I have a tank at the moment which is semi-planted, i've had previous tanks & am soon to move onto another quite larger tank. This next larger tank is going to be a main planted tank (hopefully) & very well decorated.
The problem being is that the first two tanks i've had, is that the small amount of plants always suffer from a type of dark fine algae that grows on them.
What can do to stop this alage from growing in the first place, is it a problem with the water conditions as no other algae is growing in the tank, i do however always suffer form snails, in the last tank & in this one, there was one snail on the crop of plants which i bought for this tank which was removed as soon i as saw it in the shop, but unfortunatly they managed to breed & now an all out infestation, of which i remove about 50 every week.
But enough about snails, fingers crossed they don't become a problem in this new set-up.
I've heard there is a certian fish that can deal with plant algae, is it a flying fox, i read it eats algae but wether it specific to plants alage or not. If you know of anything i would be grateful.
So things i've tried to rid of the plants algae is to remove the effected stems & wait for fresh ones to gow back, but looking in the tank it seems more of the plant is being affected.
What can i do to stop this ????
I've got a few weeks to a couple of months before the new tank is ready for fish, so i would like to avoid this straight away.
I had this problem with a similar algae, I brought a couple of otto's as I read they will eat most types of algae and do not damage plant surfaces like some other larger algae eaters. I also found that CO2 injection (DIY job) cleared it up in a couple of weeks.
@flattestmeat ... i will definatly try one of those Octocinclus, or a couple depending on their tank requirements. Will have to look into some sort of CO2 injection system as well, hopefuly something i can keep out of the way & not to large.
@Morgan Freeman ... definate thanks on that link page there, just had to spend half hour reading it before i could post back here, really nice set-up's & plenty of infomation, will be giving it a more detailed read through again later.
I have a tank at the moment which is semi-planted, i've had previous tanks & am soon to move onto another quite larger tank. This next larger tank is going to be a main planted tank (hopefully) & very well decorated.
The problem being is that the first two tanks i've had, is that the small amount of plants always suffer from a type of dark fine algae that grows on them.
What can do to stop this alage from growing in the first place, is it a problem with the water conditions as no other algae is growing in the tank, i do however always suffer form snails, in the last tank & in this one, there was one snail on the crop of plants which i bought for this tank which was removed as soon i as saw it in the shop, but unfortunatly they managed to breed & now an all out infestation, of which i remove about 50 every week.
But enough about snails, fingers crossed they don't become a problem in this new set-up.
I've heard there is a certian fish that can deal with plant algae, is it a flying fox, i read it eats algae but wether it specific to plants alage or not. If you know of anything i would be grateful.
So things i've tried to rid of the plants algae is to remove the effected stems & wait for fresh ones to gow back, but looking in the tank it seems more of the plant is being affected.
What can i do to stop this ????
I've got a few weeks to a couple of months before the new tank is ready for fish, so i would like to avoid this straight away.
Many Thanks
First off how big is the tank in question? It's simple to drastically halt the growth of algae. I'd get a few more plants, keeps cleaning it and do weekly water changes until the plants have out competed the algae for nutrients. I used a pair of bristlenose catfish and a trio of dwarf gold spot plecs to control my algae and I rarely clean my tank because of this. Watch the amount you feed as the waste from this helps keep algae in business big time. You'll never stop it altogether but you can keep control of it. It's worth using RO water as tap water here especially is full of nitrates and phosphates which isnt that great if you want to control algae. Beware of flying foxes too, I'd suggest a small group in a large 4ft plus tank with other larger robust fish, anything smaller and shy can be a target for bullying hence keep them in a group to keep squabbling to a minimum. What do you have stocked, how do you feed and what other water parameters to you have? These are all factors!
The main tank will be 5 X 2 X 2, which is going to be the main planted tank. I'm ging to have to buy new test kits for it all, also do the water cycling which i can start in the next couple of weeks, so no bg rush, i really just need an idea of what to keep an eye on.
Algae was never a probelm in my first tank, a regular 4ft'er, but that cracked & had to get rid of the fish. It was a few years before i had space for a tank which started at a tiny 40 litre nano tank you could call it. The tank i use at teh moment is 3 X 1.5 X 1.5, nice tank doing well, like i say semi planted, it would be better planted but the snails went to war on 1 of the species of plant & knwo another has just run riot over it so i'm prunning that back, while trying to stop it from growing algae.
I'll also take that advice on the flying foxes, if i can work around a few types of hiding area's something might work.
05-07-2011, 10:40 PM
Plant Algae, How to deal with it ????
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