algae all over
After running a 65 gallon free water planted tank for a year I got tired
of buying plants and decided that maybe my 40 watt florecent light was not enough light to keep amazon swords growing (unfortunately most local stores sell large numbers of sword plants and not much else). When we would buy new plants they would live but not really grow and we would eventually have to replace them as the leaves got chewed up. I upgraded my lights to a pair of 55 watt florecent lights from ahsupply.com and bam! Everything was covered with algae. I also started using a mineral supplement someones recommendation. I live in Denver and I think they implied the need for more iron than the local tap water would provide. I'd been doing normal water changes and I did not think my nitrate was too high but I decided to increase to daily water changes to get the nitrate down further (it started at about 20 ppm and its now about 5ppm and falling). The amount of algae is less but it is still present. All of the old plants took a real hit from the algae. I had some long filiments along all the edges of the plants. It looked almost red in color. However that stuff is gone as well as the leaves that it was groing on. I've introduced algae eating shrimp, a few different smaller algae eaters and even an apple snail (my clown loaches gobble up anything smaller than an apple snail). However most of the plants have a green covering of fuzzy algae and some new plants look like they are getting it also. Should I continue with the water changes? How low should I bring the nitrates down? Or should I take other measures to get my display tank back in line? |
algae all over
Since you've increased your lighting, you also have to increase the number and
kind of plants you have. 80% of the tank should be planted, and at least at the beginning, a lot of those plants should be fast-growing stem plants. They will out-compete the algae for nutrients. I would not reduce nitrate below 5 ppm. Your plants need it. Plant heavily, plant fast-growers, give your plants all the nutrients they need (and yes, that includes nitrate and even phosphate). A tank of plants that are growing well won't have an algae problem. Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
algae all over
Since you've increased your lighting, you also have to increase the number and
kind of plants you have. 80% of the tank should be planted, and at least at the beginning, a lot of those plants should be fast-growing stem plants. They will out-compete the algae for nutrients. I would not reduce nitrate below 5 ppm. Your plants need it. Plant heavily, plant fast-growers, give your plants all the nutrients they need (and yes, that includes nitrate and even phosphate). A tank of plants that are growing well won't have an algae problem. Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
algae all over
one of the unsightly problems is the coating of algae on the plants on say the
amazon swords I have some anachorous (sp) even it has algae growing on it. what should I plant besides the swords? LeighMo wrote: Since you've increased your lighting, you also have to increase the number and kind of plants you have. 80% of the tank should be planted, and at least at the beginning, a lot of those plants should be fast-growing stem plants. They will out-compete the algae for nutrients. I would not reduce nitrate below 5 ppm. Your plants need it. Plant heavily, plant fast-growers, give your plants all the nutrients they need (and yes, that includes nitrate and even phosphate). A tank of plants that are growing well won't have an algae problem. Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
algae all over
one of the unsightly problems is the coating of algae on the plants on say the
amazon swords I have some anachorous (sp) even it has algae growing on it. what should I plant besides the swords? LeighMo wrote: Since you've increased your lighting, you also have to increase the number and kind of plants you have. 80% of the tank should be planted, and at least at the beginning, a lot of those plants should be fast-growing stem plants. They will out-compete the algae for nutrients. I would not reduce nitrate below 5 ppm. Your plants need it. Plant heavily, plant fast-growers, give your plants all the nutrients they need (and yes, that includes nitrate and even phosphate). A tank of plants that are growing well won't have an algae problem. Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
algae all over
You might want to focus on the plant's needs.
You started down the path there with adding more/enough light. Now if you add CO2 and nutrients then you'll get plant growth and no algae. If the plants don't grow, algae will. When the plants grow, algae does not. Plants need three basic things:light, CO2 and nutrients. Give them these and the tank will do well. Any plant will do. But as Leigh mention's, more is better and a nice dense plant tank looks good also. Don't expect algae eaters to do much more than minor detail of algae control. Apple snails will eat plants and most snails will eat dying or dead plant material. You might want to start on www.thekrib.com and read over some general planted tank tenents or various archives on forums etc. Most folks are totally amazed when they learn how to grow plants. Regards, Tom Barr |
algae all over
You might want to focus on the plant's needs.
You started down the path there with adding more/enough light. Now if you add CO2 and nutrients then you'll get plant growth and no algae. If the plants don't grow, algae will. When the plants grow, algae does not. Plants need three basic things:light, CO2 and nutrients. Give them these and the tank will do well. Any plant will do. But as Leigh mention's, more is better and a nice dense plant tank looks good also. Don't expect algae eaters to do much more than minor detail of algae control. Apple snails will eat plants and most snails will eat dying or dead plant material. You might want to start on www.thekrib.com and read over some general planted tank tenents or various archives on forums etc. Most folks are totally amazed when they learn how to grow plants. Regards, Tom Barr |
algae all over
Is it really necessary to have a CO2 generator?
" wrote: You might want to focus on the plant's needs. You started down the path there with adding more/enough light. Now if you add CO2 and nutrients then you'll get plant growth and no algae. If the plants don't grow, algae will. When the plants grow, algae does not. Plants need three basic things:light, CO2 and nutrients. Give them these and the tank will do well. Any plant will do. But as Leigh mention's, more is better and a nice dense plant tank looks good also. Don't expect algae eaters to do much more than minor detail of algae control. Apple snails will eat plants and most snails will eat dying or dead plant material. You might want to start on www.thekrib.com and read over some general planted tank tenents or various archives on forums etc. Most folks are totally amazed when they learn how to grow plants. Regards, Tom Barr |
algae all over
Is it really necessary to have a CO2 generator?
" wrote: You might want to focus on the plant's needs. You started down the path there with adding more/enough light. Now if you add CO2 and nutrients then you'll get plant growth and no algae. If the plants don't grow, algae will. When the plants grow, algae does not. Plants need three basic things:light, CO2 and nutrients. Give them these and the tank will do well. Any plant will do. But as Leigh mention's, more is better and a nice dense plant tank looks good also. Don't expect algae eaters to do much more than minor detail of algae control. Apple snails will eat plants and most snails will eat dying or dead plant material. You might want to start on www.thekrib.com and read over some general planted tank tenents or various archives on forums etc. Most folks are totally amazed when they learn how to grow plants. Regards, Tom Barr |
algae all over
"william kossack" wrote in message ... Is it really necessary to have a CO2 generator? No, as long as you don't put in too much light and plant accordingly with low light plants. Everything is a balance - upping the light will not necessarily make your plants grow better - they will just use up the available CO2 faster & then stop. You can "help" the CO2 level in a tank without CO2 supply by having a good amount of turbulence at the surface and/or an Airstone in the tank. |
algae all over
"william kossack" wrote in message ... Is it really necessary to have a CO2 generator? No, as long as you don't put in too much light and plant accordingly with low light plants. Everything is a balance - upping the light will not necessarily make your plants grow better - they will just use up the available CO2 faster & then stop. You can "help" the CO2 level in a tank without CO2 supply by having a good amount of turbulence at the surface and/or an Airstone in the tank. |
algae all over
I have a powerhead with an underground filter along with a penguin 330
Iain Miller wrote: "william kossack" wrote in message ... Is it really necessary to have a CO2 generator? No, as long as you don't put in too much light and plant accordingly with low light plants. Everything is a balance - upping the light will not necessarily make your plants grow better - they will just use up the available CO2 faster & then stop. You can "help" the CO2 level in a tank without CO2 supply by having a good amount of turbulence at the surface and/or an Airstone in the tank. |
algae all over
I have a powerhead with an underground filter along with a penguin 330
Iain Miller wrote: "william kossack" wrote in message ... Is it really necessary to have a CO2 generator? No, as long as you don't put in too much light and plant accordingly with low light plants. Everything is a balance - upping the light will not necessarily make your plants grow better - they will just use up the available CO2 faster & then stop. You can "help" the CO2 level in a tank without CO2 supply by having a good amount of turbulence at the surface and/or an Airstone in the tank. |
algae all over
william kossack wrote in message ...
I upgraded my lights to a pair of 55 watt florecent lights from ahsupply.com and bam! Everything was covered with algae. So did I when I upgraded with ahsupply.com. I traced the algae growth to the use of liquid plant fertilizers (Nutrifin Plant Gro Iron Enriched .15 - 0 - 0). Switched to root tabs only, and my algae went away. |
algae all over
william kossack wrote in message ...
I upgraded my lights to a pair of 55 watt florecent lights from ahsupply.com and bam! Everything was covered with algae. So did I when I upgraded with ahsupply.com. I traced the algae growth to the use of liquid plant fertilizers (Nutrifin Plant Gro Iron Enriched .15 - 0 - 0). Switched to root tabs only, and my algae went away. |
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