Methods to Prevent Algae

[John N.]

Please comment and discuss Aziz Dhanani's Methods to Prevent Algae here.



-John N.

[George Farmer]

Section 4. Noon Burst Lighting. The method described by the author is actually the opposite i.e. noon siesta.

I believe that the siesta can help against algae in poor CO2 aquariums, as the CO2 levels build during the dark stage.

[Mellonman]

"Japanese Marimo moss ball are high consumers of phosphates."

Is this based on scientifical studies ?

[GreenFanatic]

Still inconclusive... was hoping to find absolute solutions

[AzizDhanani]

First off, all comments welcomed.

As the author of this article, I just wanted to update readers on where the tank was at. While the tank held up well, for approximately 5 months, with virturally no algae, other than blue green algae and some green spot algae on cardamine lyrata leaves, what followed after the 5 months was a cylce of unexplained fish deaths. I kept the tank running to see what would happen. I removed the barley straw as the bag of straw had succumbed to black brush algae. To date the tank is overun with pockets of black brush/beard algae, green spot algae and green dust algae. I have kept the tank up and running to see if I can try to address the cause of the algae issues.

Readers should keep in mind that there was no major change in water parameters during this period that could possibly explain what happened. Water paramaters are the following as of March 22 2008.
GH:100 mg/l
KH:70 mg/l
Ammonia:0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: Approx 40 ppm
PH: 7.0
Phosphates: 5+ ppm
c02: 11.7 ppm based on C02 calculation chart, but 30 ppm as per lime green color of c02 drop checker solution.
Aquarium Temperature: 30 degrees celcius

The GH was at one time was high due to dosing of calcium sulphate and magnesium with every water change but this leveled off when dosing of calcium sulphate and magnesium was reduced to once a month. Tank temperature did fluctuate from 25 degrees celcius to 30 degrees celcius, so I guess this combined with a overstocked tank may explain some of the fish deaths. I did change to EI dosing but I doubt this would account for what happened. The most interesting thing was the c02 levels. The c02 drop checker with the 4dKH solution indicated c02 levels of 30 ppm as per lime green color. However, based on Chuck's calculator for determining c02 level, the c02 level would have been closer to 11.7 ppm at the time that major algae issues surfaced.

Readers should also note that what happened cannot be blamed on aquarium neglect or poor maintenance. 50% weekly water changes were performed,feeding was kept at a minimal, the DIY c02 brew was changed weekly in an attempt to keep c02 output consistent, and c02 was disbursed using a modified hagen submersible filter as per Niko's instructions.

While I am disappointed with the results of this experiment, I have no regrets doing what I did. I would define what happened as a partial victory against algae as the tank held up and fluorished really well for 5 months. More importantly though is what factors contributed to the fish deaths and algae outbreaks after the 5 months.

Did the fish deaths cause undetectable ammonia spikes that the test kits did not detect and did this give rise to rapid algae growth?

Did "overtrimming" of plants, especially floating plants contribute to the rapid growth of algae by giving algae spores a competitive edge? Perhaps, it was just a coincidence, but I first noticed the major algae outbreak a week after I overdid it on pruning of the plants.

Did low c02 levels greatly contribute to the growth of algae? The c02 on-line calculator indicated levels of 11.7 ppm average vs 30 ppm as per lime green color of drop checker solution. Lack of c02 has been demonstrated to give rise to all types of algae in high light tanks. Was the 11.7 ppm measure of c02 more accurate than the 30 ppm c02 drop checker measure?

Did a combination of the above factors work together to contribute to the algae growth? The experiment seems to have raised more questions than it answered. I gladly welcome all feedback from readers on this.

I know some readers may be tempted to make the "old school" unproven argument for high nutrients in the water column contributing to the algae. As a side note, I am not convinced of this as I have a ADA Aquasoil soil tank II with EI dosing that did not develop a trace(note even diatoms) of algae. ADA Aquasoil is considered extremely nutrient dense and said to leech nutrients in the water column. And yet this combined with EI dosing is not causing algae issues in my other setup. Tom Barr who has also set up many tanks where he has used ADA Aquasoil in combination with EI(Estimative Dosing) with no algae issues whatsoever.

[Joe Faria]

Hi,

The author doesn't make any mention on using potassium... although he tried PPS-Pro and Tom Barr's EI.
Without this macronutrient available in water column, plants will strugle to consume N and P. If that happen, an algae outbreak will be the most common result.

Regards,

Joe Faria

[plantbrain]

Both methods, as well as ADA's, PMDD, have ample K+.

I think I mentioned to the author that these things would never work for control, but folks still try every sort of snake oil known
Somethings folks have to learn the hard way no matter what you tell them.

Plants define the system, not the system defining plants, as long as they have enough light, CO2 and nutrients to grow.

Algae are a bit like annual weeds and the aquatic plants are bit more like perennials. The spores look for good chances of growth to adulthood and release more spores. They do not live long. Plants can live via clones for hundreds of years, thousands even.

Algae just need a good germination signal to grow and then they are off.
Learn how to grow plants well, focus on their needs, not killing algae, that's not the hobby you signed up for was it?
So focus on plant needs and growth.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[dougz]

I was hoping there would be some info on the effectiveness of in-line UV units for suppression of water-borne algae (green algae, etc)