serious algae problem. help!!!!

[lucyshandbag]

i have had a gold fish for nearly 3 years and i always kept him on his own in a small bowl, but i had to clean the bowl out every other day as it was covered in green algae the day after cleaning it out. last week i bought a large fish tank and  5 other fish, (2 of which are small algae eaters) and i have put my gold fish in with them, but now, after only one week, the water is so green that i can't even see the fish in the tank.  i have a filter and the tank is not by a window, so sunlight is not a factor here, also i only feed the fish a small amount once a day, so it's not because i'm over feeding them.  could it be something wrong with my gold fish causing this amount of algae or could there be another reason? also, i found one of my small algae eaters dead yestersay, don't know if this is relevent. what can i do to prevent this as the tank is too big for me to be cleaning it out every week.

[andyjevs]

Seems like you have a problem with "getting the balance right". Is it the water that's green or just the glass inside the tank. What size is the tank, what filter do you have, what lights do you have and do you have any air going into the tank from an airpump. You will also find that if you clean your tank out from scratch every time, the friendly bacteria needed to break down fish waste will be killed off every time. Instead of emptying the tank, just remove 50% of the water and replace it with either rain water or tap water that's stood for a day or two. Give us the info above and we'll see if we can help.

[lucyshandbag]

hi andy, not sure what filter it is, my uncle gave it to me, it's just a smallish one but i've had to lie it flat on the bottom of the tank coz the sucky thinks don't stick to the glass and it squashed and killed one of my fish. would this stop it working?  the tank is 20" deep, 2ft long and 1ft wide.  i don't have an airpump, but i am gonna get one.  i bought some oxygen tablets but only used one the other day. i haven't got a light in the tank yet either but i have a lamp next it which lights the tank up, but i turn it off every night at about 10ish. and it is actually the water that is green, not the glass.  thanks.x

[andyjevs]

Blimey !!!...you seem to be doing everything right. If you an algea problem, it's usually a result of too much light or an excessive nutrient problem from either fish waste or the tap water (it's full of nasties) Your filter should be fine working on its side (providing it's still working of course. You need to try to get some water changed without adding tap water. Maybe buy 5 litres of bottled water and use that for a while. Just don't clean the whole lot out as that might kill the fish. You might want to add some plants to help with the balance or some gravel if you don't have any. I really can't think of anything that you're doing wrong.....maybe someone else can think of something i've forgotten.

[nfn]

I thought algae eaters only survived in tropical tanks so if you've put them in with cold water fish they won't survive.  I use stress-zyme in my new tank and after the first couple of days of cloudy water because the tank was new it is now crystal clear.  I have a 10 gallon tank with a small pump the air inlet nozzle sits just above water level to enable it to inject oxygen.  my tank is just over 2 weeks old now and i've not had any problems at all.  Just a thought, do you have enough charcoal in your filter?

[maggie01]

I don't know what other fish you have with the godfish but you could have too many fish making too much waste. One goldfish per 10 gallons of water is recomended. I have algae eaters but they are in a tropical tank. Not sure you can keep them in cold water. You can buy something to put in the tapwater to take out the impuritites. It sounds like you have put too many fish in the tank at once. As I said your tank sound like it is only big enough for one goldfish. I do a 50% water change every two weeks. I have an air stone in one and a ventura in the other to airate the water.

[andyjevs]

Just to let you know, you can get coldwater algea eaters which i think go by the name of Chinease plecs or Chinease algea eaters. They are only suitable for indoor coldwater tanks though and will not tolerate a frozen pond.

[lucyshandbag]

i checked with lady in the shop where i bought my fish from and she said that the amount of fish i am keeping in the tank is fine, they are all only small fish and there is only 5 altogether. i have friends that have more than that in a tank smaller than mine and they have no problems.  d'you think it could be my original goldfish causing it?  i know it sounds stupid but i've always had problems with algae in whatever i put him in.  by the way, my algae eaters are for cold water tanks, can't remember what they're called tho.  thanks for your help.x

[maggie01]

Try www.kokosgoldfish.com.  You will find a lot of help on this site. When I first started mine I went on this site a got a lot of my problem sorted out. Good Luck I'm sure you'll get it sorted soon.