Advice for my planted tank.

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1HellerofaGuy

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Feb 6, 2017
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51
I'm trying my hand at a planted take. But, it seems as if I'm failing miserably. My first question is this. Do high nitrates promote algae growth? I've got algae on nearly every square inch of my aquarium.
I'm dosing Seachem, I bought the plant starter pack. Which came with three small bottles. Iron, Fundamentals, and the Carbon. I've been dosing the iron and Carbon every other day. Then the Fundamentals once weekly.
Am I doing something to encourage the algae growth. Today will be the second day of no light in the tank to try and kill off the algae growth. I also purchased three mystery snails and A small pleco in hopes of them consuming some of the algae.
 
Yeah, I'd say light is one of the major factors in your algae problem. All other things being equal, I'd cut back to 8 hours of light per day in a 4-on 4-off-4-on cycle. I did that and it lead to a major reduction in algae in my tank.

Also, what kinds of plants do you have in your tank and what is your nitrate reading?
 
Reduce lighting to 4-5 hours a day for now. Gradually increase the photoperiod until you notice algae growth again. When I had a high-light build, I only the light on for 6 hours a day. I'm currently running my low-light tank at 8 hours with a lot of plant mass, PPS-Pro fertilization, and pressurized CO2. Clean all of the algae off of the glass and aquarium decor (driftwood, rocks, ornaments, etc.). Excess nitrate will promote algae if it is in too high of a quantity. Java Fern and Anubias don't need a ton of light. Do you have high, medium, or low lighting? Your algae issue is due to too long of a photoperiod, possibly lighting intensity, and maybe plant mass. You also don't have to dose iron that often. Liquid carbon can be dosed daily.
 
A small plant mass could contribute to the problem also. Because i only have one small dwarf hairgrass growth, a broad leaf java fern (which is new) and my one anubias plant
 
Another thing to consider besides the photoperiod and plant mass is water changes. How often are you changing out the water? Do you have good water flow? Algae loves stagnant water. I know, a lot of variables.
 
1HellerofaGuy said:
I'm trying my hand at a planted take. But, it seems as if I'm failing miserably. My first question is this. Do high nitrates promote algae growth? I've got algae on nearly every square inch of my aquarium.
I'm dosing Seachem, I bought the plant starter pack. Which came with three small bottles. Iron, Fundamentals, and the Carbon. I've been dosing the iron and Carbon every other day. Then the Fundamentals once weekly.
Am I doing something to encourage the algae growth. Today will be the second day of no light in the tank to try and kill off the algae growth. I also purchased three mystery snails and A small pleco in hopes of them consuming some of the algae.
Click to expand...
Here's my algae problem
 
fishenthusiast said:
Reduce lighting to 4-5 hours a day for now. Gradually increase the photoperiod until you notice algae growth again. When I had a high-light build, I only the light on for 6 hours a day. I'm currently running my low-light tank at 8 hours with a lot of plant mass, PPS-Pro fertilization, and pressurized CO2. Clean all of the algae off of the glass and aquarium decor (driftwood, rocks, ornaments, etc.). Excess nitrate will promote algae if it is in too high of a quantity. Java Fern and Anubias don't need a ton of light. Do you have high, medium, or low lighting? Your algae issue is due to too long of a photoperiod, possibly lighting intensity, and maybe plant mass. You also don't have to dose iron that often. Liquid carbon can be dosed daily.
Click to expand...


Reduce the photoperiod as I mentioned. In addition, make sure your water turnover rate is at least 4x to the volume, meaning that if you have a 30 gallon tank, for example, then you'll want 120 GPH of flow. That is a nice minimum for low tech tanks. The more flow, the better. You just don't want a whirlpool. Dispersed flow is the best. Many people follow the 10x GPH rule, myself included (if one has a 30 gallon tank, he or she would aim for 300 GPH or more). I am unable to get that with my filter, so I use a small powerhead, which aids in nutrient and CO2 distribution. Some have no water flow at all in small low tech tanks, but they do frequent water changes.

In all honesty, the pleco isn't going to help much. It'll just add to the organic wastes in the water. Manual cleaning is the best thing that you can do. Invest in a nice algae scrubber. It doesn't have to be anything expensive.

Aim for weekly or biweekly water changes. 30% water changes are sufficient, but if you have a high fish bioload, and since you're aiming to eliminate algae, a higher percentage water change would help. Do 50% weekly water changes for now, and reduce as needed. Water changes will get rid of nasty built-up organics and will improve the health of the aquarium, as you probably know.

Adding plant mass will aid in eliminating algae as well, for plants will complete directly with the algae, a less complex organism.

I think I've covered mostly everything, so start a plan like this and you should see a reduction in algae.
 
Barliman said:
Yeah, I'd say light is one of the major factors in your algae problem. All other things being equal, I'd cut back to 8 hours of light per day in a 4-on 4-off-4-on cycle. I did that and it lead to a major reduction in algae in my tank.

Also, what kinds of plants do you have in your tank and what is your nitrate reading?
Click to expand...

That actually breaks the metabolism for many algae types. It also increases the CO2 load in your tank helping the plants grow. More plants doing photosynthesis means less waste for Algae.
 
fishenthusiast said:
Reduce lighting to 4-5 hours a day for now. Gradually increase the photoperiod until you notice algae growth again. When I had a high-light build, I only the light on for 6 hours a day. I'm currently running my low-light tank at 8 hours with a lot of plant mass, PPS-Pro fertilization, and pressurized CO2. Clean all of the algae off of the glass and aquarium decor (driftwood, rocks, ornaments, etc.). Excess nitrate will promote algae if it is in too high of a quantity. Java Fern and Anubias don't need a ton of light. Do you have high, medium, or low lighting? Your algae issue is due to too long of a photoperiod, possibly lighting intensity, and maybe plant mass. You also don't have to dose iron that often. Liquid carbon can be dosed daily.
Click to expand...
Solid advice!
 
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