Algae on Rocks.. WANTED

[smithpants94]

Hey, guys,

I'm on my way to getting back into African cichlids! I'm planning on a specie only tank of demasoni.

Anyway, I know exactly how my rock work is going to look, I have my stocking, I have my filtration, I have my tank but I need one more thing... algae.

I want to cover the rocks in the tank in that perfectly green algae that we our cichlids nibbling on day and night.

Coming from planted tanks, I feel like I should know how to grow algae.. but any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance, everyone!

 

[Brookster123]

Just leave the lights on 12hrs a day and you should get some!!

 

[smithpants94]

Definitely seems to easy... Worth a try, thanks!

 

[Brookster123]

What kind of lighting do you have?

 

[smithpants94]

I have a double lamp t5 normal output fixture.. It has a 6500k bulb and a daylight bulb in it for now but I plan on switching over to an actinic bulb when I start getting the algae growth

 

[Brookster123]

Yah that should do..

 

[SonicsDC25]

The lighting is certainly important, but water chemistry is also a key factor. It's about finding the right balance. Maintenance, well needless to say it's always required to keep perfect parameters.

My 2 month algae progression video and below that is of my tank from a few days ago:

From a few days ago during my hand-feeding, a lot more green today and will be completely covered in 1-2 weeks when all the purple/red have converted over to green.

 

[smithpants94]

Sonics- that is exactly what I'm looking to try to do!

 

[Brookster123]

Yes I was trying to remember who had that bad..... Cichlid setup... It's sonics.. Yep