Algae in the planted tank

[Damon]

I figured I post a topic about algae in the planted tank, and although thos post tends to deal with planted tanks, it can be used for non-planted ones as well. *(Wish I could make stickys again).

The following is a list of algae and the general causes of them. *This info has been taken from various sources both printed, and spoken as well as my personal experiences with each.

Greenwater: *Probably the most common found algae in freshwater aquaria. *Causes range from excessive nutrients (NH4) to excessive lighting. *Hard to get rid of though UV sterilizers work wonders. *Moreso a balance of nutrients (less feeding in general), combined with reduced lighting and KNO3 resolves the problem.

Green Spot Algae: *Green "dots" most commonly found on aquarium glass. *Very common and acceptable in small amounts in aquaria. *Usually associated with imbalance of Nitrogen to Phosphate. *A good ratio to have is 15:1. *Otocinclus and many other plecos will eat new growth.

Hair Algae: *Easily described as long hairlike algae that clings to plants, gravel, and filters. *Associated with low CO2 or O2 levels and imbalance of nutrients. Manual removal along with balanced nutrients will cure this nusiance algae. Livebearers, Siamese Algae Eaters along with Flagfish love this algae.

Blue Green Algae: *Bluish-green "algae" that appears on decorations, rocks and plants in bad cases. *It is not an algae but in fact a bacteria with chlorophyll (cyanobacteria). *Has a foul odor also. *It occurs when nitrogen levels are low as it can fix nitrogen from the air and poor water currents result in low O2. *Adding nitrate along with increased water circulation will fix this problem. *Remove all that you see when changing water. *No fish eats this algae under normal circumstances.

Red Algae: *More commonly known as Black Brush Algae or BBA. *Can appear brownish, red, or in black feathery tufts on plant leaves, gravel, rocks, filter intakes, and decorations. *IME the most difficult algae to remove. *Usually associated with inadequate Nitrogen and or CO2. *Bleaching decorations, removing affected leaves, and in some cases bleaching plants in a 1:19 bleach:water mixture will reduce the amount. *Increasing CO2 levels, adding nitrrogen, *or overdosing Seachem's Flourish Excel will help rid the tank of it. *SAE's (Siamese Algae Eaters) and Flagfish are known to eat this algae.

Brown Algae: *Common in newly setup aquariums. *Usually associated with poor waterflow, water high in silicates (hard water), and poor lighting. *Remove as much as possible manually, and increase water circulation. *Changing water sources works well but not also possible. *It will also clear up once a new tank has cycled but mamnual removal is still required.

Algae are in every tank. *The key to keeping your tank as algae free as possible is balancing nutrients, lighting, and CO2. *Products on the shelves that claim to rid algae are, IMO and IME, snakeoil. *Fix the problem, not the result.

[shev]

nicely done. looks like I have some hair algae infesting my hornwort.

[shev]

hey simpte, whats just regular green algae that grows on glass, rocks, decorations, and plants? it kinda looks like green spot algae, but very very thick. I set up a 10 gallon in my window just for the algae. is this green algae the stuff that algae eaters will like?

[Damon]

Could be beard algae. (Most likely) Not uncommon but not related to poor water conditions either. Grows very fast and looks like a beard. Very fine and sways in the water. It "kin" would be hari algae. similiar but much coarser. Usually a sign of high nitrates and high light.

[shev]

nah, its just like green spot algae, except not spots, it covers the glass solid, tinting any light coming in green.

[Damon]

Add PO4 or a 3 day blackout seems to work. I'm still experimenting on various ways to remove different types of algae. For the greenwater a 3-4 day blackout worked for me and also got rid of my green spot algae. The only plants harmed were ones that had weak leaves. The plants recovered but the leaves had to be prunes. Mostly dwarf sag. Some Rotala Indica.