Hair Algae In Fish Tanks

This article is a follow up from a previous post entitled “Get Rid Of Snails In Fish Tank Naturally“.

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Who can deny what a nuisance is hair algae in fish tanks. If environmental conditions are right to it, hair algae can grow extremely fast to a point that it will overrun the aquarium. And to make matters worst, no matter how hard you scrub them off, it will grow back. So the most important aspect of controlling hair algae in fish tanks is not to fight the effect but to try as much as you can to eliminate the cause.

Control Hair Algae In Fish Tanks

Hair algae is tough, tough enough to grow on virtually any surface. But although it is unsightly, hair algae like any other plant does provide some benefits to the aquatic life. It does oxygenate the water and there are fish that feed on the algae. So if you want to get rid of hair algae, do it as a gradual process or it might affect the fish. On the other end of the scale, having too much algae is bad to the fish too.

So how do you properly control hair algae in fish tanks? Here are some of the main factors for you to work on.

Hair Algae In Fish Tanks: Proper Water Management

Controlling the level of nitrates in your aquarium is very important in controlling hair algae on fish tanks. Hair algae thrives on high levels of nitrates and suddenly changes in the level will cause algae blooms. As long as these levels remain high, they will keep growing back no matter how much you remove them. The key here is to not overfeed your fish and remove any excess food. Another thing you might want to try is using live food. As long as the feed is not dead and rotting, it would not raise nitrate levels.

Hair Algae In Fish Tanks: Increase The Algae’s Competition

As long as hair algae is the sole consumer of all that yummy nitrate, it will thrive. Add in some plants and they will compete with the algae for food and eventually starve it out of your aquarium.

Hair Algae In Fish Tanks: Animals That Eat Algae

There are a number of aquatic animals that love eating algae. These include Scarlet Hermits and Tangs to name a few. But don’t just go out and buy some immediately. Speak to the specialist at the fish shop and explain about your situation and your aquarium specifications, especially its size and what fish tank filters you are using. He would be able to provide a better suggestion on the most suitable creature that you should get for your situation.

Hair Algae In Fish Tanks: The Amount Of Light

Algae is a plant and like all plants, it thrives in places that gets a lot of sunlight. Moving your aquarium to a less bright area of your home will hinder the growth of hair algae in fish tanks.

These are some of the main ways to control hair algae in fish tanks.

Snails In Fish Tank

This article is a follow up to a previous post entitled “Clearing Cloudy Water In A Marine Aquarium“.

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While snails in fish tank don’t really harm the fish, they do tend to nibble on the aquatic plants in your aquarium. Having too many snails in fish tank will definitely cause your plants to look tattered and unsightly. The problem with snails in fish tank is that they tend to breed really fast if left uncontrolled. There are numerous ways to get rid of them from chemical treatments to gadgets but as a personal preference, I’ve always preferred a more natural way in combating any of my aquarium problems.

Before we get into the method that I favor, let’s look at the various other ways.

Snails In Fish Tank: Chemical Treatment

There are numerous chemical treatments sold in the marketplace today that such as Snail-Rid and Aquari-Sol that do kill snails in fish tank. But when choosing any chemical treatment, ensure that it does not contain Copper Sulfate which can be fatal to your fish. I’ve always had a thing against pouring chemicals into my aquarium.

You could also try Aquarium Salt or Sodium Chloride. Everyone knows salt kills garden snails and it works the same for snails in fish tank. However, the smaller variation of aquarium snails have a higher tolerance to salt and might not have a reaction to aquarium salt.

Snails In Fish Tank: Natural Methods

My favorite method to get rid of snails is to use Loaches. There are two breeds of Loaches that you could keep; Clown Loaches and Lohachata Loaches.

Clown Loaches are better suited for larger aquariums between 40 to 50 gallons. They tend to grow a little big and survive better in schools of six or more. But Clown Loaches are notorious for troubling tiny fish like Neon Tetra.

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Lohachata Loaches also known as Yoyo Loaches are smaller and can live comfortably in groups of three, so they are suited for smaller aquariums. But Yoyo Loaches can be a little hard to find in smaller fish shops.

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These two fishes will go immediately to work devouring all the snails they can find.

Snails In Fish Tank: A Cool Trick

This is one cool trick that I read online somewhere before and put it to the test with surprisingly excellent results.

Get a small jar, the size of a pepper shaker. You could even use a pepper shaker without the cap. Wash it properly with plain water, do not use detergent to wash anything you plan to put into an aquarium. Place a piece of lettuce in the jar and sink it to the bottom of the tank and that’s it. When you come back to it tomorrow, there will be lots of tiny snails inside it. Just remove the jar, get rid of the snails and repeat the process again. In a couple of days, your tank will be snail free.

These are some of the best natural ways to get rid of snails in fish tank.

Clearing Cloudy Water

This article is a follow up from the previous post entitled “Love Your Pets – Feed Them Best”

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When it comes to maintaining a saltwater fish tank, one of the commonest problems that many enthusiasts face is clearing cloudy water. Nothing beats admiring the beautiful, colorful fish swimming in a well decorated marine aquarium but how can you do that if the water is cloudy? What I hope to do in this article is to guide you on what turns your saltwater fish tank cloudy in the first place and tips on clearing cloudy water that you could use instantly.

Why Clearing Cloudy Water Is Important

When clearing cloudy water, it is first best to understand how the water got cloudy in the first place. There are three main causes of cloudy water; bacterial blooms, algae growth and debris from decorations. Knowing which type of cloudy water you are facing will making clearing cloudy water so much easier.

Bacterial blooms make the water a whitish tint. This is usually the result of over feeding your fish or allowing plants or dead fish to rot in the tank.

Algae growth makes the water a greenish tint. This is usually the result of placing the tank in excessive sunlight and too much nitrates in the tank.

Debris from decorations usually make the tank water a brownish or yellowish tint. This is the result of not properly washing new decoration before putting it into the aquarium.

Tips On Clearing Cloudy Water

Check the population of fish in your aquarium. The ideal population in a saltwater aquarium is one medium size fish for every 8 to 10 gallons of water. Maintaining the ideal level of fish in a tank will allow the fish tank filters to properly function in filtering the tank water.

If your filter causes too much water circulation, turn it off for a while each time you feed the fish to allow them to eat the food completely. And always feed a little at a time. Over feeding will cause the food to rot in the aquarium water, promoting excessive bacterial growth.

Ensure that the fish tank filters that you use is suitable for the size of the tank that you have. Too small and it would not be able to filter the water properly. Too large and it will cause too much water movement and affect the fish.

Clean the filter media weekly or bi-weekly. This ensures that the filter media is not clogged and function to the maximum capability.

Do proper water changes each week. This will control the amount of bacteria and algae in your tank.

If you are affect by algae growth, ensure that you do not have the tank placed in a location that experiences too much sunlight. Remember, algae is a plant and it thrives on sunlight.

Finally, before placing any decoration into your aquarium, wash it thoroughly first. This is especially important for driftwood. These usually shed a brownish or yellowish dust when the are dry which can cause cloudy water.

These are some of the simplest tips that you can use immediately when clearing cloudy water.

Kill Algae In A Salt Water Fish Tank

“This is a follow-up to an earlier post entitled “Selecting Power Fish Tank Filters For Your Fish Tank“.

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Green Hair Algae, also known as Derbesia, grows long and green and does really resemble green algae. If you do not take care of this problem as fast as you can, it will spread very fast throughout your aquarium to a point where it can overrun your tank in just a few weeks. Before it spread uncontrollably, let’s look at some of the most effective ways to kill algae like this.

How To Kill Algae

There are a number of factors that will cause green hair algae to bloom out of control in your aquarium. It could be because of high levels of nitrates or phosphates. It could also be that you’ve just replaced the lamps in your Ultraviolet Sanitizers or maybe even that the lamps are to old causing a shift in the light spectrum. Finally, it may be attributed to excessive sunlight if your tank is placed too close to a window. Whatever the reason, you would need to solve the cause first before you try to kill algae.

Once you have solved the cause, the next step is to prune the algae manually which is a very tedious task if your do it yourself but the great thing about a saltwater fish tank is that we have sea creatures such as hermit crabs to do the job for you. These creatures will gradually reduce the amount of green hair algae which will in time allow you to kill algae more effectively. While the progress may seem a little slow, it needs to be done in a gradual rate so as not to place a shock on your ecosystem.

You can help your hermit crabs speed up the process to kill algae a little by pulling out the larger clumps yourself. If the algae spread is too extensive, you could also add in other algae eating creatures such as Turbo Snails. Other options of algae eaters that you can try include Foxface, Blennies, Yellow Tang and Green Sea Urchins. It would be a great idea to consult the expert at the fish shop who can suggest to you which of these will be the most suitable for you.

Thoroughly clean your protein skimmer too. Start out by cleaning out the pump and the air intake. The collection cup in your skimmer should be cleaned as often as you can so that there is no build up of slime which could clog it. Make sure as much of the dissolved organic components are removed from the water before they are allowed to break down into nitrates and provide a ready food source for the Green Algae. The level of nitrates in your saltwater aquarium should not be more than 10 ppm to prevent algae growth. If your tank is large, make sure the size of the Protein Skimmer is suitable to ensure proper filtration.

Maintenance After You Kill Algae

By following the steps that I outlined above, you will notice a steady reduction of algae growth in your tank until you finally manage to kill algae successfully. And if you have solved the cause of the algae bloom, you have the assurance that Green Hair Algae will no longer trouble you again.

This is the most natural way to gradually kill algae which is a lot better than dumping a load of chemicals in your aquarium.

Planning To Move Fish?

This is a follow up of an earlier post titled “Setting Up A Fish Tank | How To Prepare A Brand New Fish Tank“.

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It will eventually happen one day. Like most people, you might have began the hobby with a smaller fish tank but as time went by, you would have introduced new fish, new decoration and new plants to a point where that old aquarium is just too crowded. It is then that you decide to buy a bigger fish tank and move fish into the new one. But you can’t just set up the new tank, move fish and expect them to live. They’ll probably last a couple of days before floating upside down on the surface of the water.

There are measures that need to be taken to safely move fish into a new fish tank. These measures involve preparing the fish for the transfer and ensuring that the environment of the new aquarium is as similar as possible to the old one. The main idea is to transfer the beneficial bacteria colonies to the new tank when you move fish.

Step #1: Prepare The Old Tank Before You Move Fish

You will be transferring the gravel, tank decoration, plants and move fish. So the first step is to vacuum large debris from the gravel and tank decoration. Then, test the pH and temperature of the water to have a record of the levels that you want to achieve in the new tank.

Step #2: Prepare The New Tank Before You Move Fish

Since your new fish tank will probably be bigger, we’ll assume that you will be getting a new fish tank filter. Fill the tank to three quarters of its volume with water and run the new filter and heater for twenty four hours. Don’t put in the gravel and tank decoration yet because there might be chlorine in the water that will kill of the bacterial colonies on them.

If your existing filter is large enough and you plan to use it in the new fish tank, leave it running in your old fish tank first and if possible connect an air stone to it and run the air stone in the new fish tank.

Don’t think about reusing the old fish tank heater. You have to stabilize the temperature of your new aquarium by running the heater for a day so get a new one. Anyway, you could always keep the old heater as a spare in case the new one breaks down.

Step #3: Testing Before You Move Fish

After twenty four hours has gone by, test the fish tank pH and temperature of the new fish tank and ensure that it is similar to those of the old aquarium. It should not deviate more than two tenths of a pH level and a few degrees in temperature from the old fish tank. If it is, then leave it for another twelve hours or more until it has stabilized. Do not move fish until you have achieved the fish tank pH and temperature that you need to.

Step #4: Transfer The Gravel and Decoration

Use a clean scoop and move the gravel from the old tank to the new tank first. You could even use one of those disposable plastic cups to do this as long as it is clean. Once you have moved all the gravel, start arranging the decoration. Though you had vacuumed them yesterday, there might be debris on them so allow the debris to settle down before adding the fish.

Step #5: Transfer The Filter

It doesn’t matter if you’re using a new filter for the new tank or not, you will need to run the old filter in the new tank for a couple of weeks. This is because the existing filter media has had time to be populated by beneficial bacteria colonies and by running the old filter in the new tank, you will aide in the growth of bacteria colonies in the new filter media as well.

Step #6: Move Fish To The New Fish Tank

It’s time for the all important step. You should only move fish when you’re sure that the fish tank pH and temperature of the new tank matches that of the old tank. A good, stress free way to move fish is by using a net and a cup. Immerse the cup in the tank water and use the net to usher the fish into the cup. The gently pour the fish into the new tank.

By following all these steps to move fish you will not only give the fish the best possible opportunity to survive and live well in its new environment, but you will also prevent other unwanted occurrences such as cloudy water which new fish tanks are generally prone to.

From learning how to move fish, let’s take another look at undergravel fish tank filters.