I've read that you can have a serious algae bloom because of increased nitrite levels. How big are the fish you added? Maybe they were too much for the existing bacteria? If I were you, I'd go buy some snails and/or algae eating shrimp. Dunno what kind of fish you have though, so maybe they wouldn't get along.

Butterfly loaches are my favorite algae-eating fish because they only get three inches, and they prefer to live alone. I've seen them as small as an inch for sale.

One thing to consider is how much light your tank gets from sun or just the hood light. Less exposure to one or both should help. Also how much you feed your fish. Algae needs light and nutrients.

Most snails don't do a great job at eating algae and are poop machines, so they will most likely cause more of a problem than fix anything.

What kind of algae do you have? (Brown/soft green/green hair/blue-green/black brush/greenwater)

What kinds of fish did you add and how big are they?

If you can test the water for nitrates, as kitty said, that would be very helpful.

Sounds like a case of the slimy blue/green type of algae. It can produce noxious gases. It can appear dramatically almost overnight. And it can be treated by adding fish antibiotics (and follow procedures as instructed by the manufacturer). It's a kind of being that's between bacteria and plant. Sort of a very primitive lifeform. Before treatment, remove your filters and start treating the tank. The algae will die in large clumps and sheets which you would have to remove promptly. It can clog the filters and so do take care to remove teh algae before starting off the filters again. Also do decontaminate your filters to ensure this does not repeat itself.

I have brown algae. I have cleaned everything and it hasn't come back . I have three angel fish and four neon
tetras. Should I have different kind of fish to began with.
Thanks to everyone for your advice.I have been leaving the lights on at night that probably caused my problem.

Your fish are fine and have nothing to do with the algae. However 3 angels may be a little tight in a 29G, when they grow to full size. You should add about 8 more neons, they "behave" better in larger groups.Brown algae (diatoms) is common in a new tank especialy right after it cycles. Brown algae isn't really an algae, it is tiny animals that feed on silicates. After a newer aquarium establishes the nitrogen cycle it of course starts to produce nitrogen in larger quanities. It seems that nitrogen is key along with silicates in kicking off a diatoms outbreak. The best way to control a problem like this is to starve it so its presence is minimal or unnoticed. An aquarium is made of glass or acrylic, both have silicate as a base ingredient. Glass tanks are sealed with silicone to hold the glass together and water proof the seams, silicone is chock full of silicate. Also, all the plastic equiptment and decor has a certain ammount of silicates. Usually after 6-18 months the majority of silicates leaches out and is removed by PWC's. The remaining silicates stay under the "skin" of the "cured" plastics/glass and leach out at a much reduced rate. This problem should correct itself in time. In the mean time more frequent and larger PWC's will reduce dingy look. Increasing the intensity of light will help slightly because diatoms prefer a dimmer light. However I have had diatoms in a very intense lit tank. Also, the addition of live plants will reduce nitrogen levels greatly compared to an artificially or non-planted tank. Sometimes this takes care of itself in 2-3weeks or less, sometimes not. It depends on your particular water chemistry. Some people even have silicates in their water supply. This is not harmful to your fish , but it can stain some of your equiptment and decor. It is more of a nuisance then anything. As far as lighting, get a lamp timer and set it for 4-8 hours on nonplanted, 10-12 hours planted. I set mine to be on when I am mostly at home so I can enjoy the veiw.

I'm just a bit concerned about angels with neon tetras. Several years ago I got myself some young angels with some neons - which wasn't a problem until the angels grew. Then the tetras became food to them. I stumbled upon this fact when one evening, I had added 10 new tetras which got wiped out by morning. Silly of me to think that because the angels and the neons come from the amazon river they must be compatible fish. I gave away the angels shortly after.

I can tell you from my own recent experience that neons are indeed violent in small schools. At first I thought it was just because two were sick, but once they were removed, the healthy ones turned on each other, and someone lost an eye before I could give them away. If I were to ever get any again, I would definitely keep a school of 10.

I was actually referring to aggressive angels not the neons. However I;m not surprised if neons did display these behavioural problems because they are related to a much larger cousin which the same tendencies -- piranhas.

Ianna

Holy Cow, Thats alot of Bad advice, no offence to anyone who posted, I didn't even read them all, but this community is a little small to produce good information reliably, maybe make it to a larger fish forum once in a while.

Okay, Increased NitrAtes are probably what caused the Algea bloom, You are probably overfeeding your fish, cut back on food and all should return to normal slowly. Butterfly (hillstream) loaches are not even algea eaters, they are goprgeous fish and may very well do well in your tank but they subsist off of fallen flakes in most tanks which does help with algea, they suck on rocks and glass not to get the algea but to get the microorganisms living within the algea. in a tank that size I would recomend Bushinosed plecs or rubberlipped lecs or some snails that will reproduce (pond snails, ramshorn snails, Malaysian Trumpet snails, japanese trap door snails) as there populations can swell to match your problem and if they die from starvation they will generally clean up the dead ones, although they often become unsightly when you overfeed. Many Algea eaters do produce large quantities of dropping, however this is not a problem because they eat More then they excrette and what comes out is stripped of many nutrients. As was stated before it was probably Diatoms, they are relatively common in new tanks, nopt terribly in FW (I've set up about 20 tanks, some with silica sand and never had one bloom in a new tank, did get one in a 6 month old tank once though), However every SW tank I have set up or seen set up has had diatoms in it after about 1 month.

Moving on, Assuming that it is not Diatoms, Often times exposing the tank to high intensity light and getting some plants in there can help, maybe toss in some elodia and duckweed and set the tank outside in the sun for a while, the true plants should outcompete the algea.

Regarding the Neons and Angels, the Angels do fit but just barely, and if they pair off the third may get harassed, the Neons should be in a larger school, not to calm them down but for protection, those angels if they are not already will soon be large enought to sweep through and eat the neons, Not good for the neon, Also Neons will eat Angel fry just FYI.

Good luck

"I was actually referring to aggressive angels not the neons. However I'm not surprised if neons did display these behavioural problems because they are related to a much larger cousin which the same tendencies -- piranhas."

I was actually reinforcing Woeisme's suggestion of adding more neons. Websites just say they "do better" in large schools, and that's not informative at all, so I want to keep people from making my same mistake.

That's interesting that they're related to piranhas, because they remind me of them with the way they eat, especially when they stole my snails' algae wafer.

Brendan, no offense taken at all. When I'm wrong, I expect to be corrected. Where did you read that about the butterfly loaches? Sounds like something I ought to look at.

I'm not sure were exactly I've read about them, many places though, I've also seen lots of accounts of them preffering shrimp pelets to algea pelets, "Hoovering up bloodworms" and the like, They do however seem to like Diatoms as a food source, so I suppose that counts as an algea. I'll keep an Eye out for info in a reputable sourse for you, if you drop me an Email I'll probably be more likely to remember.

As far as pirahnas and tetras go they are both Characins However if you want to see a tetra that really acts like Pirahnas you should look into exodonts/bucktooth tetras, they make RBP's look downright friendly.

Try the link below for loache info. Unless you want a loache or pleco as an addition, IMO its not worth it. The diatoms is in most cases temporary. The only case where it could be a constant problem is if silicates are coming in your tap water. You could use RO/DI or distilled water along with a freshwater trace supplement. Another option is aluminum oxide filter media. Phos-zorb and PhosGuard are good for this. They is also useful for removing phosphates another major cause of algae. But, like I said in most cases the silicates leach out much slower after the tank "cures". This starves the diatoms and only few do survive, they are hardly noticable then.

Curing is a saltwater live rock process in aquaria, maturing is probably the word you are lookign for. Also there is no link below.

No,I did mean cure. Curing is not only a method in salt water aquaria. Curing in the way I used it is "finishing". The way cement is cured or glue. These things have a drying time, but it may take several days, weeks months for it to "cure" or completly dry or harden. Curing can also mean preservation, like cured meat or when canning pickles.

Sorry about the link, I thought it was attached.

Here is a link that might be useful: Loaches Online

Thanks for the link. That's actually the first place I read about them, I think. It says they eat "algae and all the little goodies it contains," which is why I figure they'd do well on algae.

Thank's for all the info.I have got rid of the algae now ,but my Angel Fish are dieing. Lost three yesterday.I probably need to get someone to check my water.I know it is verry hard. Have been using Spring water for water changes. We only have a Wal-Mart here and they don't know any more than I do.My tank was previously used as a salt water tank. could that have any bearing on my fish loss.I have one angel fish,two kissing fish and two neons. BC.

The kissing fish can sometimes be aggressive depending on their size/age. They get pretty big, 7-12"+. Angels can be aggressive also. IME with angels and kissing gourami's they can be very aggressive or not. Sometimes I have had to isolate angels with only smaller, faster fish and plenty of hiding spots. Lots of plants. The kissing goureamis will out grow the 29G and you will need a larger tank to house 3, a pair would be better, but will still need a larger tank. Angels are somewhat delicate, at first. If they surrvive the first month or 2 with no trouble they usually will be around for the long haul. Spring water can be hard and have a high pH, it depends on where it is from and if it was filtered and how. Distilled or RO/DI water would be a better choice, but you will need to add a supplement of trace elements back into the water. Kent and Seachem make good trace element supplements. This will give you good water for angels and neons, little to no hardness (GH and KH) but essential trace elements. This does get a little expensive and more work then finding fish that are more suitable for your tap water conditions. With all that said, "most" of the time angels and neons will adjust to harder and higher pH water and be fine, Kissing gouramis really do well in any water. It really depends on what water they are bred and kept in, and the difference between your tap water and that. Most LFS and breeders have sophisticated filtration that has near "perfect" water. The more delicate angels and neons will have a tough time adjusting to an abrupt change in water that has more TDS (total dissolved solids). So my advise is to just keep the one angel, see if they will take back the kissers and just stock only medium (the size of a platy or molly) to small (guppies or neon sized) fish, or get at least a 55 gallon tank to keep the kissers. Try going to a website like Badmans tropical fish or even about.com and search "fish profiles" so you can research fish and their needs. Also, try joining the group below. It is free and non-profit unlike alot of groups that are free to join but the "owner" of the site makes money of of it. The advise here is very accurate.

Here is a link that might be useful: TFKH

I have been in many an LFS and in my experience most use UGF's, Very few have soffisticated filtration systems.

Fish farms aswell, many are not filtered at all, most fish that we see come from farms rather than breeders, FW fish that is.

brendan_of_bonsai

Just curious, what is your experience and qualifications with keeping fish?

I've been keeping Freshwater fish since sept 2003, I spent half my senior year of highschool setting up and maintaining over 1000 gallons of fishtanks both fresh and saltwater (totaly of 17), I constructed and have maintained a pond for the past two seasons, I have made over 5000 Fish and aquarium related posts in this and seven other forums (combined, my screen name in most other places is Opcn) and read many more than that, At the hight of my freshwater keeping I maintained 12 tanks of my own, three of which were planted and untill one month ago when I stripped it down to the liverock and sand and left it in the care of a friend I had a 24 gallon Nanoreef, I am also the orgainizer of a small aquarium/fishkeeping orgainization at my college. With regards to my knowledge of Hillstream loaches I have researched them extensively because they are without a doubt my favorite freshwater fish, although I have yet to feel comfortable in owning them.

Was that what you were looking for?

Yes Brendan, that is what I was curious about. :-)

Please don't judge the book by its cover here....this little community has a few people with 20+ years of experience with fish keeping and breeding fish and growing aquatic plants...and yes even salt water tanks. We just don't have the time to post so much.

Its nice to see an up and comer such as yourself, so interested in this hobby. Keep learning and enjoy.

i have a 55gl saltwater tank with a huge black hair algea problem. i had a feather duster that died and the algea started where he died.did he have anythimg to do with it?someone please help me get rid of it.If you want to ssend me an email my address is waynefavre1@yahoo.com