Algae vs plants

[tamtam]

I'm going to start planting my 30 gallon soon and have wondered the effect this will have on the algae growth in my tank.

My tank is close to a window that gets a fair amount of natural light so I do have a good amount of algae growth. I've often heard people say that after an adjustment period plants will beat out the algae growth. Is this true?

Will the plants "suck up" that extra sunlight that causes my algae and eventually beat out the algae? I don't mind the algae but I have to admit it is a bit of a pain to clean all the time but the fact is there is no where else I can place this tank right now so I just deal with it. I'm planting the tank either way but if it would help with my algae amount that would be pretty sweet. lol.

It's just going to be low light planted, I'm not getting to technical, no CO2 and some root tabs and a bit of liquid ferts once in a while.

 

[jetajockey]

The short answer is maybe. It might, it might not. A tank in a spot that gets a good dose of sunlight can be next to impossible to completely control algae on. Planting is almost always a good idea though so it's a worthwhile effort anyhow.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I think if you can't move the tank, maybe there's a way to cover the window a little better? If not, then going low tech with no co2 (i think) wouldn't be enough to out-compete algae. If you add co2 (even DIY co2 might help, although DIY is best for tanks <20g), and add in some more demanding plants, perhaps that might work to suck the algae dry of its nutrients. Try using some Seachem Excel as well.. It's a liquid carbon that contains an algaecide that's great at growing plants while helping to reduce or even kill algae...

Otherwise... You'll just have to live with the algae... On the bright side, you'll get a buff arm scrubbing that algae off.. Haha.. J/K

 

[Rivercats]

TamTam I have 2 tanks out in the sunroom which has 3 walls of windows facing north, east, and south. The big 220 is 2 feet off the south facing windows so in the summer it gets indirect light due to the trees shading. But in the winter, heck make that fall to spring, it gets direct sunlight in 1/4 of the tank end on that side. There is no window coverings and you saw pic's of the 220. I don't know why but I have never had issues due to the extra light. In fact the plants on that end really seem to like it. The other tank is a 20L that sits right against the east window wall and gets alittle morning sun and then pretty much indirect light the rest of the day. Now with that tank I made sure to black out the back but it still gets side brightness and some from the top. The way I keep algae out is limit my lighting to 6 hours a day (roughly as it doesn't have a timer). If it looks like I could be getting the start of algae I found that just leaving the tanks lights off 1 day out of the week does the trick. This tank is planted but I'd say medium heavy. Don't know if this info helps but it's what my tanks do with sunlight.

 

[tamtam]

I think if you can't move the tank, maybe there's a way to cover the window a little better? If not, then going low tech with no co2 (i think) wouldn't be enough to out-compete algae. If you add co2 (even DIY co2 might help, although DIY is best for tanks <20g), and add in some more demanding plants, perhaps that might work to suck the algae dry of its nutrients. Try using some Seachem Excel as well.. It's a liquid carbon that contains an algaecide that's great at growing plants while helping to reduce or even kill algae...

Otherwise... You'll just have to live with the algae... On the bright side, you'll get a buff arm scrubbing that algae off.. Haha.. J/K

My main issue with co2 is simply I know nothing about it. This will be my first attempt at a planted tank and while I've been researching my butt off for a while now on low tech planted tanks I have no actual hands on experience and haven't learned much about co2, aside from it's need when you get into more plant growth.

I was thinking about using Seachems Excel actually so that is good to know. I haven't been sure if I should go with Excel or Trace. I also noticed a brand at LPS I've never seen heard of before that I'm going to look into. Aquavitro. I was in getting some new Prime and saw it.

I'm also going to try and get a shade for the window but not sure how well it will help

 

[Bettafanatic]

Plants like anacharis and hornwort are very low maintenance and low light plants, aren't demanding, and really absorb a lot of nutrients to help out-compete algae. You could give those a try.

 

[tamtam]

Thanks everyone. It's worth a shot. I'm imaging that with winter coming that the natural light will die down some anyways. The tank back is blacked out but half of the tank is in front of the window, below the windowsill height so it gets a lot of light through the top and on 1 side. I'm starting to second guess my clear acrylic top on the tank over a hood.

Again, I don't hate the algae, cleaning is a pain but that's mostly the fake plants I hate trying to clean. If I plant the tank it's a non issue and I just need to worry about the tank walls. My fish sure love snacking on it too. No big deal either way on if planting helps or not but it would be pretty cool if it did.

 

[tamtam]

Plants like anacharis and hornwort are very low maintenance and low light plants, aren't demanding, and really absorb a lot of nutrients to help out-compete algae. You could give those a try.

thank you! I was planning on hornwort if I see some in at the local store but didn't even think of anacharis.

 

[Rivercats]

If you want to go with Excel this is what I use....Glutaraldehyde Cold Sterilization Solution 14 day 1 Gallon: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific. It's pure Glutaraldehyde (much like Excel). Its about 2.6x stronger than Excel so I mix 1gallon of the Glut with 1-1/2 gallons of RO water to get 2-1/2 gallons of Glut for $28 dollars including shipping. You use it the same as Excel. I've been using it for over a year. I'm scared of CO2 honestly and have had excellent results with Glut and use it in all my planted tanks. It even works in my 220g high light tank.

 

[Rivercats]

Forgot to mention if you would get it throw the little bottle of "activator" away as soon as you get it. You never use that.

 

[BBradbury]

Algae Growth

I'm going to start planting my 30 gallon soon and have wondered the effect this will have on the algae growth in my tank.

My tank is close to a window that gets a fair amount of natural light so I do have a good amount of algae growth. I've often heard people say that after an adjustment period plants will beat out the algae growth. Is this true?

Will the plants "suck up" that extra sunlight that causes my algae and eventually beat out the algae? I don't mind the algae but I have to admit it is a bit of a pain to clean all the time but the fact is there is no where else I can place this tank right now so I just deal with it. I'm planting the tank either way but if it would help with my algae amount that would be pretty sweet. lol.

It's just going to be low light planted, I'm not getting to technical, no CO2 and some root tabs and a bit of liquid ferts once in a while.

Hello tam...

I control algae by keeping the food to a minimum. I don't mess with the lights, that affects my other plants and that's not what I want. I feed just a little, twice a week and have no visible algae in my tanks.

If you limit one of the three things needed for plant growth: water, light and food, then you can control plant growth, especially a primitive plant like algae.

Just one reporter's opinion.

B

 

[tamtam]

Hello tam...

I control algae by keeping the food to a minimum. I don't mess with the lights, that affects my other plants and that's not what I want. I feed just a little, twice a week and have no visible algae in my tanks.

If you limit one of the three things needed for plant growth: water, light and food, then you can control plant growth, especially a primitive plant like algae.

Just one reporter's opinion.

B

I am certainly going to cut back on my feedings. I was going every other day for a while but when I added my angel he was not eating much while he adjusted so I fed daily, he was only eating food as it sank to the bottom and not going to the surface. He's nicely settled now and greats me at the surface in the mornings so I'm going to cut back to every other day again or possibly just 3 times a week for a while.