Chloramine in planted tanks?

[cherryshrimp]

My tap water comes laden with a hefty dose of 3ppm chloramine. I use de-chlorinator, so the end product is ammonium, right? I have terrible staghorn algae no matter what I do in my tanks, and I have read it is caused by ammonia. Is ammonium related to algae in any way? Thanks!

 

[Naughts]

Good question.?

Algae will utilise nutrients and light to get a foot hold. Have you tried adding live plants? They use up the ammonia as they grow.

 

[Colin_T]

Algae grows when there is excess light or excess nutrients. If you have live plants in the tank, they use light and nutrients (including ammonia). If there is not enough live plants, then algae will grow instead.

You can put tap water into a holding container/ tank and add dechlorinator. Then put some floating plants in the container. They will use the ammonia and when it is gone, you use that water for the fish tank.

 

[mistyseim]

Hi. Algae love ammonia because it is less work for algae to consume ammonia than nitrogen.

 

[seangee]

Algae thrives when there is an imbalance between nutrients and light. Assuming you do regular substantial water changes and keep your substrate and filters clean it is unlikely to be a direct result of chloramine. As the title suggests it is a planted tank the filter and plants should deal with this easily. The most likely cause is light. Either too much or too little can contribute to algae.

I would start withe adjusting the light period. This may not be sufficient on its own as in many tanks the light is too bright (or less often too dim) so you may need to play with the intensity too. If you use fluorescent tubes when last were they replaced? They should be replaced annually.