Encouraging Algae

[severum boy]

Hi all,
I know this is almost a paradox posting this in the plant forum, but has anyone any thoughts on how to encourage and grow algae?
I am intending on setting up a species tank for apple snails, and id like it to run with a fair bit of algae for food. The soft brown type is what I was hoping to encourage, but has anyone got any thoughts?

 

[Liam]

The brown stuff/diatoms, it grows best in low light and fairly hard water, when a tank is too dark for the green types of algae to grow it seems to do well. Only thing is in a tank of apple snails you might never notice it growing at all, they eat it very fast.

 

[lljdma06]

The brown stuff/diatoms, it grows best in low light and fairly hard water, when a tank is too dark for the green types of algae to grow it seems to do well. Only thing is in a tank of apple snails you might never notice it growing at all, they eat it very fast.

Diatoms also seem to appear after a major substrate clean or rescape. This is the type of algae I get most often, and it confirms what Liam says, as I have both low light conditions and hard water. I actually don't mind a supply of it (especially on the back wall), as my otos love it, and it seems to be the algae most enjoyed by my livebearers. It also comes out a little when I dose ferts for a bit, or when I dose antibiotics when I add new fish after quaranteen. I think fry like it as well, as microorganisms feed on the algae, and fry often feed on those. I've seen both my cherry barb fry and my platy fry munch near algae-covered leaves. I also got better fry survival rates for both species when I had a supply of this algae.

llj

 

[tangokitty]

I love apple snails!!! What colors do you plan on keeping? Are you also going to feed them other foods like lettuce and zucchinin?? Do you already have the snails or a place to get the snails? I know a good place to buy them online for cheap if you need to get some cool colors!

 

[severum boy]

Thanks Liam and Llj, il give that a go. The tank is in a fairly dark corner of the room, so should 3 hours of lighting a day be ok? Or would more be better?

I love apple snails!!! What colors do you plan on keeping? Are you also going to feed them other foods like lettuce and zucchinin?? Do you already have the snails or a place to get the snails? I know a good place to buy them online for cheap if you need to get some cool colors!

I am not really interested in P. bridgesii (unless its a really nice colour!), I prefer rarer ones like P. haustrum and P. glauca. I will be feeding them lettuce and the like in addition to the algae and prepared foods.
If you could PM me the address of the place (if its not snailshop that is!) that would be great.

 

[tangokitty]

Aquabid.com has good deals on snails. I just got a bunch of colored ones, pink, magenta, blue, ect for like $1.20 each with $6 shipping! They have lots of other types of snails as well.

 

[aaronnorth]

http/www.snailshop.co.uk/