Algae Woes

Our 55 Gallon Aquarium and a Close Up View of the Red Algae That Inhabits It

Trying to Rid My Tank of Algae

I've had algae problems in my brightly lit. 55 gallon tanks from the very beginning of time. Here is the list of things I have done to try to get rid of my algae, before I pretty much gave up.

Reduce the amount of light. I think that this does work, but you have to be patient.
Increase the amount of light - no difference.
Increasing aeration - no effect.
Poor mans Dupla Drops along with the yeast method of CO2 injection - This plant fertilizer that did not contain phosphates supposedly would allow plants to out compete algae for the limited phosphates that would be left in the tank. In my case, it did not work. I think there were too many phosphates to start with and not enough plants. The yeast form of CO2 injection did work pretty well for increasing the amount of CO2 in the tank. Lowered the PH nicely to 6.4 or something like that.
Erythromycin - Did a good job on the cyno-bacteria that originally took over the tank. Now regular green algae have taken over.
PhosGuard - Seems to work, but adding it to my canister filter is a pain.
Phosphate Eliminator - Phosphate Eliminator is easier to administer than PhosGuard and seems more effective in removing phosphate from the water. I do vacuum the bottom of the tank during water changes, thinking that the phosphate eliminator has only eliminated the free phosphate from the water, but it still exists in the tank. My guess is it is in the Phosphate Eliminator at the bottom. .
Based on the advice of a reader of this web page I bought a plecostomus. He has since been killed by the Jack Dempsey's we keep. I don't really think he ate much algae while I had him. While my Jack Dempsey's were rearing fry, I kept him on one side of the tank that was split in two by a partition. There was usually more algae on the side that he was kept than on the other.

About My Tap Water

I recommend that any serious aquarist find out as much as possible about their tap water. I have directly called the water department in my town and the chemist on duty was glad to answer my questions. Also, the town that I live in recently sent out a Drinking Water Quality Report. It turns out that the report describes the additives that the water department uses to treat the water supply, something I neglected to ask about, when I called them. Besides chlorine and fluoride, the water department adds several other chemicals during the treatment process. I believe that this treatment definitely has an effect on how algae has prospered in my tanks.

Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) is added to raise the PH, but a search on the internet reveals Potassium Hydroxide to also be a common fertilizer. It is often used in liquid starter fertilizers. It sure seems to start my algae off well. It never really occurred to me that I was drinking fertilizer everyday, either.

Zinc Orthophosphate is added to prevent pipeline corrosion, but I think that the phosphate component is appreciated by the algae (and plants) in my tanks. It is no wonder that I have been unable to reduce the phosphate measurements in my aquarium to zero. I even found this comment about zinc orthophosphate water treatment on the web: "Phosphate may cause algal blooms if stored in an open reservoir".

Iron and manganese are removed by our towns water treatment facility when they add Chlorine Dioxide to kill bacteria and viruses. My research indicates that the treatment with Chlorine Dioxide eliminates the need to add Cloramine to our towns water.

Chlorine is also added as a final treatment.

There is very little Nitrate in our water supply, less than .25 PPM.

Given that some nutrients are already are added by the town to my tap water, I should only need to add back the trace elements, the town removed such as iron and manganese and also some nitrogen in order to have healthy flourishing plants in my aquarium.

If only I could get rid of the algae that likes this water so much....