Algae growth and strength of water current

[Genirous]

Hello fellow-hobbiests from Athens!
I was wandering what is better to deal with algae...
One of the basic reasons for it is high NO3...
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So, my question is: slow or quick water current will do better against algae..?
Some people here in Greece believe that bacteria work much more efficient, if there is slow current in the tank filter and filter material...
Some others say that fast current doesn't allow algae to grow on bed, rocks, wood and plants...
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I know that there are many parametres for algae growth etc.
The question is only about water current through tank biological materials...
Thanks in advance!

[yeoyl87]

hmmm... my hair algae problem is gone after i increase my current in the tank

[bossteck]

Hi George,

First off, a warm welcome.

Personally I subscribe to the thinking that surface area of filter media plays a more important role than current when it comes to effectiveness of the filter.

But if you want slow current in filter and fast current in your tank, here are a couple of ideas:

1. Use 2 lower power cannister filter for your tank
2. Use suitable filter, but add a powerhead in your tank.

[Genirous]

Hi bossteck,
thank you for your warm welcome!
I have an algae problem in my tank (with BGA) and thinking about ways to get rid of it...
I have 0.36W/litre fluorescent light for 8 hours per day and all got worse when I changed the filter powerhead...
My question is if filter bacteria make better job under slow current or not...and secondly if strong current inside the tank don't allow algae to settle...
Greetings from Athens!

[ad9465]

Greetings!

BGA - Blue Green Algae are actually a type of bacteria called cyanobacteria. It can look like foam, scum, or mats on the surface of the tank, on the gravel and the plants.
BGA blooms can form in warm, slow-moving water that are rich in nutrients, often time, BGA will block the light, use up all the oxygen cause harm to your fish and plants.
I had BGA in one of my fish tank last month and believe me, it was pain in the neck while try to pick it out or by changing water and hoping it will disappear. I am sure in the early stage, this manual labor might pay off, but when you can see the BGA forming inside your tank, its already too late to adjust your water float or to upgrade your filter.
After lost a few fish and many plants, I decided to treat it with a chemical which do no harm to either fish or plants. Now my tank as clean as it used to.

Good luck!

[Genirous]

Thanks for the infos ad9465!
You think that there is not a more natural solution like 3days of complete darkness or something else..?
About the chemical...do you have any suggestions?

[Aeon]

Algae thrive when your plants are not doing very well. Are your plants showing signs like yellow leaves, holes? When your plants are not healthy their appetite decrease and the leftover nutrients in the tank promotes algae.

[Genirous]

I only have 5 echinodorous bleheri and they are doing fine!
I also tried to put some echinodorous tenellus, but with BGA they didn't manage it...

[Mossman]

Free of algae with Redfield ratio.

[Genirous]

Great link Mossman, thx!
After some talk with greek hobbiest, I have something to tell you...
When I was setting up the tank, 6 months ago, I hadn't decided then how exactly to form it and had put a lot of substrate-fertiliser, JBL's Aquabasis Plus, which is rich in nutrients...
On it, I had put a layer of fine sand 1-2mm thick, al least 5cm in height!
My question is if now I have a "leak" of nutrients from the substrate to the water column and that is the main reason for BGA...
As far as I know, if sand is above the substrate-fertiliser, usually there is no leak...
What do you think..?
Here is a photo of my favorite pleco, showing exactly how thick my sand is:


The contradens's size isn't bigger than 10cm, I tell you that because it looks enormous in my photo...

[bossteck]

Hi,

If it is BGA you're trying to get rid of, then the issue really isn't about the flow rate anymore. Although poor circulation is among one of the reported causes of BGA.

What I am saying is, simply raising the circulation in your tank won't solve your problem overnight. I don't think it is caused by the leeching of base fert as well because 5cm of gravel over the the base fert is alot! Can I ask if your tank is planted?

[Genirous]

Hello,
I only have 5 echinodorous bleheri...
I had 7-8 echinodorous tenellus, but BGA...did her job...
As for BGA, I have read about poor water quality, poor water circulation, a lot of nutrients, a lot of light and the Redfield ratio Mossman told about...
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Yesterday I made some water tests and here they are:
pH: 7.2
kH: 6
GH: 10
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
NH3/NH4: 0
PO4: 2

Do you have any proposals..?
Should I raise nitrates or remove phospates..?

[bossteck]

Hi,

I think you can do a blackout as recommended... to sort of 'reset' the tank. After which add a whole lot of plants right at the start. Use reduced lighting after planting, start with 6 hrs, then gradually increase over the next 2-3 weeks to 10 hours. This is what I would recommend.

Let's hear what others might recommend.

[Genirous]

I have done a 3-days complete blackout twice, with no result...

[bossteck]

Well then...

I too had problems with 'BGA' take a look http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=26147

It was later found to be something else... yet unknow.
You having the same thing?

[Genirous]

No bossteck, it isn't the same thing...
Mine is a sticky muld "carpet", with blue-green colour, that expands everywhere inside the tank, on the sustrate (not underneath), on the driftwood, on the plants, on the glass...just everywhere...
Unfortunately I don't have any photos, but looks like this...

[StanChung]

Hi Genirous,

BGA is actually quite easy to tackle once you know what it needs to grow.

Filter flow- too fast and good bacteria can't do it's job, that's why trickle filters are better at converting ammonia to nitrate. Too clogged and it's BBA and BGA time as filter bacteria need O2 and clear surface area to do it's job.

Since you're talking about BGA. Here's my theory-
Fine sand-anaerobic > BGA loves anaerobic conditions > It can fix Nitrogen Gas in these conditions for it's building blocks. In presence of oxygen they lose this capability. You notice it always starts from the below substrate level and slowly spreads to the surface. Plant roots provide oxygen, so plants growing well would effectively prevent anaerobic conditions.

BGA loves light- it's a photosynthetic bacteria- so depriving it of light kills it. 3 day blackout is most effective.

As for treatment:
Suck up everything, vacuum the top layer mulm, unclog the filter[not wash!], 70-80% water change, 3Day blackout, add ferts NPK + Trace and BGA should be a thing of the past.

Here a great link about BGA. http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/cyano.shtml

[chenkingdom]

ela malaga,

alright mate, nutrients leak out of substrate can be cause by minor vibration cause by air pumps or even your filter power heads. I have a 2ft tanks that have similiar problems.. after removing the air pumps further away from my tanks, everything is alright...

as for your algae problem, i think there is not much of a current flow at the bottom of your tank. last time my 4ft tank has such problem, after adding a another power head and physically removed the algae, conditions improved... now there isnt any such problem.

I strongly discourage the use of chemicals as it will definetly kills all your other plants.... or well at least stunned the growth..

good luck!

[ad9465]

To chenkingdom,
"I strongly discourage the use of chemicals as it will definetly kills all your other plants.... or well at least stunned the growth.."
If you have a choice to try a algaecide which it can remove algae, at the same time provide boost nutrient to the plants and cure fish's common disease, will you try?
Or, you rather look at a unsightly tank cover with ugly algae, insist on no chemical treatment, while watching your fish living in a health threaten environment, do nothing about it.

To StanChung
"BGA loves light- it's a photosynthetic bacteria- so depriving it of light kills it. 3 day blackout is most effective."
We use Metal Halide lighting system for aquascaping, our lights are on 10 to 12 hours per day, does it mean we should have more algae issues than everyone else out there?

To Genirous
Don't give up, you can do it!!
1. Take out your driftwood and infected gravels, wash the wood and gravels with a brush (this is hard labor) till its totally free of visible sign of algae. Throw away the substrate which are infected Cut out and disregard the infect portion from your plants; scrub the glass with algae pad, then remove the floating BGA from the tank with a fine mesh net.
2. Change 50% of water per week, add as much plants as you can, buy cheap, hardy, fast growing plants to out compete the algae. Its more effective to cover all level of the tank - ground covering, mid ground plants, tall plants, not to forget to get some floating plants to suck-up the excess nutrient at water surface. A tiny floater called "duckweed" has very mild fragrance and will not block the light from the plant below, its a good choice, but it can be bit messy when overgrown, try to keep these tiny floater in check.
3. You only have about 4 or 5 plants, PLEASE go easy on the fert.
Always use half the amount as recommended in a newly planted tank, increase fert. as the plants mature, only use full dose if you have a mega water garden, growing lots of micro-nutrient hungry exotic plants.
4. Check your lighting, take into consideration of the depth of the tank. Improper lighting will not provide plants with their ultimate growth and color range, to the contrary, wrong lighting can encourage algae grow. instead of 10 ~ 12 hr lighting per day, try to decrease to 6~8 hr per day (this only apply if you have the correct lighting), slowly increase the lighting as your plant reach their growing rate.
5. You should see a dramatic improvement with in a few weeks by following these steps. If not, you know its time to think about ECO friendly algaecide.
I feel for you, good luck!

** KEEP A BALANCED TANK IS TO HAVE A GOOD AQUA-ENVIROMENT **
-proper lighting for plant is a must, because plants can improve water quality by remove impurity, in return, plant gives oxygen, provide hiding places, create a natural playground for fish (rule of thumb - 2 gallon per one 1" size fish);
-keep half of the tank fully covered with plants, leave half the open space for fish. A healthy fish is a happy fish;
-amount of the fish and feeding will effect amount fert. required. Too much of anything is never a good thing;
-a well established tank, needs minimum maintenance.

phewwww, I talk too much

[Aeon]

I don't agree with algaecide and algae does not mean health-threatened.
Algae are just another plant-like lifeform that also occurs naturally. Algaecides kill by attacking certain biological components in Algae and these are also present in plants. Thus, algaecide not only kills algae but damages plants. The damage might not be obvious but your plant might die a slow and mysterious death.

Algae free by water management,plant health and natural methods is the best approach.