relation between light and algae

[augi_ow]

currently i'm having a 2.5 feet tank
by right if i use the tank calculator... i should have min 90+ watts of light
but i'm only having 70 + watts of light

i know too much light will lead to algae bloom
how about too little light.... will it lead to the formation of algae.... any form of algae
>>>>>i'm trying to find the cause of my BGA
but the thing is my plants are growing quite well....
my intention of putting less light is hoping the plants will grow slower and its kind of working.... But algae seem to be thriving....

[geoffrey]

augi_ow,

It's futile to do correction to your tank if those pesky BGA are not completely eliminated. That is why we suggested blackout in your previous post. To get rid of it completely.

However, in order to prevent BGA from recurring again after the blackout, you need to ensure your plants grow well, hence a good fertilising regime and CO2. Tom's estimative method ought to help.

A little lesser light helps too since plant's growth rate is slower hence uptake is slower. With a strong light, uptake is faster, nutrients deplete quickly and if you slack, plant's growth inhibits while algae start to take advantage.

[rickotee]

geoffrey: If i had bga problem before and use anti-bodys to clear it. However i still find trace of bga around my moss. Currently i scrap them off and drain them out of tank when i do water change. Will it come back again this way??

[juggler]

[quote:631dda3dbe="rickotee"]geoffrey: If i had bga problem before and use anti-bodys to clear it. However i still find trace of bga around my moss. Currently i scrap them off and drain them out of tank when i do water change. Will it come back again this way??[/quote:631dda3dbe]

Try to get your nutrients balanced. If we still keep doing things as it is, the BGA will definitely come back.
I was in your shoes before, I treated the BGA with anti-biotics before. It worked but there were still traces left. I try to correct my dosing and eventually these BGA traces went away.

[rickotee]

Okie. Thanks
In relation to the tread starter on light and algae.
I just want to be sure.
Currently i am trying to maintain po4 at 1-2 ppm
No3 to 10-20 pm
Trace 5ml x3 a week
I dose K2so4 as well.
CO2 i pamp it to 8bps doh co2 concentration is still quite low.

With this what happen if i reduce or increase lighting?
Has the lighting become a "controll" to plant growth.
Will it increase algae growth since it has full spec of fert in the water??

[geoffrey]

[quote:9ef2b79407="rickotee"]Okie. Thanks
In relation to the tread starter on light and algae.
I just want to be sure.
Currently i am trying to maintain po4 at 1-2 ppm
No3 to 10-20 pm
Trace 5ml x3 a week
I dose K2so4 as well.
CO2 i pamp it to 8bps doh co2 concentration is still quite low.

With this what happen if i reduce or increase lighting?
Has the lighting become a "controll" to plant growth.
Will it increase algae growth since it has full spec of fert in the water??[/quote:9ef2b79407]

I tend to treat light as the capacity of an engine, higher CC burn more fuel while lower CC burn less fuel. In low tech tanks where lights are low, many have succeeded with no dosage of CO2 and nutrients and growth rate slowed.

Will it increase algae growth since it has full spec of fert in the water? Well, is your full spec of fert sufficient in relation to what is needed? If not algae will still grow again.

[wynx]

[quote:5b2dd82a0d="augi_ow"]currently i'm having a 2.5 feet tank
by right if i use the tank calculator... i should have min 90+ watts of light
but i'm only having 70 + watts of light

i know too much light will lead to algae bloom
how about too little light.... will it lead to the formation of algae.... any form of algae
>>>>>i'm trying to find the cause of my BGA
but the thing is my plants are growing quite well....
my intention of putting less light is hoping the plants will grow slower and its kind of working.... But algae seem to be thriving....[/quote:5b2dd82a0d]


Hi Augi_ow


In a planted tank, we do not need to follow the lighting rule so religiously. It merely serve as a guide. Anyhow, your problem could be due to nutrient imbalance. Perhaps, you should share with the fert regiment?

[theodore]

augi_ow,

What's your NO3 and PO4 level now? Also, what's your weekly dosage like for both?

BGA usually appears when NO3 bottoms out (either Peter or Tom has already mentioned that). Some hobbyists also seem to get them when the N : P or NO3 : PO4 ratios go beyond certain numbers (search AQ or the web for "redfield ratio" or "buddy ratio")

While BGA do seem to do better in higher light levels due to their photosynthetic nature (BGA can pearl ! :P ), light is not the root cause of an outbreak.

[goh]

Hi Augi_ow,
Base on your first posting, I assume you have higher light previously but reduced it to 70+ watt to slow plant growth and the plant is growing slower now. Did you reduce the nutrient dosing after lowering the lights?
This is my guess:
Lower light -> Slower plant growth -> less nutrient intake -> excess nutrients in water for algae?

But there is another possibility that the slower plant growth is not due to you lowering the light but shortage of certain nutrient. What you can try first is lowering the dosing especially for P.

One dilemma here is that usually if we want to combat algae, we need the plant to grow more vigorously to suck up all the nutrients, but in your case you want the plant to slow down while trying to eliminate algae at the same time.