# Algae and water movement



## FlatfishTanker1 (Mar 13, 2020)

I seem to have heard that water flow is good for preventing dead spots/areas that may encourage algae growth. But my experience so far is that algae grows better where the water flow is the highest. What's going on here? Does certain algae prefer water movement and other strains prefer still water?
Thank you.
Wayne


----------



## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

Depends on the algae, many different types.


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Many people have noted that the dreaded BBA algae likes to hang around areas with flowing water.


----------



## FlatfishTanker1 (Mar 13, 2020)

Bba?


----------



## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

All you need to know, https://www.aquasabi.com/aquascaping-wiki_algae_algae-in-the-aquarium


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

​


FlatfishTanker1 said:


> Bba?


BBA is black brush algae, the black (actually red) algae that can utterly destroy your plants, usually showing up when the level of carbon dioxide in the water isn't stable. It has been noted to cause many planted aquarium hobbyists to switch to stamp collecting.


----------



## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

hoppycalif said:


> ​
> BBA is black brush algae, the black (actually red) algae that can utterly destroy your plants, usually showing up when the level of carbon dioxide in the water isn't stable. It has been noted to cause many planted aquarium hobbyists to switch to stamp collecting.


It looks like iron and light are the drivers for this algae. I unfortunately have lots of experience with this. It doesn't go away for me, maybe it's my tap water or the dirt I'm using. Best I can do is control it.


----------



## George0211 (Dec 7, 2020)

mistergreen said:


> It looks like iron and light are the drivers for this algae. I unfortunately have lots of experience with this. It doesn't go away for me, maybe it's my tap water or the dirt I'm using. Best I can do is control it.


So to follow up on this. I've also read that too much iron can cause this algae. I've lowered the time that the lights are on and lowered how much Fe I dose and it is seemingly gotten worse. What have you tried to control it?

I've been struggling with this algage for almost 2 months. My CO2 is pretty stable and I've made the changes I described above.


----------



## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

George0211 said:


> So to follow up on this. I've also read that too much iron can cause this algae. I've lowered the time that the lights are on and lowered how much Fe I dose and it is seemingly gotten worse. What have you tried to control it?
> 
> I've been struggling with this algage for almost 2 months. My CO2 is pretty stable and I've made the changes I described above.


How much Fe or micro are you dosing? Try cutting by half.
Also maintenance of scrubbing, pruning, dosing H2O2 on the algae are needed.

I've also noticed the more CO2 you dose, the more you get too. I'm dosing 20ppm, If I dose more I see that I need to trim affected leaves more. This is dependent on how much light you have I guess.

Also how much plants do you have? Basically, you want the plant to out compete the algae leaving no nutrients for the algae.


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

George0211 said:


> So to follow up on this. I've also read that too much iron can cause this algae. I've lowered the time that the lights are on and lowered how much Fe I dose and it is seemingly gotten worse. What have you tried to control it?
> 
> I've been struggling with this algage for almost 2 months. My CO2 is pretty stable and I've made the changes I described above.


First, welcome to APC!

If you have low light and no added CO2 you will be unlikely to get black brush algae. But, if you add DIY CO2, which is always variable, as opposed to stable, you will get BBA even if you do have low light. I am using 20-30 PAR lighting now, on 3 tanks, and I don't use any added CO2, so (knock on wood) I don't have any problems with BBA. When I was experimenting with DIY CO2 with the same amount of light, I had to use Excel to avoid BBA, and even that didn't always work. During this experience I was dosing per the Estimative Index method, so I had abundant iron in the water. Now I am still dosing per the Estimative Index method, but at about half the recommended amount - no BBA.


----------



## George0211 (Dec 7, 2020)

hoppycalif said:


> First, welcome to APC!
> 
> If you have low light and no added CO2 you will be unlikely to get black brush algae. But, if you add DIY CO2, which is always variable, as opposed to stable, you will get BBA even if you do have low light. I am using 20-30 PAR lighting now, on 3 tanks, and I don't use any added CO2, so (knock on wood) I don't have any problems with BBA. When I was experimenting with DIY CO2 with the same amount of light, I had to use Excel to avoid BBA, and even that didn't always work. During this experience I was dosing per the Estimative Index method, so I had abundant iron in the water. Now I am still dosing per the Estimative Index method, but at about half the recommended amount - no BBA.


Thank you so much.
My light I would say is moderate to high, It's a Finnex Planted+ 36Inch light. I run it at full power for about 6 hours a day. I dry dose using EI method, I have pressurized CO2, the plants are growing like crazy and the tank is what I think would be considered heavily planted. I dose 3/8 tsp KN03, 1/8 tsp of KH2PO4, 1/8 tps of Trace elements, 1/2 tsp of Magnesium Sulfate and 1ml of Seachem Fe 3 times a week. On Sunday I do a 50% water change.
I just read the entire 29 page thread of Excel affect on algae, a lot of info in there. Including something I found interesting. Increasing KNO3 should help with BBA. I'm going to bump my KNO3 dose to 1/4 tsp instead of 3/8


----------



## Yvonneen (May 14, 2021)

Most likely it's a type of aquarium plant, but I'm not sure. I also had something like this for a while but now it is no longer visible because I took live aquarium plants that covered that place. The most beautiful looks Java fern aquarium plant and every time I pass by the aquarium, without wanting the attention go there. I noticed that fishes are also happy that I bought these plants. They often play there or hide.


----------

