4 replies to this topic

[MathMan]

Hi all
Well that common dreaded problem: ALGAE!
Well its not that bad actually, it looks nice, sort of, but it is starting to cover all my plants My question is, how many algae eaters and what sorts would people recommend for a 6'x1.5'x1' planted tank?
Cheers
Alex

[Brett4Perth]

Depends on a number of factors, including type of algea, other inhabitants and conditions.

Firstly I would be considering any factors that might be aggravating algea growth. These include but are not limited to ... excessive light/insufficient light, excessive nutrients/insufficient nutrients, etc.

As you can see it is more the correct balance that favours higher plants over algea.

Some more info would be useful.

Brett

[MathMan]

Ok here goes:
I am not sure on the types of algae but it is bright green and covers everything like a sot of beard (it is hairy but short haired and thick)
The tank has low light (it is in a very dark room as well, no sunlight):2xgrolux 30W gonna increase it by 2X36W tube in the near future, is this better?
There are very little fish in the tank (8 guppies, 2 tetras)so I dont think excessive nutrients are a big problem and I use that manutec fern spike fertilizer for the plants.

Also, is it a good idea to leave algae on the back glass?.. i dont mind the look of it there and i thought it may offer competition to algae growing on the plants.
Cheers
Alex

[Brett4Perth]

Hi Alex,

Algea names are a bit useless, so I tend to use descriptive names. Hence I refer to that type of algeas as fur or pelt as it looks like the fur on an animal. If it is more than a cm or so long then "beard".

Have had outbreaks of this that were the result of too much iron, so take care with the iron containing fertilisers, even in the substrate as it tends to leach out into the water column.

Increasing the light is a good start, perhaps a bristlenose or four to graze on the algea. Do you have any snails, ramshorns cause few if any problems in my planted tanks but some people disagree. I would avoid other types of snails.

Check your pH, nitrate, Hardness ... if they are out of whack it can affect your plants growth and lead to algea.

Yes leave it growing on the back, the algea eaters will love you for it.

Did you say the tank was 6ft?? and 8 fish !!! and I thought I kept low stocking levels.

Also add some faster growing plants to the tank to use up more of the nutrients. Vallis does a good job for me, do you need any??

Cheers
Brett

[MathMan]

I got heaps of Vallis but cheers Brett, I will put some in, actually I should put a photo up of the tank.
The only reason i got low stocking levels is because all the other fish died of God knows what.
I think i wil get another snail because i have one in my other tank and I love watching him go around and he hasn't bred at all so that's good.
So in the long run when all is set up properly my tank should be rid of the algae... just got to go out and spend some money on some stock i think

One more question though, how much weight can you actually put up on the top of the tank? the second light fitting i want to put on is quite heavy and i noticed when it was resting on the cover glass, it bent the cover glass a little. I am going to make a hood for it cause it is a normal ceiling light fitting so yeah how muh weight do you think would be "safe"?
cheers
Alex