Lilena
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello All,
I'm new at this so forgive any lack of information on my part.
My concern (I couldn't find the answer which prompted me to create a profile) is algae build up in my planted tank.
I currently have a 20 gallon with one betta, 4-5 assassin snails, various plants, PH is around 6.5, I haven't really tested the other levels that I'm sure I need. I have CO2 set up with high lighting, fertilizer substrate, and dry fert tabs. Everything is *thriving*! Including the algae...
I have this awesome looking aquatic moss that looks like grass (I had some bad experience with dwarf grass so I figured that would be my best option) and is spreading like I want it to but the algae build up is getting ridiculous.
My walls are turning green and stringy (and although I have an algae wiper magnet thing on the side, I can't clean it all because of some plants being in the way; my fault for over-crowding...) and some of my plants are turning brown with the algae.
I figured I could sweep off the plants manually when they turn brown like that and it gets to be too much, and then I noticed that these long hairs are sprouting everywhere on my plants. After a google search, I realized it's hair algae which needs to be removed manually with a toothbrush or something.
I'm also a little concerned because my substrate (designed specifically for plant growing) is fragile and when disturbed it puts off dusty like stuff which makes it a little difficult to clean and I have assassin snails in the soil ( I had a pest snail problem before but not now with those little guys!) that I'm afraid of accidentally crushing. If I cleaned the algae manually, I assumed the only place it would go is sinking to the bottom and the last thing I want is my bottom caked with algae remnants. I wish there was like an "Algae be gone!" product that just makes it disappear? Not counting on it though...
Point: My question is after I do that whole process manually, how can I make sure/prevent further algae build up from getting to be unmanageable? I want my awesome moss to spread to various areas of the tank and it is going better than I anticipated, but I'm concerned about the extreme algae build up and don't want to hurt my betta by putting chemicals I'm not familiar with in there. Everything else has been doing awesome and I have not done anything that is not natural to it besides the CO2 injections.
To be honest, I know there is a difference between algae and moss but I'm not sure of the specifics as they seem awfully similar. A thought occurred to me that if I did put some sort of algae preventer in my tank, would it effect the moss growth as well?
Advice is appreciated, thank you!
I'm new at this so forgive any lack of information on my part.
My concern (I couldn't find the answer which prompted me to create a profile) is algae build up in my planted tank.
I currently have a 20 gallon with one betta, 4-5 assassin snails, various plants, PH is around 6.5, I haven't really tested the other levels that I'm sure I need. I have CO2 set up with high lighting, fertilizer substrate, and dry fert tabs. Everything is *thriving*! Including the algae...
I have this awesome looking aquatic moss that looks like grass (I had some bad experience with dwarf grass so I figured that would be my best option) and is spreading like I want it to but the algae build up is getting ridiculous.
My walls are turning green and stringy (and although I have an algae wiper magnet thing on the side, I can't clean it all because of some plants being in the way; my fault for over-crowding...) and some of my plants are turning brown with the algae.
I figured I could sweep off the plants manually when they turn brown like that and it gets to be too much, and then I noticed that these long hairs are sprouting everywhere on my plants. After a google search, I realized it's hair algae which needs to be removed manually with a toothbrush or something.
I'm also a little concerned because my substrate (designed specifically for plant growing) is fragile and when disturbed it puts off dusty like stuff which makes it a little difficult to clean and I have assassin snails in the soil ( I had a pest snail problem before but not now with those little guys!) that I'm afraid of accidentally crushing. If I cleaned the algae manually, I assumed the only place it would go is sinking to the bottom and the last thing I want is my bottom caked with algae remnants. I wish there was like an "Algae be gone!" product that just makes it disappear? Not counting on it though...
Point: My question is after I do that whole process manually, how can I make sure/prevent further algae build up from getting to be unmanageable? I want my awesome moss to spread to various areas of the tank and it is going better than I anticipated, but I'm concerned about the extreme algae build up and don't want to hurt my betta by putting chemicals I'm not familiar with in there. Everything else has been doing awesome and I have not done anything that is not natural to it besides the CO2 injections.
To be honest, I know there is a difference between algae and moss but I'm not sure of the specifics as they seem awfully similar. A thought occurred to me that if I did put some sort of algae preventer in my tank, would it effect the moss growth as well?
Advice is appreciated, thank you!
