I've recently had an outbreak of algae in my tank. I've been able to combat it by frequent water changes and it is mostly gone now. However it has begun to grow on my plants and I'm wondering how I could go about removing it from them? Can't exactly scrub them with the tank scraper...
Algae Growth And Plants
- Thread starter Etrigan
- Start date
StandbySetting
Fish Aficionado
How much light is over your tank and what is the volume of your tank?
I have a 10 gallon tank with an incandescent hood with two low wattage bulbs.
StandbySetting
Fish Aficionado
How many watts are the bulbs? And what style are the bulbs? Are they linear?
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Agree with where this questioning is going: light is by far the main factor of control you have over -getting- an algae problem. Both the relationship of the hardware (what SS is working on finding out) and the hours those lights are left on (an even bigger factor in my opinion but should be combined with knowledge of how much light is going in.)
Window light that reaches the tank is also a factor of course and can vary greatly in different situations.
Then once you get excess algae, there is the business of indentifying which type and then the opinions about how to go about ridding your tank of it vary greatly depending on which type it is and of course depend on correct diagnosis.
So it's not a two-way thing. Light + ammonia are the factors that trigger algae spores to change into active algae, but once you get it then the treatment is species/type dependent.
~~waterdrop~~
Window light that reaches the tank is also a factor of course and can vary greatly in different situations.
Then once you get excess algae, there is the business of indentifying which type and then the opinions about how to go about ridding your tank of it vary greatly depending on which type it is and of course depend on correct diagnosis.
So it's not a two-way thing. Light + ammonia are the factors that trigger algae spores to change into active algae, but once you get it then the treatment is species/type dependent.
~~waterdrop~~
No clue as to the wattage of the bulbs or what you mean by linear. They came with the hood when I got it over a year ago.
I do probably need to limit the time that I leave the lights on during the day. Sometimes it's 12+ hours...
The aquarium is not in direct sunlight.
Algae treaments I've looked at in the store say they shouldn't be used if there are live plants in the aquarium.
I do probably need to limit the time that I leave the lights on during the day. Sometimes it's 12+ hours...
The aquarium is not in direct sunlight.
Algae treaments I've looked at in the store say they shouldn't be used if there are live plants in the aquarium.
StandbySetting
Fish Aficionado
Keep the lighting to 8 hours a day on a timer, when I say linear, are they long tubes? That are straight? A picture would help greatly, and if you could type on here and text that is printed onto the tubes we can help you, algae killers are definitely not the right way to treat algae, you're better off treating the cause instead of masking it.
StandbySetting
Fish Aficionado
What shape are they? U shape?
no, just a tube-like bulb... incandescent lights
yes but clear...
30W of incandescent over a 10 gallon is very low light, maybe equivalent to 8W of fluorescent. That is not the problem. Maybe the tank is seeing a short period of sunlight through some nearby window? That might explain the source of light that is causing the problem. As others have said, the most likely problem is too much light but the small amount of light from your incandescent bulbs is too small to account for it.
Many great things to consider but still doesn't answer my original concern...
how would I go about getting it off my plants if i have it under control? Right now they just look dirty.
Will it eventually go away by itself or should I get some new plants?
how would I go about getting it off my plants if i have it under control? Right now they just look dirty.
Will it eventually go away by itself or should I get some new plants?
If you want to remove algae from live plants, use a clean sponge and rub off the algae with it. You will be up to your elbows in tank water but I have never seen any adverse reaction to me doing that. I sometimes need to deal with a hair-like algae growing from plants and everything else in my tanks. I simply reach my hand in and grab the stuff to remove it. I have some rainbow cichlids in one tank that love their veggies so I carry the stuff to their tank and chuck it straight into that tank. It never lasts much more than a day with those vegetation pigs eating it. Nor does any other plant that I give them.
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