# Algae nightmare in my 5g, would love your thoughts



## Karackle (Apr 14, 2009)

Hello everyone! I am looking to pick your expert brains because my 5g looks GROSS (pics below).

This tank has been up and running for about 6 years altogether, i have done some rescaping, but no complete breakdowns in that time so perhaps the time has just simply come to do a complete tear-down. But either way, I would love your opinions on what the heck happened here.

So my betta died a long time ago and I couldn't decide if I wanted another betta or to try something else in the 5g and I was really busy so I kept going back and forth on what I wanted, in the meantime though I kept up with basic tank maintenance. I was getting a betta recently for my brandy-new desktop tank at the new job (yay new job allowing feesh!) and I saw 2 that were stunning and I couldn't decide who to get so I decided it was time the 5g home office tank had a new resident (other than snails). Anyway, I took him home, scraped a small amount off algae that had accumulated on the front glass off, cleaned the canopy, seeded the tank with filter media from my 30g just in case the beneficial bacteria needed a boost, drip-acclimated the betta, and put him in his new home. He looked happy and healthy, but he died about a week or a little more later. In the few weeks since his death, the tank has become a gross algae infested nightmare! I would LOVE to know your thoughts on why, though I realize a true answer may never be known. But I do have do SOMETHING before I bring home any other resident for this tank, so I would also love to know how you think I should proceed.

Could this be coincidental timing? Could there have been something in the water or on the betta that came in with him? Is is time for a total tear-down and rebuild? Should I dose the tank with anti-biotics or anti-microbials or both before I put any new fish in? Any and all input would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!


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## second (Dec 21, 2005)

Wow
I'm thinking a complete tear down and start fresh


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## Karackle (Apr 14, 2009)

I know right? Gross. After some more research and discussing with people on a local forum I am thinking the influx of nutrients from the betta waste and food in such a small system just threw everything off balance.

I'm thinking tear down is in order too.


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

I wouldn't tear it down.
Take the challenge, you may be surprised.
Vacuum gravel, clean glass off, 50% water change and once again next week.
It all may clear up and work for you.


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## mooncon (Oct 12, 2011)

I do 50% water changes and clean all my tanks every week.You may be surprised if you do what Maryland Guppy said.


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## Karackle (Apr 14, 2009)

Maryland Crab - 50% water changes on a 5g are pretty simple, so maybe I will go that route, especially since the problem seems like it has started taking care of itself, I think the algae exploded so quickly it used up the nutrients and killed itself off, so vacuuming out the debris and doing a few large water changes over the next week might be the best route. Thanks for the input!

Mooncon - thanks for the input, I am thinking I might just do that


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## Karackle (Apr 14, 2009)

Well the plot thickens because I need to use this tank for a fish sooner than planned. I was not going to get an inhabitant for this tank until I squared away the algae / cyano / fungus / whatever-is-growing-in-there problem was dealt with, and I didn't go get one, but I need to use it for a zebra danio that is bullying everyone else in the 30g. 

This danio (and his buddy who is no longer alive) used to be in the 30g but they were bullies and were stressing out the guppies immensely, to the point I lost a few and a couple females dropped fry early, it was no good. So I moved them to the 60g where they were fine. But I just broke down the 60g and he had to move back to the 30g. I was hoping in his older age he would be less of a bully, but no luck. He's up to his old tricks. So he's gotta leave that tank. I know a 5g is small for a Zebra Danio, but it's the only other option available right now. 

So now the question is, what do I do to prepare the 5g? Manually remove as much algae as possible through a series of water changes and hope for the best? Plop the whole tank in the kitchen sink and rinse the bleep out of it? Do the rinsing thing followed by gravel removal, layer of mulm from the 60g and gravel back on top (so the tank isn't totally sterile for the plants), filter media from the 30g (will do this regardless)?

Of course, this is assuming I can CATCH the little bugger. I think it took me 2 days last time. We shall see.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Redoing the entire tank will make it go through a mini cycle again and you'll end up killing the danio as well. So your best option is to do a large waterchange (80-90%) and suck off as many debris/algae as possible but leave the filter and substrate alone. You can repeat it the day after if it's still not clean. Than place the danio in the tank.


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## Karackle (Apr 14, 2009)

Well I did about 5 100% water changes in the tank to clean everything out, wasn't too worried about killing the cycle because I have plenty of seeded filter media to pilfer from my 30g to seed the tank. Also plan to do a few more partial water changes to make sure everything is still in good shape, and will keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrIte levels with regular checks (once I can catch the darn zebrafish!) I also cleaned the canopy and filter really well.

WELL much to my dismay I went to check on the tank today aaannnnd it was leaking from the filter. Luckily my "tank towel" that I keep around to dry things off while I'm playing with my tanks was on the desk and absorbed much of the water, but there was still a little puddle on the floor. So instead of just pilfering filter media from the 30g, I pilfered my entire little internal secondary filter. It's a bit strong for a 5g with a betta in it, but I think the zebra danio will be fine with the additional flow. If i see him hiding in the cave a lot, I'll find something else. I've been trying all day to catch him with no luck though. GRRRR

Anyway, 5 water changes with vacuuming and a filter change later, here's what the 5g looks like now:


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## PAXpress (Sep 22, 2011)

Looks like a completely different tank. Keep us posted!


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## Karackle (Apr 14, 2009)

Thanks! It's amazing what a good cleaning and a little moving of plants can do (but mostly the cleaning ) 

I will be sure to keep you guys posted, and I'll be starting a journal for this tank as well  

Thanks again for everyone's help!


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## Karackle (Apr 14, 2009)

So I couldn't catch the darn zebrafish with a net, so I decided to try a fish trap. The good news is the fish trapped work, the bad news is it worked a little too well, it seems like about 1/2 my fish made their way in there in the hour or so it was in the tank 

The good news again though, is I was able to take the fish in there, dump them in another container that was big enough to get a net in, and scoop out the Zebra Danio. So he is now in the 5g. Lights were out by the time I put him in, so I'll get some shots of the tank tonight when I get home from work.

But I did take a picture of how well the fish trap worked, you can't see the Zebra in this shot, but here it is:


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