algae

Well its freezing and sunny here in NYC and we are lucky enough to have
south and east exposures. In the cold weather, we keep the blinds up a
little more often than in the hot summer when we tend to keep them closed.
The tank is not in a window. It gets mostly indirect light.

We've had our GF for 2.5 years now, and finally gotten the swing of a number
of problems. We've battled several episodes of fin rot (though they seem to
recur).

So here we are after all of this relative stablility with the fishtank and
now are faced with a losing battle of algae. We are largely chemical free
in the tank and are thus loathe to add an algicide unless you all tell us
its ok. Frequent water changes seem to do nothing for the algae-it grows so
fast.

Short of depriving ourselves of light or covering the tank in a dark sheet
do you all have any suggestions to beat the algae? We did recently put in
another air stone-could the addition of air to the water be helping the
algae more than the fish? Are any of the chemicals ok to use?

Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih finrot would be
nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia and nitrates and
good pH.

Thanks in advance.

Elizabeth Leef Jacobson wrote:

> Also, anything to help keep us from the constant battle wtih finrot
> would be nice. The tank is well-cycled with undetectable ammonia and
> nitrates and good pH.
>

How big is the tank and how big are the fish?

How sure are you that the nitrATEs are near zero (as opposed to
nitrITEs)? If the nitrAtes are near zero then the algae shouldn't
have enough to eat... Unless it is actually the bacteria type of
algae...

-Donald
--
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
proof." -Galbraith's Law