[guitarsrmine]

I'm new to this board, so I hope I'm in the right place. About a yeaR AGO, my family and I moved to a new town-brought my 2 - 55 gallon aquariums, and as much of the water as I could from the old house. Never had a problem with algae, until about a month ago, AND ITS DRIVING ME MAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do weekly 30% water changes, my nitrates are at 10(according to my test kit)there's no ammonia, my ph is around 7.2.I run the lights 12 hours a day, which are twin-40 watt "plant growth" bulbs, one a Flora-Grow, and the other is a GE from WalMart. The algae is bright green, not long and stringy, but more compact to the plants, and kinda slimy-looking.I dont go over-board with the ferts, either. And, I am careful to watch how much I feed. Do I need CO2 ? I was under the assumption that I wasn't running enough watts of light for C02 to be beneficial.Also, my substrate is plain ol' gravel.Please, give me your expert advice, because this algae outbreak is very frustrating!!! The stock in my first tank is--
7 Neon Tetras
3 Pristella Tetras
3 Serpae Tetras
2 Corys
1 Clown loach

1 Molly
1 Aquatic frog
1 Black Tetra
10-15 guppies
Am I overcrowding the tank? I always did so well at NOT having an algae problem-you can probably understandmy frustration!!My second tank consists of--5 Angels,2 Corys, An Otocinclus, and a Kuhli loach.

 

[stcyrwm]

A better description of the algae or a photo would be helpful. If it rubs off in sheets then it would be blue green algae which is usually related to low nitrates. If it is BGA then it is actually a bacteria and can be dealt with organically through a black out or by dosing Maracyn 1 for the quicker fix. Do a search under BGA and you will get lots of info. Of course you will need to deal with balancing out your ferts also.

Good luck, Bill