The Puffer Forum

So suddenly I've been having some type of bad algae outbreak in my 20 gallon tank. All I have in it is one 2 inch green spotted puffer. He's been in there for the past 7 months or so with no problems like this before. SG is 1.020, pH is 8.0, Ammonia is 0, Nitrites are 0, and Nitrates are less than 20. The weird thing is that the algae isn't on the glass at all, just the decor and sand. It seemed to start when I added a brand new Aquaclear 50 HOB Filter to the tank last month. I didn't remove my Tetra Whisper Filter though, just left it running as well. I don't see how a new filter could have caused the outbreak unless the media is causing something in the water to be removed that prevents algae? I have NO IDEA. I thoroughly cleaned the decor and sand 3 days ago and it aleady looks like this again...whats the deal??

The first two pictures are from the before I decided to clean everything and the second two are 3 days after the cleaning.

How long do you keep your light on ?

It's on from 6am to 1pm, then off from 1pm to 3pm, then on from 3pm to 9pm, and then off untill 6am again. So a total of 13 hours on a day. Is that too much??

5 to 7 hours too long.

But it was always on that light schedule and the algae JUST started coming around. Is it possible for none of it to form and then to suddenly have an outbreak of it? And if i cut my light schedule down will that take care of it?

But it was always on that light schedule and the algae JUST started coming around. Is it possible for none of it to form and then to suddenly have an outbreak of it? And if i cut my light schedule down will that take care of it?

Your phosphate levels may be high too, and it's possible that they took time to build up.

Well, I would keep the light off for couple days and see if there is any more growth

Also a good 50% or more W/C would be good as well

I found that when I cut my lights back to 8 hours a day my algae growth all but stopped

Looking at my tank again I notice that the sand underneath the cave type decoration that's in his tank has no algae growth on it....it also gets no light. So it must be the lights. If it were the phosphate levels wouldn't there be algae on every square inch of the tank? Not just the areas that receive light?

And if it is high phosphates could it be caused by the carbon filter media in the new filter??

Algae does need light. Phosphate levels could be low or high, if there is no light reaching a surface, it won't grow. So, your phosphate levels could still be a contributor, the algae is not growing where light doesn't reach it simply because algae cannot grow and carry out photosynthesis without the light.

I doubt that carbon some how added phosphate to the water, phosphate is in fish foods, it's an element fish require. It's normally not in high levels in tap water, but that's not always the case. It normally will build up from what is added from fish food.

I think you will find cutting the photoperiod down will eliminate algae problem along with the suggested water change.

Alright, great. Thanks for all the advice guys.

Let us know how it goes.

You could also add some large mystery or apple snails as well, assuming the puffer can't eat them at that size. You mentioned it isn't on the glass. Go grab a cotton ball and wipe it on the inside of the glass. It is likely there too, but not as visible.

Possibly cyano?

I don't think it is Cyanobateria - (among the "best" biofilm builders around, and that is too splotchy).

What size is the fish now? You may be overdue for a tank upgrade. In any case, it is nutrients plus too much light. If you want that many hours per day, you need to seriously downgrade the lighting - reduce one o\r the other (time or wattage) by at least 50%.

Reaperpilot2014: The tank is SW not fresh. FW snails will not survive, even if they were not eaten.