Tame that algae

Q: My aquarium is overgrown with algae -what can I do to try to tame it?




A: Most aquarium algae problems are secondary to too much food or too much light.





Overfeeding is very common, and nutrients not used by the fish mostly go to growing algae. A good general rule is to feed most fish 3-4 times a week. Feed only as much as they can consume in 3-4 minutes.



Remember there are far more problems caused by overfeeding than underfeeding. The only way to really remove excess nutrients from the water is frequent partial water changes.

Most lighting problems that cause algae are either too long a light cycle or lights that are old. Having the lights on more than 8-10 hours a day will tend to cause overgrowth of algae unless you have a large amount of plants or corals in the tank.



The spectrum of light emitted changes as aquarium lights age. Often this is not apparent to the naked eye. Check with the bulb manufacturer or your local aquarium shop on how often you should replace your aquarium lights.



Not only will feeding your fish to much cause a algae bloom, it can also make your fish fat and lazy wich leads to a shorter life span. I learned that at the speakings this weekend.

nice find kory

time to turn my lights on later

Timers will help with getting a 'regular" light cycle. And plants like full spectrum bulbs in the color range of 5000k to 6700k. Cheap bulbs that meet this criteria are the GE Sunshine bulbs ( 5000k ) or the GE Daylight bulbs ( 6700k ). Sylvania has similiar bulbs as well. They can be had at most Walmarts, Lowe's or Home Depot for very reasonable prices. I try to change mine out every 6 months.

yeap. i agree

Adding floating plants will cut back on algae growth considerably. I run 2 65K bulbs 20 hrs a day on my 55, and don't have any algae although if is heavily planted.. Some of my tanks are planted in the Walstad method. In reality, you can run your lights as short or long as you care as long as you maintain that balance between fish/food/water/plants. http://www.aquabotanic.com/?p=175

It sucks that the specialty bulbs, like PCs, cost $$$ to be changed every 6mo. I've even read once long ago they are supposed to hold their light quality till they go out, that was my main reason for buying the PC light fixture, because I thought over time I'd be saving money. whoops.

BobV... at HD.. (2) T12's - 6500K ran me a whopping total of $7.00.

Even in a planted tank, you can end up with gsa problems when the phosphate/potassium levels get unbalanced. Certain plants use up phosphate faster than others (duckweed comes to mind) then the aquarium becomes unbalanced and that tiny unnoticed spot of gsa becomes a bloom of gsa. Only way to "tame' the gsa is to raise the phosphate levels. This is the direct opposite of what you would normally do with other algaes, since they thrive in higher phosphate conditions.

Other types of algae thrive on varying levels of nutrients and light as opposed to what the higher orders of plants require. Not all respond to the same treatments. One of the best 'natural' ways is to add other 'lower order' flora which have similar direct nutrient requirements as single cell algae. I'm referring to the macro algae miramino moss balls and the aquatic mosses.

Not to mention that some algae are not algae at all. So you must know what you are dealing with first before applying general 'fixes'. You may in fact, make your problem worse!

As for light length. As long as the chemistry of the tank is in balance and you are using lower order plants to absorb the same levels of excess nutrients - you won't even have an 'algae bloom' when you leave high lighting on from 5 am to 10 pm. I do this everyday in my 10G moss/fern tank. Granted, I do have some plecos/smaller algae eaters in it - but I make sure to feed them a bottom feeder pellet so they don't starve.

Great post 2Sci... I'll have to do a ton more research but.. low order/high order plants intrigue me. I raise crypts, sag, val, Amazon sword, java fern and a bunch stem plants I've been too lazy to ID just yet. Oh and a clump of subwassertang (sp). Are they classified as high or lower order? Bill

If it is the same as what I saw on this site:

http://www.victri.net/plants/_subwassertang.html

Then it is most likely a form of liverwort, which would be a lower order similar to the mosses. I'd be interested in a chunk of it. Would go nicely with my pellia moss.

(this is my opinion just from the photos. I'd have to put it on slides under a microscope for a more definite differenciation)

2sci . James of the Virginia chapter shipped some to a friend of mine.. I got mine else where. Not sure if James still has any!... He's posted on our chapter thread and I'm sure in the Marketplace.
And the other plants?