Every time.... !@#$%^&*()

[herpencounter]

Every time I do something to the tank the tank does something weird.

I have this green algae (like brown diatoms but green).
And this hairy brown algae.

I added 65 more watts of Pc lighting and a maxi jet 900.

I remove one problem and make another.
Starts with...
Brown diatoms (the tanks was 8 months old)
Green hair algae
Flat worms
Now this stupid crap
Oh and my tanks is 79 at night and 85 day (now I have to clear this up)


Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Herp Encounter!

 

[Len]

Hey Herp, my answer sucks, but it's the truth Be prepared for even more weird bouts of different algae. I went through nearly two years before the algae finally began to crash on its own. Some tanks stabilize more quickly then others, but do the right thing and be patient. The tank will come around without drastic measures.

 

[herpencounter]

I’m patient the tank is almost a year old and I have snails and hermits :| (I think that’s some type of patients lol).

My thing is its problem after problem after problem.
It just makes you mad you know what I mean.

I lowered the lights to 4 hours again.
I’m going to do a water change and test when I’m done typing.
I’m done typing.

Thanks,
Herp Encounter

Ps. I’m done typing .

 

[Len]

Trust me. It does get better, and rather suddenly IME. Just do the right thing in the meantime and things will come around. Again, it took me 2 years until I got rid of all algae except Caulerpa. One type of algae would die off and another would appear in its place.

 

[trido]

Len is right abouot things taking time to mellow. I still have strange critters appearing out of the LR after a year. 8O

Do you have any type of fan over your tank to keep the heat down? 79-85 is a pretty huge swing. Maybe lower the starting temp to 77 and use a fan to help keep the temp below 81 as a final temp.

 

[herpencounter]

Yeah im have a bunch of ideas for cooling (and right now I have no room for a fan).

What would be a good temp swing (lol) 78-79 night 80-81 day?

 

[pcardone]

Mine took 2 years. Fans are cheaper than chillers. Check out the fan on "at the moment" thread.

 

[herpencounter]

yeah I was thinking of something like that.

Thanks guys idk what u did but I feel much better, last night I had totally lost interest in this hobby (one of those times you just don’t care you know what I sayin).

 

[trido]

yeah I was thinking of something like that.

Thanks guys idk what u did but I feel much better, last night I had totally lost interest in this hobby (one of those times you just don’t care you know what I sayin).

Nope, Near 20 years and my interest is stronger than ever.
Sometimes life gets in the way of enjoying the wonder of the whole fish thing in the living room and even small maintanance tasks seem like a huge chore. But, it is easier than walking the dog nightly or shoveling poop so you can mow the lawn. Heck even my cat is more demamding than my fish tank.
Try not to worry too much about the little things. Cyano isnt the end of the world, diatoms usually clear up all on their own, some algeas are easily removed and then finished up with the right cleaners. Keep up on the simple things and the rest will follow suit in its own time.
Regardless of what your hobby is in life, sometimes it isn't "quite so enjoyable" and you will question whether its worth the time and money. Keep in mind, that this hobby keeps you staring at it almost endlessly. Mountain biking, boating and snowmobiling never did that for me.

 

[herpencounter]

Its that every time I do something to the tank (small or big) some weird stuff just comes up (there not huge probs it just its one after one after one etc.).
My 20g I had never had probs one after another (but it was a fowlr with 40 watts of light lol).

 

[Anonymous]

Light + Nutrients = Algae

More light + Nutrients = More Algae

 

[Anonymous]

herpencounter - Do you use RO/DI water? I am not sure if it was you or not but someone on this board did not. This is a easy fix to help control excess nutrients. Crank up the skimmer to get the skimmate wet. It took me 2 years to beat the hair algae and now after running algae free for a year and a 1/2 I am tearing it down anyways.

 

[herpencounter]

Yes i use RO/DI.

 

[SnowManSnow]

its been my experience that the higher temps also contribute to faster algae growth. I think that even if you could put a standup fan behind your unit blowing onto the water that it would help.

May i echo what everyone else has said... just be patient. It is def. a hobby of patience.

Like the commercial for Home Depot says "YOU CAN DO IT..... WE CAN HELP"


GL!
B

 

[herpencounter]

I don’t want you to do it but I want help haha. :lol:

I have the lights on for 4 hours till I get all the fans in place.

Thanks,
Herpencounter

 

[Anonymous]

it generally takes a tank at least one year to go through the various algae progression cycles

keep your lighting to no more than 8 hours/day (all lights included), make sure you have excellent flow EVERYWHERE, and remove any and all measurable phosphates

that will give you a very good start on the way to being nuisance algae free