uh-oh...power outage! HELP!!!

[usacutie81]

When I woke up this morning the power was out. I think it probably stayed out for around 2 hours. When it came back on I checked on the fish and they all seemed to be doing okay. The tank, however, is not. First of all, let me say that the tank has JUST begun its cycle, I'm just now getting ammonia spikes, with 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates. But there is green algae all over everything! The glass, the decor, the substrate, I'm sure there's even some on the plants too, but since they're green I can't tell. I don't know what to do! Do I just scrub everything with my algae pad? I can't put in any chemicals, all the liquids specifically say not to use with invertabrates and we have the 2 blue crayfish. We don't really want to get an algae eater, I just don't think the crayfish will let them live, so what do I do what do I do?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

scrape it off before it spreads! thats about it... and also try to figure out why its there.

 

[jumpfreak26]

thee only thing i can think of is to scrub, idk why you have lagae so soon, maybe too much light. personnaly i would scrub everything down, and keep the lights off for 3 days or so, and then see how the algae is doing.

 

[SANND]

the ammonia spike is part of the normal cycle process. Just scrape the algae off when you do your water changes which you should do frequently to keep the ammonia and nitrites low as the tank cycles.

 

[micah2012]

I had a algae break out in one of my cycling tanks. It was brown algae so I bought 3 Oto cats and they ate it all up in 2 days, it's a 20 gallon. I have green algae in another tank and the Otto's don't seem to be doing any good. What kind of algae do you have?

 

[MissFishy]

How did algae grow so quickly? You didn't have any before the outage? Is your tank in direct sun light for any part of the day? I would go with the "lights out" method to kill it off.

 

[usacutie81]

We had absolutely 0 algae before the outage, but during my husband decided to open all the curtains so the fish could have some light. I'm thinking that's where the algae must have come from.

Will the moon lights encourage algae growth or can we just leave those on all day long while we're killing it off?

 

[usacutie81]

Okay I am getting ready to clean the tank. Should I clean the gravel with the vacuume as well? I'm afraid I might get rid of all the bacteria I'm trying to get started since the cycle is just starting.

Also, it's feeding time for the fishies. Should I feed them before I clean the tank so they're all full and happy and not scared when I stick my arms in there, or should I feed them afterwards as a reward so they know cleaning time means feeding time?

 

[MissFishy]

I usually feed before I clean. Don't vacuum the gravel unless it really needs it, I've found that slows the cycling down a bit, but that's just me. Not sure about the moon lights, from what I've heard, you should just keep the tank completely dark for 3 days to kill it off. The open curtains are probably what caused the algae spike. My opinion: Feed the fish, scrub off the algae, let it settle, then clean, then darken the room.

 

[usacutie81]

k np. Thanks MissFishy!

 

[micah2012]

I use moonlights in my tanks and from my expierience it doesn't provide enough light for the algae to have any effect. Basically in a freshwater it just looks cool.

 

[usacutie81]

cool, thanks Micah.

So I scrubbed the glass and as much of the decor as I could. The rocks are like sponges, though, so scrubbing those would do no good... the algae kinda sank in. I'm just gonna hope that the lack of light kills off the algae.

If this works, what will happen? Will the algae just dissapear and be eventually sucked up by the filter? Or will it just loosen its hold so I can scrub it off?

 

[usacutie81]

Okay, guys, the algae came back again. I don't know what to do. I turned off the lights again and will keep the room dark for a few days, hopefully that will work. Should I go ahead and get an algae eater? Will that help at all?

 

[rohnds]

Clean the algae again ... as thoroughly as possible and siphon off any algae on the rock and decor, and then cut the lights.
To cut out the light, get a heavy blanket and place it over you tank. Total darkness (complete lack of sunlight/light) for 48 hours should starve any surviving alage and kill them.
You should buy some kind of algae to keep the algae down. Even in an established tank, algae bllom is enevitable.

Rohn

 

[usacutie81]

Alrighty, thanks. I thought just turning the fish light off was good enough, didn't even realise I needed to make sure it wasn't getting any light from the room either (although I should have, duh).

I'll pick up an algae eater today even though I think they are all ugly. Are there any unusual ones that you guys know of, that aren't so dark and ugly looking (no offense towards those of you who like them, I'm just all about the bright colors and unusual shapes, and EVERYONE has algae eaters so that's just boring! I like to have stuff other people don't have)?

 

[Seleya]

For now, I wouldn't worry about the algae if it's green. Just leave well enough alone, worry about cycling and scrape off the glass so you can see the fish. The fish don't care about the algae and some will even like it.

Most "algae eaters" you might consider are very sensitive to nitrites -- the next part of your cycle. What do you have in the tank aside from the crayfish? What size tank is this?

Also, I do recommend vacuuming a tank as it's cycling -- just to not go nuts doing it. Most people who are cycling fish-in are doing it because they don't have another tank to seed from and they got fish and the tank around the same time (i.e., newbies). The chances that there is more than average mulm and decaying food in a newer aquarist's tank are pretty high. So what if your cycle takes 7 weeks instead of 6 weeks if your fish are the better and healthier for having a bit more cleaning done in your tank? One problem cited again and again by newer fishkeepers is high nitrates in cycling/just cycled tanks -- any guess what causes that? Vacuum the tank -- the bacteria are on the surface of the gravel, not in the water between them. Just don't go crazy getting every bit of goo. If you need, do just a section of the tank with each water change.

 

[usacutie81]

It's a 75 gal. tank. We have the 2 crayfish and 3 rosy barbs (the barbs are only in there for the cycle, I plan to give them away when it is done). I've been wanting to add a few more fish to increase the bacteria load, but everyone keeps telling me no, I need to wait till the cycle is done. I did a 35% water change the other day and vacumed the gravel, too...guess I shouldn't have done that? The ammonia was decently high and the nitrates look like they might be up a tiny tiny little bit, but that part might just be me. I still haven't seen any sign of nitrites, though, which is weird. I'm going to test the tank again tonight and see what it says.

 

[Seleya]

What are you intending for your final bioload? Depending on what you want, adding a fish or two might be a possibility.

Vacuuming your tank shouldn't do more than slightly delay a cycle (not enough to really make a difference imo and much better for your fish!) Changing water also slows a cycle but is also much preferable than leaving the water to simply cycle without changes.

How does your tap water test?

 

[usacutie81]

Tap water is completely clean, no ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates.

Eventually we want the 2 crayfish, 6 dwarf gouramis, 15 cardinal tetras, a bala shark, and a beta fish. (I know the gouramis and the beta together may be a problem, we're gonna try it and hope they get along... if not I'll split them up.) I got the beta today, but he's a half-moon beta, an itty bitty guy, so he's not gonna do much on the bio load. I'm thinking the gouramis next, cuz the tetras are pretty prissy and may die during the cycle...but maybe I should just wait on the gouramis as well?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

i think you need to re-evaluate your stocking, because crays are cold water, and your other choices are tropical. also, a bala shark will like a school to swim with, and 1 alone will get too big for a 75 gallon tank.