Alge discussion

[xsryman]

I have a planted tank and have been battling brown and now green alge for quite some time. I have never used fertilizer because of fear of promoting more alge growth. Will using root tabs or Seachem plant food be beneficial to plant growth or alge growth...or both. How do I further promote good plant growth and also get rid of alge naturally with out use of chemicals?

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[azmodan]

Algae typically appears when there is an imbalance of light, ferts/nutrients and/or CO2. With that said every tank has a unique chemistry but more info can help us help you. We'll start with these questions...

Size of tank? How long has it been set up? What sort of lighting do you have? How long do you run your lights? Any direct sunlight? What sort of plants do you have and how much? How often do you do PWCs?

 

[Mebbid]

Algae typically appears when there is an imbalance of light, ferts/nutrients and/or CO2. With that said every tank has a unique chemistry but more info can help us help you. We'll start with these questions...

Size of tank? How long has it been set up? What sort of lighting do you have? How long do you run your lights? Any direct sunlight? What sort of plants do you have and how much? How often do you do PWCs?

+1 we will need this information before we can help. Following along.

 

[xsryman]

I have a 55gal tank. I just swapped my lamps from the 5000k T8 daylights that came in my hoods for some 6700k T8 plant growth lamps. Tank has been running for almost two years. I have anubia nana, amazon sword, and a moss ball. I run my lights at night, when I go to bed until I get up and go to work...time lenghts vary but usually about 10hrs. Tank is in my bedroom and blinds are always shut so I don't think there is much daylight getting in. I do water changes twice a month. They are always big, like 80% changes. Deep gravel vac cleaning then I refill using Seachem Prime water conditioner.

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[Mebbid]

I would first suggest trying to cut down lighting to about 8 hours a day and see if that helps any. Algae seems to thrive on long photo periods.

I would also suggest doing no more than a 50% water change as it will cut down on the size of the pH swing from the freshly added water.

 

[BBradbury]

Dealing w/ Algae

I have a planted tank and have been battling brown and now green alge for quite some time. I have never used fertilizer because of fear of promoting more alge growth. Will using root tabs or Seachem plant food be beneficial to plant growth or alge growth...or both. How do I further promote good plant growth and also get rid of alge naturally with out use of chemicals?

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Hello x...

I float several kinds of plants in the tank that use a lot of water nutrients. Anacharis (Egeria densa), Hornwort, Pennywort and Duckweed appear to slow the growth of algae. Apparently, the plants use up available food and there's nothing left for the algae. I understand that Anacharis gives off a chemical that's toxic to most forms of algae. I emerse the roots of the Chinese Evergreen in my tanks too. The roots take in the dissolved nitrogen from the fish waste. Again, there's nothing to sustain the algae.

I feed a little variety just twice weekly. There's not much extra for algae. Water changes are the best thing you can do to maintain a healthy tank. I change half the tank water every week, so there's not much in the way of nitrates for the algae.

Just some suggestions.

B

 

[Mebbid]

Algae grows better than plants when there is a lack of nutrients. This is why there will be an absolutely overwhelming algae outbreak in a medium or high light tank without proper fertilization.

 

[gilpi]

Algae grows better than plants when there is a lack of nutrients. This is why there will be an absolutely overwhelming algae outbreak in a medium or high light tank without proper fertilization.

I would think algae use nutrients as plants do? I'm wondering now.
No expert here, sort of new with planted tanks.
I had my issues with algae as well and it's when I realized too much lighting was doing more harm than good.
Cut back on the lights and algae almost disappeared plus the plants look a lot better.

 

[Mebbid]

I would think algae use nutrients as plants do? I'm wondering now.
No expert here, sort of new with planted tanks.
I had my issues with algae as well and it's when I realized too much lighting was doing more harm than good.

Algae does grow in much the same fashion as a plant will but it requires much much less energy and nutrients to grow. Think of a mouse compared to an elephant in regards to energy needs.

Most hard core planted tanks flood their system with nutrients so that their plants can grow uninterrupted. They also balance this with appropriate amounts of carbon and light to make a healthy growing plant system.

I've asked numerous times in many places if anyone can give an exact reason why the algae doesn't grow along with plants and nobody has given me a clear cut answer with scientific backing. I can surmise that algae growth begins on plant leaves and has a hard time growing on healthily growing plants. It's common to see plants that aren't growing properly begin growing algae on them before any other plants.

 

[gilpi]

Mebbid
Interesting information. Thanks.

 

[xsryman]

Hello x...

I float several kinds of plants in the tank that use a lot of water nutrients. Anacharis (Egeria densa), Hornwort, Pennywort and Duckweed appear to slow the growth of algae. Apparently, the plants use up available food and there's nothing left for the algae. I understand that Anacharis gives off a chemical that's toxic to most forms of algae. I emerse the roots of the Chinese Evergreen in my tanks too. The roots take in the dissolved nitrogen from the fish waste. Again, there's nothing to sustain the algae.

I feed a little variety just twice weekly. There's not much extra for algae. Water changes are the best thing you can do to maintain a healthy tank. I change half the tank water every week, so there's not much in the way of nitrates for the algae.

Just some suggestions.

B

I would like to float some stuff on top of my tank but that will affect the light to the plants below. Right? Or is it not that big of o difference?

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[xsryman]

I would like to float some stuff on top of my tank but that will affect the light to the plants below. Right? Or is it not that big of o difference?

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Wanting to let some water sprite float in there

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[aqua_chem]

Any chance you can get us a picture of the algae in question?

 

[xsryman]

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[xsryman]

Hard to capture what it looks like in real life but hopefully you get the idea. Mostly growing in the lower corners and on my driftwood and plants.

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[Coursair]

I put my lights on timers. With problem Algae I'd reduce lighting to 6 hours at first and after it's under control try upping it to 8 hours. Is the tank getting any direct sunlight ?

Partial water changes as was suggested will help also.

Plus test your water and keep Nitrates no more than 20ppm.

Don't overfeed and your tank should recover. A good Fert regimen will also help your plants out compete the algae.