Algae problem

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wildroseofky

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
1,432
Location
Kentucky
I planted my tank and I am using a 75 watt plant light. It works out to 2.5 watts per gallon. Things were going fine until today. I noticed a lot of algae growing. It is a light green to white color. Some of it is kinda stringy. I have been leaving my light on for around 10 hours with a few days of it being on for 12-14 hours. Should I cut it down to 8 hours. I am getting a timer because I am inconsistent with turning them on and off at regular hours. My plants are growing and I don't want to stunt them. Tank has been planted for 5 days. I added some more plants today. I have two mollies and three ghost shrimp in the tank. They are eating the algae but I don't think they can eat it all. I am ordering some Seachem Flourish and root tabs. Should I use an algae remover?
 
Yes, you should cut off the light...maybe 6 hours a day until the algea is gone...12-14 hours a day seem pretty much. It seems like you have green hair algea in the tank and I believe ghost shrimps and black mollies will help you with it. If you wanna use algea remover...flourish excel works good in my experience...
 
Thanks for the reply. I have always been told that more light is better when it comes to plants but I am new to aquarium plants. this is my first planted tank ever. I will get a timer soon and set it up for 8 hours on. I turn the light on when I get up and off when I go to bed but a lot goes on during that time and my rising and waking times vary widely.Until I get a timer I will make a note of when I turn it on and set my alarm for 6 hours later. The mollies are going crazy trying to eat the algae now that they have eaten all my new duckweed. I found a package deal of Seachem plant fertilizers and I plan on ordering that. I was thinking of adding another light but the one I have is so bright it freaks out the fish and I don't want to get into CO2 right now.
 
No, more light isn't better. You will have more algae issues. I have a timer on my tank, and it's set to about 8.5 hours, and mine's doing pretty well. But I've cut down from very high light to now having only low light. And it's thriving. I got rid of my high light plants when my fixtures burned out. The fixtures were getting old and the wires and connectors were very brittle and falling apart due to the heat of the 65W bulbs. I was running 520W on my 75G.
 
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