FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I have a 46g S.A tank with alot of driftwood, wisteria, javafern and javamoss. The fish are great but algae usually prevents my plants from really growing.

I do alot of water changes (20% weekly), use phosphate removal in my filter, keep lights on a timer, etc, but the algae ends up all over the plants.

My current tank temp is 82F. If I lowered temp would that help with the algae.

My Scapes

It might slow down it's growth..... The warmer the water the faster the grow rate will be. Fish and Algae

How many light on hrs in every day?
Does your tank get natural light through the day? (window)

To much of either of those will also really speed up algae growth

Last edited by mr_cichlid at 27-Jan-2005 09:41

My lights are on about 10 hrs per day and I have a USA Current light with two 96watt bulbs one is 10,000k and the other is a actinic. The tank is about 12 feet from a sliding door in the kitchen.

My Scapes

Tetra,

Nice lighting fixture! You have 192 watts of light for a 46 gallon tank or 4 watts per gallon (wpg) of light. Bright light is considered to be above 3 wpg. So, if you have so much light, why do you have algae.

The reason is that you have great conditions for algae, bright light, lots of nutrients in the tank and plants that grow slowly and cannot compete with the algae! Javafern and javamoss grow slowly and are better suited to lower light tanks.

You need: more plants, faster growing plants, more water changes, no fertilizing and plants best suited to a bright light aquarium. Water changes are one of the best ways to reduce phosphates and nitrates. I consider a 20% water change per week to be a minimum water change. More water changes will reduce your need for chemicals to adjust your water and things like phosphate removal.

Putting in plants that want bright light will knock down your algae problems as the higher form plants out compete the algae for the nutrients in your tank. The following plants are great for your situation. In general, they love a broad range of water conditions and suck up ammonia, nitrates and phosphates.

Ceratopteris Cornuta, Ceratoperis Thalictroides, Hygrophila Difformis, Echinodorus Bleheri, Ceratophyllum Demersum, Hygrophila Polysperma, Hygrophila Polysperma Rosanervig and Hygrophila Polysperma “Big Leaf”. Hygrophila difformis is also known as wisteria, so you have a start!


Go to http://www.tropica.com to research these plants and to see what they look like.




Last edited by bob wesolowski at 27-Jan-2005 11:44

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Bob thanks for the plant info. I actually did have alot of
higher light plants for a while like Cambomba, but for some reason they grew great in the beginning but then the leaves started to fall off, so I eventually went to more driftwood and some lower light plants. Question. The light I have is actually designed I believe for saltwater (10,000k / actinic). I actually switch the 10,000k off in the evening becuase I like the way the blue light looks at night. Would this still be consider 4wpg as far as the plants are concerned. Thanks much!

My Scapes

Tetratech, Didn't we talk about this before, or am I just loopy? lol

Anyways the 10000K light might be a good idea in your tank because it is a deep tank. But the actinic bulbs are useless when it comes to plants.

The other plants you mentioned doing the dye off thing, well that is sometimes normal when first starting a planted tank. The plants are fussing because they have been moved so much and are just doing what is natural. I believe the dye off to be the result of them putting all of their efforts into the root system. Once the roots are established the leaves should grow back.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

BTW....Where ya been? Haven't seen you around much. (this is phoneshannen)

Doh! I meant to mention that the fixture is great but your bulb choice is best for coral and algae. You should have 6500K bulbs, toward the red spectrum, for freshwater plants to photosynthesize.

If you like the actinic (blue) light then just swap out the 10000K bulb for one in the 6500K intensity area. You will still have over 2 wpg, sufficient for medium light. See if your lfs will swap bulbs if the fixture and lamp is relatively new.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Is the actinic really useless. Someone told the blue spectrum penetrates deeper. Which blub is causing more algae problems the 10k or the actinic.

Also a problem I have with some fragile plants is one of my Angels rips the leaves apart. Believe he is well-fed with bloodworms, etc., but for some reason he eats plants. Which bulb

My Scapes

The 10,000K bulb is loved by algae. The actinic doesn't help you with freshwater but the light does penetrate deeper, just not the right wavelength.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright