I am still but a beginner in this wonderful hobby, and am trying to figure out why I continue to have algea issues. I have a 90 gal tank that has a glass panel/brace that builds up with salt, the lights are also about 4-5 inches from the water. They also build up with salt, and I started thinking that this may be causing some of the algea growth with a decrease in the lighting. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
salt on lights
- Thread starter SDW
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Algae comes from one thing and one thing only, nutrients. Somewhere in your system you have an excess of nutrients that are feeding your algae. What does your nitrate and phosphates test at?(and what brand kit are you using?)
What size tank? Do you have a sump? what skimmer? What kind of flow do you have? What your fish load?
What size tank? Do you have a sump? what skimmer? What kind of flow do you have? What your fish load?
Red C Aquarium
Well-known member
what kind of algae are you talking about>?
weird?, i thought algae growth has a little something to do with lights?
weird?, i thought algae growth has a little something to do with lights?
Algae can be affected by light, but it would be by a different mechanism then what SDW is experiencing. He is having salt build up that is blocking light and lowering par. This should never cause algae to grow.
Algae growth can be affected by the spectrum of the bulb. When bulbs get old, they tend to have degridation in the blue and pruple end of the spectrum, causing the color of the bulb to shift to the more yellow-red end of the spectrum which favors algae.
Regardless, algae cant grow without some sort of nutrients in the tank. First place to check is in the water column itself(test kits). Next youll want to look for detritus accumulation anywhere that can be slowly leaching po4 and no3 in to your tank, causing algae to grow. Finally, youll want to remove existing algae, and increase filtration. Living algae itself is a nutrient sink. If you simply remove its food source, then let existing algae die, it will return to the water column as po4 and ntirates, and cause algae to grow elsewhere in the tank. Its a long process, and my explination is pretty condensed, but I think it makes sense?
Red C Aquarium
Well-known member
nice break down , thanks
Myteemouse
NOTHING
Thanks!
Very helpfull
Very helpfull
great info, thanks. My tank is a 90 gal, and although the PO4 and NO2 levels look good thus far, I have been told before that they may be falsely low because the algea is consuming them. (hopefully got that right) Anyway, I do seem to have a fair amount of algea in the overflow column, I will try to take that off and clean it. Also try to get as much out of the tank as I can.
Yes that is correct. How often do you feed your tank? If you have a sump, thats the first places I'd check for detritus accumulation. Same with a refugium. Next Id try to pull out those patches of algae you see on the overflow. Algae patches are like detritus sponges almost. Lots of small detritus particles will get stuck in the algae over time, feeding the patch.
Youll also probably also want to start cleaning your powerheads once a month. Flow loss from pump cloggage can be quite significant, and this loss of flow itself can contribute to things "settling" in your tank too quickly. By too quickly I mean they dont get blow around long enough in the water column to get picked up by the skimmer.
Finally, this is the MOST important part IMHO. It may sounds rediculous, but I consider it one of the most important parts for maintaining a low algae tank: Get your tank a turkey baster. Once a day, just blast off all your rocks with the baster. This will put a bunch of crap into the water column so it can be skimmed out. It will also disrupt any large localized accumulations of detritus on the rocks, which in turn will make it harder for algae to take hold.
Peace
