Controlling Algae In A Planted Aquarium?

[Plecc]

Hi all,

Every now and then i get a small amount of regular green flat algae growth, normally on the glass and rocks.
By giving the glass a good clean each month, Ive never really had any problems.

A week ago i noticed i had quite high nitrates, so to keep the nitrates down i increased water changes and reduced feeding a bit.

just before i noticed the high nitrates there was a sudden burst in algae growth.
Now its even growing on the sand and plants, and I am now noticing a new type of algae beginning to grow quite quickly.
I think its the green hair type algae.

My LFS recommended using seachem flourish excel, is this stuff any good?
I would rather not have to use a chemical supplement all the time if i can!

Google research made me think adding a special media to my canister filter that reduces Nitrates and Phosphates could be a good idea, but I am concerned these products may remove important food for my plants!

How do other people keep algae under control?

Plecc.

 

[Truck]

nitrates don't cause algae, they will however sustain it's growth, phosphate does not cause algae also, hair algae is normally related to poor flow/ poor or fluctuating CO2 levels (lots of water changes may cause this), is the green algae on the glass small spots?

 

[Plecc]

About 75% of the algae is the normal small flat spots, 20% i think is hair algae and is mainly growing on my plants leaves, the other small bit which is infesting the heater i think is beard algae,
but not too sure.

My flow rate is really good, at least 10x an hour.

 

[Truck]

The flow rate may be 10x but you could still have dead spots, green spot algae is normally linked to low phosphate.

 

[snowflake311]

I use excle all the time for extra co2. You have to over dose it to treat algea. I personaly have not used it to treat algea. If a take gets off balance algea takes advatage. Green hair is not black brush algea.

If you saw a spike in nitrates that could have helped it take off. Do a large water change. Try doing more water changes to keep nutiants down so the plants and algea have to fight for it. The plants will win. It would not hurt to use excle it's good stuff.

Remove any leaves that have it growing on them. It's best to just manualy remove and fix the problem so it will not happen again.

 

[Plecc]

Just checked,
your right, the two areas with the lowest flow are the where i have the beard type algae.

Do you think the flourish excel stuff could help?

 

[Truck]

With spot dosing yes, but getting rid of the cause is better than a constant fight.

 

[Plecc]

Can excel be dangerous to fish if you overdose it?

 

[Truck]

Yes, if overdosed it may kill fish, plants and inverts.

Do a normal dose, but dose it to the affected areas.

 

[Plecc]

Thanks for the quick response guys,

Does anyone run a UV filter to control algae?
Some say it works really well, but not sure if there just trying to justify the money they spent.

 

[Truck]

it wont work because the algae is on surfaces and not in the water.

 

[Plecc]

Yes, if overdosed it may kill fish, plants and inverts.

Do a normal dose, but dose it to the affected areas.

Do I just use a syringe of neat excel and squirt it onto the algae?

 

[Truck]

yes

 

[Plecc]

Wont the UV kill any spores and stop it spreading?

 

[Truck]

only spores that are water bourn, It's a waste of money in my eyes, whereas another powerhead is a wiser choice.