algae lesson please

[famman]

I seem to have several types of algae growing in my cory tank (20gal78Fkh4gh6ph7.4lightlyplantedtwinbulbstriplig ht)

It doesn't really bother me, just curious.

Green hair from the tips of plastic plants,
Blue-Green on the rocks and flat tops of plants,
Grean algae on the walls,
brown algae (diatom?) in various places, mostly near heater,
and a green fuzz covering the stems of my real plants.

Could someone give me a quick good/bad/indifferent rating on these?

Anything I should be concerned about?

Thanks,

:)

[thom336]

to avoid algae follow these steps:
1) do not overstock your aquarium as this can cause an unhelthy build up of nitrate and phosphate
2) do not over filter the aquarium as this can result in an increase in nitrate and CO2 depletion
3) avoid excess light
4) avoid over-feeding as this can cause build up in ammonia, nitrate and nitrite
5) avoid feeding cheap frozen food that could add algae spores to the tank

[famman]

Ok, but other than being unsightly is there any problem with any of the above algae?
thanks,
:)

[O-man21]

no problems, it occurs naturally in a tank.

[Slappy*McFish]

2) do not over filter the aquarium as this can result in an increase in nitrate and CO2 depletion

I have to somewhat disagree with this statement...Nitrate production is dependent upon the total bioload of the tank as well as how much the plants actually consume. Over filtering wont create anymore Nitrate than the current bioload will allow. It's the lack of water changes and filter cleaning that lead to nitrate build up. If it is the 'speed' in which nitrate is produced from ammonia and nitrites, how is that a bad thing? I would think nitrates would be preferrable over nitrites and ammonia anyday.

As far as CO2 depletion is concerned, it shouldn't be a problem unless there is too much surface disturbance creating alot of air/water contact. Which I am sure thom336 is referring to.

Everything else is good advice.

The algae in itself isnt bad for the fish, unless it starts to die creating pollution, but it can choke and kill the plants if it gets too out of hand.

[thom336]

yes, nitrate is prefferable to nitrite and ammonia - but it is in fact the nitrate that the algae feed on. over filtering will speed up the process of convertion, and hence more is being produced in a lesser space of time. this could lead to an algae bloom, which, once it takes a hold, is hard to get rid of. so that is where i am coming from on that topic.

increased filtration will, whatever type of filter it is, increase water turbulance, and this depletes the CO2 in the water. so i hope that is curiosity solved.

and, as you said with me, everything else is good advice slappy!

[wetmanNY]

Check the Algae folder at www.skepticalaquarist.com and follow up some of the algae links.

[RTR]

Increased filtration does not necessarily mean an increae in CO2 blow-off - assuming you use filtration better suited to planted tanks than HOBs, such as canisters.

I do not understand the more filtration bit equating to more nitrates. The only souce for nitrate in the tank (other than hobbyist addition directly as is frequently required in planted tanks) is from ammonia via nitrite to nitrate. You either have sufficient biofiltration to do this conversion or you have insufficient biofiltration. The biofilter cannot produce more nitrate than there is raw material (ammonia) from which to make it. The biofilter similarly cannot outgrow its energy souce - it can only grow in response to ammonia, then nitite.

[thom336]

the ammonia/nitrite into nitrate is done via the filtration - its what its there for. so if filtration is increased then so is the convertion - which is basically what i said before, but maybe you didnt understand what i was sayin, or more likely im not quite gettin what ur sayin. it would, for a while, convert more nitrites (all those that are sittin around in the dark corners, or so to speak) into nitrates, leading to the algae bloom. i think im beginin to see what your gettin at in concern to there has to be more nitrites in order for them to be converted, but what im sayin is there will aslways be those that are 'in situ', and the over filtration would pull these in, or so to speak, and convert them. your probably not fully understanding what im getting at....and congrats if you do, cos im not the best at explaining things.

and, to tell truth, im not entirely sure how this whole CO2 surface thing works (plz dont quote me on that...makes me look bad), but what im saying is...if you increase filtration, no matter wot type of filter you have, ur gonna increase disturbance, no matter by how much or how little. its gonna happen.

[wetmanNY]

thom336, don't let the "filtration" in "Bio-filtration" confuse you. It's all done by bacteria. There are no sources of anything sitting around in dark corners. The microbial world finds all sources of energy fast! Increased flow, increased filter media, etc etc.-- it's just "substrate" for bacterial communities to colonize.

There are many other cycles beside the part of the nitrogen cycle we think about: carbon, phosphate, sulfate, iron. And bacteria run the whole show!

Some fish on the side, please!

[famman]

So other than being unsightly and possibly overrunning your favored plants, there is really no downside to algae?
I physically removed 95% of the Blue Green colored algae and scrubbed the walls, basically a heavy grooming. I still have lots of different types of algae.

I know the brown algae is probably diatoms, my otos love it.

Wetman, I cant bring up the navigation panel on your website, I swear I tried to start there first.

thanks,
:)

[wetmanNY]

It's Java, baby! You gotta get Java-enabled! (It's on every modern browser.)

[slipknottin]

Originally posted by thom336
yes, nitrate is prefferable to nitrite and ammonia - but it is in fact the nitrate that the algae feed on. over filtering will speed up the process of convertion, and hence more is being produced in a lesser space of time. this could lead to an algae bloom, which, once it takes a hold, is hard to get rid of. so that is where i am coming from on that topic.


Algae consume NH3/NH4 also, and usually in a greater quantity.

Overfiltering might speed of the process, but no more is being converted. The only way you can add to your bioload is either with a living thing that dies in your tank (plants, fish) or by feeding.

[famman]

Wetman,
I'm using IE 6.0.2 with java enabled. It stopped working just a few days ago, I'm still not sure what I did.
:)

[thom336]

"thom336, don't let the "filtration" in "Bio-filtration" confuse you"
i didnt meantion boifiltration.....:confused:
yea i agree slipknottin, which is one reason filtration is needed, but not over-filtration (tlkin bout the ammonia and algae). and the rest is what im gettin at trying to explain, so thanks for clearing that up.

[wetmanNY]

Like Moliere's Bourgeois Gentilhomme, who was speaking prose without realizing it, if you're talking about filtration that affects ammonia and nitrates, you're speaking "bio-filtration."

[famman]

Here's a pretty good link I found from George Booth

http://www.aquaticscape.com/information/algae/algae.htm