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Algae Control:Removal


Rolla

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Just noticed today that i have little specs of green algae appering on the front glass of my tank...

It looks crap and i want it gone but first i need to know

1 What caused it

2 How to get rid of it

I think it might be due to excessive lighting, because of the hiurs i work the light go on at 7am and dont get urned off till 7pm or sometimes later if i forget..

lighting is 2x40w with 2 plant tubes from prevoius setup..

Thanks Dave

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You have answered your own question really.

12 hours+ of light per day will give you algal growth. The speck-type green algea is very tough to get off and I use a glass scraper to clear the stuff from my tank.

Alternatively you could reduce the hours the actual lights are on, maybe start them at 10 or 11am seeing as the sun is up so early and you are not there to enjoy looking at them...why waste the power??

Maybe a Pleco of some sort could solve the proble for you without making any other changes.

HTH

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Hi Dave

Essentially algae in aquaria need 2 things to grow - light and a food source. I'd say that your light is on for too long so if you aren't growing plants, then cut back the hours of use. Regular partial water changes should dilute nutrients , provided your filtration is effective. Perhaps throw some sucker mouth catties like bristlenoses in to help keep the problem under control. All else fails, a scourer from the supermarket will remove it (not one that scratches the glass). Personally I avoid the use of chemical control as it only seems to cause more problems with the biological balance in the aquarium.

merjo

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thanks for the replies so far guys..

I have 5 bristlenose in there ATM but they seem to prefer grazing on the rocks now since i set up the cichlid tank :blink

Maybe i should invest in a timer for my lights? what would be the appropriate duration for them to be on?

Dave

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i too have the same problem in my tank and i have tried everything my light doesnt get turned on till miday or later i had a pleco plus a dozen suckers and still it came back the only thing i seem to be able to do is use a razor blade to take it off if u have any sucess i would be most great ful to hear about it

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Best way is to have a heavily planted tank; I currently have 90W over mine, and get very little green spot algae (I clean the glass every 1-2 months on this display tank), so much so that I'm having to feed the BN and Ottos. But it is heavily planted, and I dose fertilisers (including Potassium Nitrate). The plants suck up all the nutrients, and are better able to store them, hence outcompeting the algae.

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The algae on the glass builds up slowly, and for some reason not all of it is eaten by BN's/Pleco's.

Every now and then, scrape it off with a scraper or a (clean) razor blade.

Supermarkets or hardware stores sell scrapers that have a changeable razor blade, and these work a treat. :^:

Good luck

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Maybe i should invest in a timer for my lights? what would be the appropriate duration for them to be on?

Dave

You can buy timers at Woolworths for about $8. I believe your fish won't be too bothered how long the lights are off for(assuming your tank isn't in a pitch black room) so have the timer set to come on just before you get home and turn off just before you go to bed. Less growth and more veiwing time for you.

Hope that helps

Matt

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The algae on the glass builds up slowly, and for some reason not all of it is eaten by BN's/Pleco's.

Every now and then, scrape it off with a scraper or a (clean) razor blade.

Supermarkets or hardware stores sell scrapers that have a changeable razor blade, and these work a treat. :^:

My BN and Ottos do clean my glass if they are hungry enough. :D

If using a scraper, make sure not to scratch the glass by using too much force, and a definite no no for acrylic tanks.

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Sorry I just read my post again and it didn't say quite what I meant.

I meant there is one kind of algae that they will, and do, eat. But there seems to be another kind that they can't actually get off the glass, it's much harder and actually makes a scraping noise when you remove it. Whereas the soft stuff that they do eat just slides right off really easily (tho I try to leave it for them :) )

hope that makes a bit more sense now. :wub

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