Hair Algae And Green Algae On Glass Walls

[deftuch]

high phosphate feeds algae and high nitrates cause alage, that much i do know,

No worries if you want to give in but to round it off I can assure you [as Snazy said] you have it wrong. You can't compare a non planted tank to a planted one, they're fundamentaly different. No nutrient causes algae, only algae causes it, but different things can trigger it. Mostly ammonia and various plant hormones released from ill health more often than not due to CO2 issues. That's why you'll see algae people refer to ammonia, CO2, flow and/or light as being the cause.
Whilst you are correct in saying phosphate (as any nutrient right down to molybdenum etc) will feed algae, reducing these [in a planted tank] will never be the answer bacause of the above.

HTH

lol i know what youre saying, its just frustrating because as far as im concerned, im not a total idiot and ive run the tank with algae prevention in mind but i still got it, after doing some more research my very first origanal thought may also play a part, poor light tubes can cause algae..........

 

[SO19Firearms]

poor light tubes can cause algae..........

IMO you're researching in the wrong places.

Identify your algae - Fix the problem.

 

[deftuch]

excellent link there its a hard one i know i have some bba for sure but whether its a little bit of hair or stag algae also im not sure, at thjis current moment it isnt too bad but the plants have suffered a little bit although in general stilll look healthy, heres the videos of both my tanks
 
first video is my healthy malawi tank>>http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8HpWY4rF-8
 
second is the dreaded comm tank!>>http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XDTFBr9Spg

 

[snazy]

The tanks are very nice. I love the colour of the rocks in the malawi.
For your planted tank I'd suggest to get some fast growers in there too. You've got anubias and java fern and they can't cope on their own to keep the balance as they grow very slow.
Vallis would be lovely in the background and doesn't need much care but grows faster than anubias and java fern. Or/and get floating plants like amazon frogbit or salvinia. They'll help diffuse the light for the low light loving plants you've got.

 

[deftuch]

The tanks are very nice. I love the colour of the rocks in the malawi.
For your planted tank I'd suggest to get some fast growers in there too. You've got anubias and java fern and they can't cope on their own to keep the balance as they grow very slow.
Vallis would be lovely in the background and doesn't need much care but grows faster than anubias and java fern. Or/and get floating plants like amazon frogbit or salvinia. They'll help diffuse the light for the low light loving plants you've got.

thankyou for that. my comm tank is all messed up at the moment, i havent scaped it at all really since i added the java fern, they are yet to properly settle, the only problem i have with vallis and other tall plants is my parrot fish loves to dig them up, ive had cabomba many times but each day i find some broke and dug up, i havent tried vallis yet or floating plants though, thats some good suggestions i may well give a go

 

[snazy]

They may not be able to dig vallis out but you can get bulb plants like aponogeton crispus or cryptocoryne balansae. Especially the latter will be hard to uproot. Floating plants will really help the balance and they don't need CO2 as they get it from air. Fish will love the shade too.

 

[deftuch]

They may not be able to dig vallis out but you can get bulb plants like aponogeton crispus or cryptocoryne balansae. Especially the latter will be hard to uproot. Floating plants will really help the balance and they don't need CO2 as they get it from air. Fish will love the shade too.

thanks for the tips, il deffo get some floating plants and vallis, il see how that goes first then cos i dont wanna spend too much money on the tank again lol

 

[snazy]

I live in the republic of Ireland, so not sure how much postage would cost to the Uk, but if you want, I can send you salvinia minima. I've never sent plants before but as long as you pay for postage I'll try to pack them nicely and send you a lot for free. I throw away some daily.  Look at the surface of my tank here:
 

And a shot from the surface:
 

 
 

 

[deftuch]

I live in the republic of Ireland, so not sure how much postage would cost to the Uk, but if you want, I can send you salvinia minima. I've never sent plants before but as long as you pay for postage I'll try to pack them nicely and send you a lot for free. I throw away some daily.  Look at the surface of my tank here:
 

And a shot from the surface:
 

 
 

your tank is very very nice, and id love to take you up on that offer, however i have alot of surface agitation in my tank now and a strong circular current flow, would the floaters cope with that?

 

[RCA]

I live in the republic of Ireland, so not sure how much postage would cost to the Uk, but if you want, I can send you salvinia minima. I've never sent plants before but as long as you pay for postage I'll try to pack them nicely and send you a lot for free. I throw away some daily.

Love your tank snazy, looks like some powerful lighting above it. I had some of the floating plant in my Aquaone980 but it eventually died off, so I suppose the lighting was not strong enough for it?  If you have any spare after supplying deftuch, I would be happy to buy some from you, hopefully the time it takes to get to UK they should be OK.  Can you PM me if you are happy to supply some please.
 
Is that a group of Albino Cory's flying around?  They are mad little Cory's aren't they
 
 
@deftuch, do you have more information and a picture of your frog that seems to eat everything?

 

[snazy]

Thanks RCA. There are albinos, sterbai and albino/gold laser hybrids in there, my own bunch that gets to be kept for that reason
I've no problem sending you some salvinia minima. I think it grows by the minite as I throw away daily.
The plants would do fine if they don't get water on the leaves from too much surface disturbance. That's what kills them faster than anything. How much do you want and how do you want it packed? I'll pm you so we don't spoil the thread.

 

[deftuch]

I live in the republic of Ireland, so not sure how much postage would cost to the Uk, but if you want, I can send you salvinia minima. I've never sent plants before but as long as you pay for postage I'll try to pack them nicely and send you a lot for free. I throw away some daily.

Love your tank snazy, looks like some powerful lighting above it. I had some of the floating plant in my Aquaone980 but it eventually died off, so I suppose the lighting was not strong enough for it?  If you have any spare after supplying deftuch, I would be happy to buy some from you, hopefully the time it takes to get to UK they should be OK.  Can you PM me if you are happy to supply some please.
 
Is that a group of Albino Cory's flying around?  They are mad little Cory's aren't they

 
 
@deftuch, do you have more information and a picture of your frog that seems to eat everything?

albino frog, hes a good 6 or 7 inches atr full spread length, why and what info do you want

Thanks RCA. There are albinos, sterbai and albino/gold laser hybrids in there, my own bunch that gets to be kept for that reason

I've no problem sending you some salvinia minima. I think it grows by the minite as I throw away daily.
The plants would do fine if they don't get water on the leaves from too much surface disturbance. That's what kills them faster than anything. How much do you want and how do you want it packed? I'll pm you so we don't spoil the thread.

awww, they woudnt be suitable for my tank at this current time, i dont have an ait pump i onyl have surface agitation, i need a really strong currnet because my fish are messy and create lots of mess, so the stronger the current the more chance the filter will pick mess up, il have to invest in a new airstone and get a pnp quote, in the mean time i will order some vallis and some type of bulb plant, or maybe just some strong simple stem plants for the moment

 

[snazy]

No problem.
I too have strong current but I've restricted the surface movement to a point that the plants don't get killed.
I don't have air pump either, it's no good in a planted tank.

 

[deftuch]

No problem.
I too have strong current but I've restricted the surface movement to a point that the plants don't get killed.
I don't have air pump either, it's no good in a planted tank.

no it isnt. my fish tank quickly goes cloudy if i dont have enough surface movement, because of lack of oxygen. i have to put the health of my fish first obviously

 

[snazy]

no it isnt. my fish tank quickly goes cloudy if i dont have enough surface movement, because of lack of oxygen. i have to put the health of my fish first obviously

 
Air pumps are good at outgassing CO2, so the plants suffer and it's not very efficient in providing oxygen. Surface movement for oxygen is best when provided by the filter. You also need that flow to circulate all around the tank so if filtration isn't setup correctly, or is not enough, then you'll have dead areas around the tank that become home for anaerobic bacteria, which causes the white cloudy water you see when they multiply a lot.  I am presuming your filter on it's own doesn't cope, hence the air pump but if you want a planted tank it's best if you use a second filter rather than air pumps and make sure you've got circular flow that goes from top to bottom. The flow rate of the filters combined per manufacturer's specifications should be around 10x the water volume an hour for best results.
You have a fine taste for decoration and the tanks are lovely but your understanding of how tanks work is based on old theories that have been proven wrong.