Algae Bloom

[Clarousel]

I had a read up on algae yesterday and I think that's the problem I'm having in my main tank - algae water.

My water's murky with a slight green tinge to it. I read that doing water changes won't help much because the algae can feed off other stuff, no wonder me doing so many water changes did nothing!

There are a few methods to get rid of it and out of the five I think the most feasible for me would be the blackout for 4 days. Is there anything else I can do to get rid of it?

I'm not very sure how to go about doing this but I know the algae will die and pollute the water. Can I still continue my daily water changes? I'm doing that cause of my ammonia/nitrite issue.

 

[Tizer]

i would get the tank cycled then worry about the algae, you will be fighting an endless battle if you have ammonia in the water with plants in there too.

 

[Clarousel]

I am trying to cycle the tank by doing daily water changes and removing the toxic stuff. I also added ceramic rings today to help with colonizing bacteria.

I know it's a little late to cycle since I've had my tank for so long but I'm really trying. Everything started out wrong and I couldn't do anything about it until now.

So I should forget about algae and focus on my cycling?

 

[RadaR]

How about a 4day black out with daily water changes? Algae cant survive without light and the water changes will remove ammonia and algal spores.
You might read, "you have green water because of excess nutrients in your water", which is rubbish.
Algal spores bloom because of light+ammonia. The more light there is, the less ammonia needed. Now, once the spores have bloomed then yes they can use nitrates and phosphates etc. But in a planted tank (don't know if your's is) we dont want to get rid of the N+P because that could cause more problems (starving plants = algae).

 

[Clarousel]

How about a 4day black out with daily water changes? Algae cant survive without light and the water changes will remove ammonia and algal spores.
You might read, "you have green water because of excess nutrients in your water", which is rubbish.
Algal spores bloom because of light+ammonia. The more light there is, the less ammonia needed. Now, once the spores have bloomed then yes they can use nitrates and phosphates etc. But in a planted tank (don't know if your's is) we dont want to get rid of the N+P because that could cause more problems (starving plants = algae).

I was thinking of that too. To continue my daily water changes while having a blackout because I really can't stand the greenish water So it will be okay for me to do so?

Yes I have a planted tank so I understand about the nitrates and phospates. Just want to clarify, algae is present because of high ammonia and light? And then they will continue to flourish because of high nutrients in water?

Is it possible to have an algae-free tank?

 

[RadaR]

How about a 4day black out with daily water changes? Algae cant survive without light and the water changes will remove ammonia and algal spores.
You might read, "you have green water because of excess nutrients in your water", which is rubbish.
Algal spores bloom because of light+ammonia. The more light there is, the less ammonia needed. Now, once the spores have bloomed then yes they can use nitrates and phosphates etc. But in a planted tank (don't know if your's is) we dont want to get rid of the N+P because that could cause more problems (starving plants = algae).

I was thinking of that too. To continue my daily water changes while having a blackout because I really can't stand the greenish water So it will be okay for me to do so?

Yep.

Yes I have a planted tank so I understand about the nitrates and phospates. Just want to clarify, algae is present because of high ammonia and light? And then they will continue to flourish because of high nutrients in water?

You got it. The ammonia doesn't have to be high. Just higher than what we want. It can be small enough to remain undetectable on a hobby grade test kit

Is it possible to have an algae-free tank?

It is indeed. Achieveing a planted tank with no algae is all about understanding how to grow healthy plants and knowing what environmental triggers result in algae blooms.
We want enough light to grow the plants, which actually doesn't take much. So, as long as the available light energy exceeds "The Light Compensation Point", the plant can produce enough energy to grow assuming that the available CO2 and nutrients can support the rate of growth commanded by the electricity being generated.
The more light we use, the harder it is to stay ontop of algae. After all, they are more adaptive to sudden changes than plants are.

Check out Clive's tank

 

[Clarousel]

It is indeed. Achieveing a planted tank with no algae is all about understanding how to grow healthy plants and knowing what environmental triggers result in algae blooms.
We want enough light to grow the plants, which actually doesn't take much. So, as long as the available light energy exceeds "The Light Compensation Point", the plant can produce enough energy to grow assuming that the available CO2 and nutrients can support the rate of growth commanded by the electricity being generated.
The more light we use, the harder it is to stay ontop of algae. After all, they are more adaptive to sudden changes than plants are.

Check out Clive's tank

Okay great I'll continue with my trash-bag-over-the-tank then!

Hm. My tank gets daylight cause it's outside... And I don't inject CO2 or use ferts. Is that a must when keeping planted tanks? Or will it just result in algae, assuming you manage to keep your ammonia levels decent?

 

[RadaR]

It's very hard to keep an outside tank free from algae just because the light is so intense and we have no control over it. To be in for a fighting chance you'd have to inject CO2 and regularly dose ferts. When plants are unhealthy and dont get the resources they need, they break down and leach ammonia into the water.
The more light there is, the more CO2 and nutrients are needed. If the plants don't get them then they will suffer and algae will pounce like theirs no tomorrow.

 

[Clarousel]

It's very hard to keep an outside tank free from algae just because the light is so intense and we have no control over it. To be in for a fighting chance you'd have to inject CO2 and regularly dose ferts. When plants are unhealthy and dont get the resources they need, they break down and leach ammonia into the water.
The more light there is, the more CO2 and nutrients are needed. If the plants don't get them then they will suffer and algae will pounce like theirs no tomorrow.

I see I see. Right now I don't think I can afford CO2 or nutrients though... I have a smaller tank in my room and it's low-light so I only have ferns in there. Will I end up with an algae war without dosing CO2 and nutrients as well?

 

[RadaR]

It's very hard to keep an outside tank free from algae just because the light is so intense and we have no control over it. To be in for a fighting chance you'd have to inject CO2 and regularly dose ferts. When plants are unhealthy and dont get the resources they need, they break down and leach ammonia into the water.
The more light there is, the more CO2 and nutrients are needed. If the plants don't get them then they will suffer and algae will pounce like theirs no tomorrow.

Will I end up with an algae war without dosing CO2 and nutrients as well?

In the small tank? No, hopefully not because as you said it's low light. Less light = less demand for resources = easier for us.

 

[Clarousel]

In the small tank? No, hopefully not because as you said it's low light. Less light = less demand for resources = easier for us.

Great. So far I've got some brown algae in there but I read it's normal. Starting to understand algae a bit I think!

Increased light = increased demand for CO2/nutrients
Demand not met = plants start to break down = ammonia goes up = algae spores bloom
To get rid of algae is to reduce ammonia and increase plant growth?

Correct me if I'm wrong. So far that's what I understood.

 

[RadaR]

Some more reading for you when you have the time.

 

[Clarousel]

Some more reading for you when you have the time.

I love that website for the algae ID. Just read through the whole of the top chunk. My main tank is stuck in the high light - low tech region which does not exist

 

[Clarousel]

Just wanted to update.

I didn't do the blackout because after thinking through about the algae, what Tizer said made sense. I just went down to look at my tank and the water looks a whole lot better. It's not as murky and green. I'm assuming this is due to the ceramic rings and filter start (I was desperate) I added in yesterday.