# Should I be concerned about this algae?



## Harry Muscle (Oct 17, 2007)

I've had my 55G low tech tank running for about 3 or 4 weeks now and I'm 
starting to get some algae growing ... not tons, but if you're less than 2 feet 
from the tank you can notice it on certain plants, etc.

Here's a few pics of what I have:

Algae growing on Dwarf Chain Swords ... pretty sure it's BBA (based on answers to another one of my posts)









Algae that seems to only grow on things close to the waters surface (where 
there's tons of light I'm guessing). Not sure what kind it is so if you can identify it that would help.









Algae growing on one of my other forground plants (can't remember the name 
at the moment) ... is it BBA also?









And I'm also getting a bit of green spot algae on the glass and some diatom 
algae on the slate background.

Since this is a new tank I'm expecting some algae to grow since that seems 
to be the norm with newly setup tanks. However, is this amount normal? 
Should I be concerned or should I just leave it be and wait until the tank 
matures and the algae goes away on it's own? If I should wait ... how 
long ... remembering this is a low tech tank.

Thanks for all the feedback,
Harry

P.S. My current algae crew is 3 SAE and 4 Ottos (plus 3 more that I will buy 
shortly). I might also get some Amano or Cherry shrimp and possibly a Nerite 
snail or two ... not sure yet.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

The algae in the second pic is staghorn algae. It can be easily pulled off by hand. You are right, algea is very common in newly setup tanks. The amount you have is really not bad at all. The algae eaters you have will help out a lot. The more variety you have the better. The main thing is to be consistent with your tank maintenance, water changes, daily lighting, fertilization etc. In time it will became less & less.


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## Harry Muscle (Oct 17, 2007)

Thanks for the info so far. Just in case it's relevant, here's some info on my tank that I didn't mention in the first post:

55G low tech (no CO2) ... here's a picture to show how much plants I have (http://www.stonyx.googlepages.com/IMG_0775.JPG/IMG_0775-large.jpg and a bigger one http://www.stonyx.googlepages.com/IMG_0775.JPG/IMG_0775-full.jpg
2x 4 foot T8 bulbs for light (so 64W T8 or 80W T12 equivalent)
Weekly dosing of 1/2 tsp of Seachem Equilibrium, 1/4 tsp of KNO3, 1/16 tsp of KH2PO4, and 1/4 tsp of baking soda until my KH goes up a degree or two cause it's quite low at the moment due to the large pieces of drift wood. Also once a month I put in 5 ml of Flourish.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Nice looking tank! I would consider that a lightly planted tank. Adding some more fast growers would help some what with the algae issues. Although it is a low light tank adding DIY C02 injection would help greatly. I personally will never setup another tank without it. If you don't want to got this route then using Seachem Excel will add some carbon to the the tank, although I'm not a big fan of it. Your dosing macro's, but you also need to add some micro's... http://www.aquariaplants.com/nutrientsfertilizers.htm


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## Harry Muscle (Oct 17, 2007)

Thanks. Btw, I though Flourish was Micros ... am I wrong? If I am wrong, which Micro fertilizer is generally recommended?

Thanks,
Harry


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