to gently scrub away any of the algae. Changing the water helps too. Don't rely only on a filter....they aren't perfect & will never be able to get the water to be perfectly clean.

Also, don't put the tank near a sunny window either. Sun thru a window makes algae grow a lot.

[Muirner]

From what i have read, there are a few ways that you can help deal with algae.

Just to note, the nutrience that algae needs to grow, attaches its self to air. This will be important.

First there is a simple method that will help a little bit. This is with plants. You can put plants in your tank and they will help to draw some of the nutrience out of the water, thus helping the situation. Some plants that are to be looked into are ones that hang on the top of the tank, these have long roots and defentally help.

Second, you can use things as simple as a bubble stone. The nutrience will attach to the bubbles and rise to the surface. While you might not notice much difference, it is doing something.

Lastly, just like they use in a saltwater setup. Use a protein skimmer. These will inject micro bubbles into the water, and have it get forced up a tube, the result is the impurities go to the collection bowl and you can take them out, and not have algae. Prices range from 40 to several thousand dollars.

I have not figured out how to conquer my own algee problem, but i think i will be looking into a few plants today to put in my new tank (that i hope to setup today), and i'm looking into a skimmer as well.

[Gokuh]

Unfortunately, I cannot get plants to put in my tank. I am in a rural area and the pet stores in the sorrounding communities do not sell plants. If i put plants in the tank, I would have to replenish them weekly (my turts love plants).

Actually, there is one pet store that sells plants. Problem is the plants are expensive and the half dead. I dont like the pet store because it is a very dirty and stinky place!

[Muirner]

check around online, there are places that have them for sale... Maybe you could put them in a separate tank, and let them flourish and then use that to put in their tank... But that kind of defetes the purpose.

[marisa]

Try partial water changes.

[ytse411]

I've been noticing a LOT of green algae on the bottom and sides of Sylvia's tank in the last few months. I can't keep up with it! I never had this problem before - she has indirect light on the tank.

I was emptying the tank and using one of those razor scrappers - that seems to work, but it's a pain in the butt!

When I went from a 75 gal tank to a 150 gal, I thought it was because of the much larger lights I'm using now. hmm...

[steve]

Have you tried replacing the filter media and scrubbing everything with warm water?