Tank in an air con environment

[jt1]

I have a 1.5ft tank in an air con room for 6 months already and it is totally algae free. Virtually easy maintainance. No need to clean the glass at all as compare to my other tank that is not in an air con room. Did not monitor the temp also but this lead me so conclude that lower temp reduces the growth of algae if not, prevents its growth. Is this true? And if so, how low is low? Plants are doing great.
I do not do any water parameter check at all. Just dose Seachem fluorish and excel. Lights is 15w. Water change 20% weekly or biweekly.

[Fei Miao]

Plant growth are usually excellent at lower temperature, hence the need to use fan & chiller etc. I seen tanks with 22 degress C.

Algae doesn't stand a chance if plants are doing well.

Don't know if temperature that low are good for fish though... :P

[liuhao]

great findings, which makes me very attempting to add a fan for my 1 feet tank (with 11W PL light). certainly can not match your aircon temperature but as far as it reduces the temperature why not.

[BFG]

I would disagree. My shrimp tank has some algae and I've kept the temp at 25 degree with a chiller.

[vinz]

As we can see from BFG's post, cool temps do not solve everything. You still need to get the proper balance of light, fertiliser, and other factors to have a healthy tank.

However, temperature is one of the factors in the well-being of our plants and hence the conditions of our planted tanks. Generally, temperature around the mid 20s degree celcius are prefferred.

Of the few people I've spoken to who have had reasonable success with planted tanks without using chillers, all have observed that their plants grow better and are healthier, and their tanks more stable after installing a chiller. This is without modifying other factors like light and fertiliser.

I installed a chiller myself recently. I changed nothing else. I still get some algae which were there before, but the plant grow better and lusher. Generally, the tanks looks in better condition then before.

Before I get flamed... my point is temperature is a factor in planted tanks. Chillers are not a necessity, but does make life easier at a cost. Fans can do the job in most cases (placement of tank, and other factors can play a part too). The general advice is to keep temperatures below 28 degrees celcius.

[PeterGwee]

Colder water holds more gases (CO2, O2, N and etc) of which CO2 is beneficial for plant growth and O2 for critters and bacterial activity. I'll look at the CO2 personally once the nutrients side is pretty well covered. It may seem that the CO2 concentration from pH/KH combo is within the good range but errors can make the readings much higher than what it is in actual fact...not lower but almost always higher (Less CO2). Add an error of 5-10ppm if you continue to have algae issues even when the nutrients are covered, bioload is low, plant mass high and have good even circulation in the tank (more of an issue in a big tank). Some plant spieces do however prefer lower temps though (not sure if it is a direct CO2 issue.).

Regards
Peter Gwee

[jt1]

I forgot to mention that I have a 1ft shrimp tanks also in my office and it too is virtually algae free. The tank holds erect moss, frogbit and another plant which I don't know the name. My dosing of carbon and plant supplement is irregular. 20% water change weekly or 2 weekly and the tank don't have any filter. Lights is either 9w or 11w clip on.
I guess it is my luck then that there are no algae growth. But due to some relocation. My 1.5 ft is now taken over by my colleaque to a non air con environment. I'll update if there are any algae growth then.