# Good Idea or Bad idea???



## oscarito (Aug 23, 2006)

Im starting to notice alge growing on my plants and for about a week i been noticing them on the front of my tank. I have a 55 gallon tank with 4-65watt light. Will it be a good idea to do a 50% water change every other day to reduce alge???or should i reduce the time of light in the tank>??? 

is not having that many plants in my tank contributing to the alge growth? or is it the fact that i have not added any fertilizer in my tank???i have only had tank for almost 2 months.

Also, i have to really small pleco's. what fish is best to keep when alge is around????

Furthermore, Is too much Co2 the cause of the problem????


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Depending if you have Green Dust Algae (GDA) or Green Spot Algae (GSA) forming on your front glass a 50% water change will not help in either case.

You need to start adding fertilizers and CO2 with that amount of light on your tank. See gregwatson.com for sources of affordable fertilizers, and then refer to the fertilization stickies for methods of dosing. After you provide consistant dosing of both:

For Green Dust Algae (light green haze on the glass) the current solution is to leave it along for 3 weeks, and then scrape it off. This is to allow the spores to go through its life cycle, die to never return. Run a search for Green dust algae, there's a thread in the fert section describing people's experiences here.

For Green Spot Algae (harder circular spots), increasing your Phosphates seems to reduce and get rid of this problem.

For algae eating fauna, Otos and amano shrimp do a good job with algae.

Oh, and welcome to the forum, don't forget to update your location in your profile (MYAPC) top right tab. 

-John N.


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

I would like to know how long your photoperiod is. I see you asked if too much Co2 could be the problem. Does than mean your injecting Co2? and how? Also, do you have a heavy bioload or do you feed alot? Alot of people need alot of specific tank parameters to help determine algae issues.


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## oscarito (Aug 23, 2006)

I keep the light on for about 6 hours sometimes it stays for eight. Yes, I am injecting CO2 via CO2 Regulator Deluxe - Dual Gauge with Solenoid - Marine Depot - Marine and Reef Aquarium Super Store.
I have about 15 small guppys and two small pleco's.


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

can you decribe and/or take pictures of the algae. That would help with a diagnosis.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

oscarito said:


> Im starting to notice alge growing on my plants and for about a week i been noticing them on the front of my tank. I have a 55 gallon tank with 4-65watt light. Will it be a good idea to do a 50% water change every other day to reduce alge???or should i reduce the time of light in the tank>???


You photoperiod of 6 hours is kind of short...most use 8-10 hours. I doubt this is contributing to your algae though.



oscarito said:


> is not having that many plants in my tank contributing to the alge growth? or is it the fact that i have not added any fertilizer in my tank???i have only had tank for almost 2 months.


Having a small plant load in the tank is usually one of the mistakes folks make when starting up a planted tank. Even greater is the fact that you have not fertilized the tank in 2 months. Plants need fertilizer to grow. Since you ae not adding any and your substrate is new (I assume) there isn't much in the substrate for them either.



oscarito said:


> Also, i have to really small pleco's. what fish is best to keep when alge is around????


I don't think fish/shrimp really make much of an impact on Algae. Some do graze on algae and people have claimed some fish have eliminated algae from their tanks. I do know Cherry Barbs will eat some Hair Algae if you keep them hungry. You can also watch Cherry Red Shrimp and Amano Shrimp constantly grazing on algae. It is hard to say wheter or not they are actually eating it but once algae grows to the size it is noticeable to us, the shrimp and most fish simply do not keep up with it's growth. Plecos will grow very large and in my opnion are not really suitable for planted tanks due to their size. They tend to rasp larger leaves and pretty much uproot everything when they get larger 

Furthermore, Is too much Co2 the cause of the problem????[/quote]

With your light level and CO2 usage, you really need to look into some sort of Fertilizatioin routine. Lack of fertilization is more than likely the cause of your problem. EI is probably the easiest fertilization method for a beginner to follow but PPS is also a good routine. Both of these have stickies in the Fertilization forum. Give them a good read and ask questions if need be.

As John already mentioned, update your location. You may have someone near you (or even a local club yo can join) that would be willing to help you with your tank.


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## oscarito (Aug 23, 2006)

the algea looks like green dots with green hair on them. i will get a picture for u as soon as I can


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## oscarito (Aug 23, 2006)

MatPat said:


> You photoperiod of 6 hours is kind of short...most use 8-10 hours. I doubt this is contributing to your algae though.
> 
> Having a small plant load in the tank is usually one of the mistakes folks make when starting up a planted tank. Even greater is the fact that you have not fertilized the tank in 2 months. Plants need fertilizer to grow. Since you ae not adding any and your substrate is new (I assume) there isn't much in the substrate for them either.
> 
> ...


With your light level and CO2 usage, you really need to look into some sort of Fertilizatioin routine. Lack of fertilization is more than likely the cause of your problem. EI is probably the easiest fertilization method for a beginner to follow but PPS is also a good routine. Both of these have stickies in the Fertilization forum. Give them a good read and ask questions if need be.

As John already mentioned, update your location. You may have someone near you (or even a local club yo can join) that would be willing to help you with your tank.[/QUOTE]


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## oscarito (Aug 23, 2006)

sorry for the last reply, I didnt mean to quote you on all you said...I wanted to reply on one the questions about plant load.

How much of a plant load do i need to be consider appropriate for a starting planted tank


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## oscarito (Aug 23, 2006)

Here is a picture of my newly planted tank. you cant see the algea growing but its there. The tank is not that clear because this picture was taken shortly after I planted. How much more plants should i have to start with??


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Here is a good thread (actually a sticky in the New to Aquarium Plants forum) started by Bert H. There are some pics of Lightly Planted, Moderately Planted and Heavily Planted tanks in the thread. It should help you determine the differences between the three types of plant masses in a tank 

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-to-aquarium-plants/14684-new-tank-set-up-parts-1-a.html


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