# Weekly maintenance question



## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

Hi !

I recently got such a good answers from this forum that I will just keep asking (until I get kicked off or something  )

Here is the pattern I noticed with the hair algae in my tank. It seems to appear every time after I do the weekly maintenance, in particular, trim the plants. Then after a few days it completely disappears. My guess is that this may be due to plant growth slow down due to the trimming. Do you think it's due to that or simply due to the nutrients (from the bottom of the tank) that come up into the water due to disturbance by me ? If it's due to the plant stress, then would you agree that I should limit the trimming to only few plants so that the rest are not stressed out and continue to do what ever they do to limit the algae ?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I think it's a combination of things you listed, as I've had similar experiences with hair algae (and other algaes) growing after a plant trimming and tank maintenance.

1) Primary algae growth factor is the disturbance of the substrate which releases excess nutrients in the water column.

2) In tandem, with a plant trimming, you effectively reduce the plant mass that usually absorbs the nutrients and the plants are still recovering from the trim thereby limiting how much nutrients gets removed from the water column.

In general, when plants don't grow healthy then algae will appear. I usually trim and do tank maintenance before I do a water change. After I'm done do that, the water change helps to restore a balance to the tank and removes the stuff you blew up into the water column.

Oh, and keep those questions and experiences firing. We won't boot you for asking questions as we are learning from them too. But do remember to update your profile with your location info. I'm happy you're enjoying the forum! 

-John N.


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## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

Thanks for the reply, John !

This forum is indeed great.


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## sandeepraghuvanshi (Feb 22, 2007)

There might be one more factor and that is you might be changing water also at weekly.
Fresh water occasionaly brings in nutrients and causes algae.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Before there is any misunderstanding here, I'd like to point out that nutrients do not cause algae, whether they come from tapwater or elsewhere. 

NH4 is thought to trigger certain algae and this can be released when you disturb an established substrate too much.

What can cause algae is a nutrient *imbalance*, ie if you have a lot of one and are deficient in another. This does not mean that the one you have a lot of causes algae...


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## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

Would you say than that if using "EI method" disturbing substrate would not cause the algae problems ? 

This week I plan to pool out one deeply rooted plant and aftaid the algae will be back again...


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

The issue can be minimized by doing the 50% water change just after any major rescaping or replanting.


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## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

Thank you for the advice !


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## simpsota (Mar 11, 2006)

I like to do my trimming and cleaning as I'm changing the water. I haven't noticed any significant algae blooms since I've switched to that method.

If I do a major uprooting I usually do a little more than a 50% water change, maybe 60-70%.


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Two problems.

One is that new water adds elements to your aquarium algae likes and therefore algae starts growing. 

Second is the substrate disturbance. Here we have four 10 gallon aquariums linked together. Water continuously flows from 1st -> 2nd -> 3rd -> 4th and back to 1st. When substrate is moved and plants trimmed in only one aquarium algae shows up in only that particular aquarium. This is even though the water is the same in all four aquariums due to the circulation. Go figure. Luckily, all algae disappear in a few days. 



Edward


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## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

Edward, your story is very interesting. It pretty much contradicts most speculations I read about algae. If this experiment can be confirmed, may be there is something interesting to discover ...


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Hi
You may find this thread interesting.


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## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

Thanks ! I am debaiting doing EI thing if algae gonna appear to be increasing. So far, it was balancing aronud same low level.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

It's good to keep little fish like otos to clean the leaves of plants of any debris. For some of us who use Aquasoil, extra care must be taken as distubing the soil will make your tank water cloudy and may cause algae issues.


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