Algae Question.

[vivalagourami]

I'm having an algae problem, and I've read back through some different threads and can't quite figure it out. The tank is a 10G, 4 red-eyed tetras, 1 female swordtail. Silk plants, two airstones, regular flourecent lighting with glass cover. I think that's about it.
I tested it last night...
pH 7.2
Amonia = 0ppm
Nitrites=0ppm
Nitrates = 0 ppm
temp 79 degrees.
Fine...right? Well, the pH is usually 7.0, but I didn't think it was major.
I change about 20% of the water every week (sometimes week and a half if I'm a bit lazy). I gravel vac, I clean the sides with rough side of the scrubby
So I have this very green water. Green cloudy water.. I've left the lights off for two days. I've pulled out some beard algae too but that hasn't been a huge problem. I put the silk plants in a bleach/water 10% ish mix when it gets too bad. But this green cloudy stuff won't go away. I've seen different suggestions about phosphates or water changes being too frequent. But I all those were in regards to planted tanks. I was wondering if anyone has some idea what I should do. Someone earlier suggested a baby laxative or something. Can anybody help? The fish tank is becoming a pain to look at.
Thanks!

 

[Kuroshio]

ok, if you have no plants the fix is easier. A black-out. try three days. If the water itself is green, then it is a unicellular algal that is water born and dies very quickly without light. planted tanks have a problem b/c they don't want to do a black out. to keep the problem at bay is another thing. You may be doing larger water changes than you need (10%weekly if needed and 30% monthly). Do you have sufficient agitation in the tank? Also look at your lights, is the tank getting any sun? Are the lights on more than 10 hrs a day? It sure seems like you are doing a lot of scrubbing. btw, make sure you don't use or clean that sponge with ANY soap. it should be cleaned and kept only for the tank. I wouldn't suggest bleach either. I would look into adding a vigorous algae eater to the tank. How long has the tank been up?

 

[Kuroshio]

of note: try a general internet search of "algea bloom" and see what you get. I find a lot of useful info that way.

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

i would imagine the "baby laxative" you heard about is an enema?...

Fleet Enema is a popular cheap source of phosphate (PO4) for planted tank people that dose PO4, but without plants you want to avoid PO4 like the plague.

I agree that it sounds like you've got an overly clean tank on your hands. 5 small fish in a 10gallon tank is way understocked, so ease up on the water changes unless you are an overfeeder and have high nitrates (which you list you don't). I would imagine you are starving off you bacteria colonies by keeping nitrates at ZERO.

 

[vivalagourami]

I have one of those Aqua Clear filters that agitates pretty well. I also have two airpumps and one airstone, one airward (or whatever they are called.) And I never clean the scrubby with soap. Everything for my fish stays in the fishbucket and goes no where else. I scrub because algae gets stuck to the glass and looks bad. But that's the beard algae with I don't mind too too much. And I read somewhere on here that bleach evaporates as it dries, which is I why I cleaned the decorations that way. It hasn't seemed to bug the fish. Sometimes my lights are on more than 10 hours a day if I come home late or something. But there's no direct sunlight on the tank.
How can I get some Nitrates to build up? The tank has been up about 2 years now, and the nitrates have always tested at zero.
I mean, the fish don't look bad or stressed or anything throughout this whole algae bloom. Their color is nice and they are active and feed well. I just can't see them as well with the green water
I change the filter media NO MORE than once a month. And that's rare, I usually let it stay in there longer.
Yeah it was that Fleet Enema I was reading about. But I don't have plants so that is out!
Thanks for your help guys. I will try to black out the tank for a few days.
I will let you know how it goes.