I heard somewhere that it is good to leave a wall of alage at the back of the tank and just clean the front and sides. Is this true and why?

Also I have blotchy alage in my Ranchu tank, some blotches are green and some are brown....does that mean anything?

Hi Selena,

From my point of view, I don't mind a bit of algae. 3 of my tanks have bristlenose so I need to have something for them to eat too. I usually only clean the front of the tank as it obscure my viewing enjoyment but otherwise I leave the other 3 sides alone. The bristlenose do a decent enough job so that it is never that bad. I think only cleaning 3 sides of the tank is more a practical consideration as it will be harder to reach the back of the tank to clean it effectively and most people only need to see their fishies from 3 sides.

Captk,
Will green algea grow in a tank that does not exposed to natural light? My tank used to have brown algea but after 2 months, no signs of any green algea. I have a 30W full spectrum lamp running for 10 hours daily. Do you need to "doped" the tank with some algea from other source to start the cycle? What is the best place to get the seed? Can algea from the flower pots be used as I cannot find any algea in my home except my garden.
The algea is not meant for my main tank as I really do not want the green stuff all over the tank. It is actually meant for my frys in another tank.

Captk,
Sorry to hear that you have "crashed" your hard drive. It is expensive in Australia though...$200.00 for a drive!!! What is the capacity? 80G? We can get a 80G HDD for less than AUD$150.00

Hi ranchu_man,

No, green algae needs lots of light. It is green because it uses photosynphesis(sp?) just like your green plants. I won't use algae from a pot. They are different species and are not designed to grow totally submerged. If you have lots of light and nitrAte then green algae will thrive.

I bought a 160GB HDD, that's why it is A$200. My only problem now is that the HDD are so large that it is impossible to backup the disk. I actually use a 120GB USB drive to do some of the backup of important data but it is still a pain when you know the next crash is going to wipe out 160GB.

Algea is good due to the fact that algea is a plant which your goldfish can feed on and it has spirulina and is a good color enhancer. That's why breeder use ponds where the water is pea soup green.

Brown algea is not so good and looks terrible. But i leave some on my ornaments because my fish would nibble on them at times.

I had an orange fantail that i placed in my tiny outdoor pond with green water full of algea, after 4 months, it's noww bright red! The magic of green water

green cloudy water algae can exist with very little light, and thrive. Unfortunately I have tons right now in my smallest tank, and without the live plants, I can't seem to get rid of it. I have tried leaving the light off for a week, but it comes right back a few days after the light has been on again.

In my other tank, I have green hair algae that occasionally grows on the glass walls of the tank, but I just scrape that off when I clean. I always leave the back wall alone, because it gives the goldies something to munch on, and it softens the bright colors of the background, makes the tank look a little more natural.