Algea? On Plants

[katykaye]

Hiya all

I have always had real plants in my tank. The fish have always eaten them and pulled them apart. Its costing me a fortune! The ones I have now have a hair like algae on them, despite my tank being sparkling clean and regularly cleaned.

Is there any way of stopping this? Or are there plants the fish wont eat? Or shall I just give up and buy artificial?

Help please

Kaye

 

[Robot_Rooster]

Its most probably your patys that are eating your plants that is if the plants have fine leaves. many fish wont eat plants just nip the algae that grows on them

 

[annafishlover]

i would just have fake plants they are easiler and cheaper

 

[Robot_Rooster]

i prefer real plants as they do their part in cleaning the tank and to me its better for the fish

 

[smegforbrains]

You might just squeeze a Bristlenose Plec into your tank. He/she will happily munch for hours on algae covered leaves.

 

[Truck]

shrimps will take hair algae

 

[Corleone]

Bristlenose, if I'm not mistaken, won't take hair algae. True siamese algae eater might be an option. If I'm not mistaken, they and at least one of the species they get confused with will eat hair algae, but only the true SAE will eat a couple types of algae like black brush.

 

[RadaR]

How about finding the cause of the algae and solving it rather than buying unnecessary fish?
Most likely that the fish are not eating the plants but picking at the algae and/or picking at the food that has stuck to the algae.
The algae implies that the plants aren't getting something they need in order to grow therefore they die ("costing you a fortune").

 

[katykaye]

How about finding the cause of the algae and solving it rather than buying unnecessary fish?
Most likely that the fish are not eating the plants but picking at the algae and/or picking at the food that has stuck to the algae.
The algae implies that the plants aren't getting something they need in order to grow therefore they die ("costing you a fortune").

Yep - sounds like a good plan - any ideas?

 

[RadaR]

Right.
Tank size?
Lighting- Watts? t8 or t5? How old are the bulbs? Any idea what bulbs they are?
CO2- is there any? Do you have an air stone?
Filtration- What is it and any idea how much flow?
Maintenance- how often and how much are your water changes? How often do you clean the filter and what (floss or sponges)?
Do you dose any nutrients?
What plants?
What fish and how many?

Sorry about all the questions, but it's easier finding the solution.

 

[katykaye]

Right.
Tank size? 125L Juwel
Lighting- Watts? t8 or t5? How old are the bulbs? Any idea what bulbs they are? The Bulb is new - just one, and went to the fishy shop and said "I want a bulb for my Juwel 125" and this is the one he gave me - it is a natural daylight one though!
CO2- is there any? Do you have an air stone? No introduced Co2 but I have a fairly fast medium bubble airstone and a moonlight light which has small bubbles
Filtration- What is it and any idea how much flow? It was already inbuilt into the tank
Maintenance- how often and how much are your water changes? I change the water and vac the gravel every 2 weeks and do approx 25%
How often do you clean the filter and what (floss or sponges)? I clean the filter every 3 months and rinse the sponges out in removed aquarium water
Do you dose any nutrients? No
What plants? Sorry I don't know, but bog standard fishy shop ones - nothing special - will try and find out
What fish and how many? As listed in my sig
Sorry about all the questions, but it's easier finding the solution. Its no problem - thank you for taking the time

 

[RadaR]

Ah ok, this makes it easier because I have a Rio125 too

Lighting sounds ok. The Juwel reflectors will help intensify the light towards the tank.
CO2, I really would try get some carbon to the plants. Even with the 2x18W you have in there the plants are going to need carbon in order to grow and maintain their structure. If you don't want to go down the CO2 gas route then there is another option. You can introduce carbon via a liquid solution called Easy Life EasyCarbo. Dose 5ml of that a day and you will see a positive effect. Also, don't use the airstone as it is just driving off CO2. Airstones IMO are just there to look nice. In a heavily stocked aquarium with large cichlids would need a air pump, but for your tank, it's not necessary.
Another filter would be ideal to create more flow and offer more nitrifying bacteria however you could just opt for a powerhead to add flow. Good amounts of flow are needed in a planted tank to distribute nutrients and CO2 to the plants and the plant's waste away from the plants. The Hydor Koralia Nano Pump would be a good choice. I'd position it on the left hand side of the tank, near the front and just below half way down.
Water changes need to be increased more. Atleast try do it every week of about 30% (50% would be much better). This way you effectively reset the tank, stabilize the KH and pH, aswell as reducing the ammonia and algae spores in the tank.
Try and clean the filter floss (the white floss at the top of the filter) once every 2 weeks. This will get rid of any organic material that could be leaching ammonia that feeds algae spores. The cleaning of sponges sounds right. It's a good idea to siphon out the bottom of the filter to get rid of the mulm down there too.
Nutrients. Again, the plants really do need this, any gardener will tell you that. Best one for you is the Tropica Plant Nutirtion +. (the "+" is important). Aswell as containing the trace elements for the plants it also contains macro nutrients aswell. Marco nutrients being nitrogen and phosphorus. Contrary to what you've been lead to beleive, these do not cause algae in a planted tank (if of course everything else is balanced). Try dosing 2-3ml of this a day. If the plants look like they need more, then increase by 1ml.
When you've got all you need, then go get some more plants and watch the magic

 

[katykaye]

Ah ok, this makes it easier because I have a Rio125 too

Lighting sounds ok. The Juwel reflectors will help intensify the light towards the tank.
CO2, I really would try get some carbon to the plants. Even with the 2x18W you have in there the plants are going to need carbon in order to grow and maintain their structure. If you don't want to go down the CO2 gas route then there is another option. You can introduce carbon via a liquid solution called Easy Life EasyCarbo. Dose 5ml of that a day and you will see a positive effect. Also, don't use the airstone as it is just driving off CO2. Airstones IMO are just there to look nice. In a heavily stocked aquarium with large cichlids would need a air pump, but for your tank, it's not necessary.
Another filter would be ideal to create more flow and offer more nitrifying bacteria however you could just opt for a powerhead to add flow. Good amounts of flow are needed in a planted tank to distribute nutrients and CO2 to the plants and the plant's waste away from the plants. The Hydor Koralia Nano Pump would be a good choice. I'd position it on the left hand side of the tank, near the front and just below half way down.
Water changes need to be increased more. Atleast try do it every week of about 30% (50% would be much better). This way you effectively reset the tank, stabilize the KH and pH, aswell as reducing the ammonia and algae spores in the tank.
Try and clean the filter floss (the white floss at the top of the filter) once every 2 weeks. This will get rid of any organic material that could be leaching ammonia that feeds algae spores. The cleaning of sponges sounds right. It's a good idea to siphon out the bottom of the filter to get rid of the mulm down there too.
Nutrients. Again, the plants really do need this, any gardener will tell you that. Best one for you is the Tropica Plant Nutirtion +. (the "+" is important). Aswell as containing the trace elements for the plants it also contains macro nutrients aswell. Marco nutrients being nitrogen and phosphorus. Contrary to what you've been lead to beleive, these do not cause algae in a planted tank (if of course everything else is balanced). Try dosing 2-3ml of this a day. If the plants look like they need more, then increase by 1ml.
When you've got all you need, then go get some more plants and watch the magic

Thank you so much for all that! I feel a shopping trip coming on

Although I have my eye on a 285L on ebay