Another interesting article on Algae control
- Thread starter DavidZ
- Start date
great article.
Quick question though, Are UV sterilizers good for smaller freshwater tanks?
And what type of media remove phosphates?
Quick question though, Are UV sterilizers good for smaller freshwater tanks?
And what type of media remove phosphates?
About 6 moths a go I used UV sterilizer to get rid of green water, worked great.
You do not need to use it all the time and there are units for different size tanks.
It is best to find out the source of the problem first.
You will find that guys here will try to help you avoid the problem.
You do not need to use it all the time and there are units for different size tanks.
It is best to find out the source of the problem first.
You will find that guys here will try to help you avoid the problem.
sounds good. I don't have a problem, just wondering if people use them around here. I see that over on MFK people tend to use them on much larger tanks.
UV's have only one temporary purpose for planted aquariums.
Green water, after 2-3 days of use, that's it, and it's rare that it's even any issue on established tanks, due to cycling. So new tanks that get GW, might use a UV 2-3 days, then never again.
Those are the statistics.
Fish and parasites etc?
That's another matter, but for algae, not much use other than a one time GW bloom which does not harm plants(annoys the aquarist though/unaesthetic).
They are correct in that many cases that Cleaner aquariums are much more prone to algae than say established planted/reefs.
However, it's not due to competition.
There's no competition occurring.
Plants have the same access to the nutrients at richer levels as do the algae. At lower levels(clean tanks), the algae can still grow well because they have far less demand than the much larger and faster growing plants(in terms of total biomass).
Even the worse algae bloom, in terms of total dry weight biomass, is tiny.
A few day's growth of Egeria densa is massive by comparison in the same aquarium.
You cannot have the idea of competition both ways here, while often repeated and parroted, it's a DEAD wrong concept to suggest and one the aquarist can and have tested and shown to be false.
Algae are much better adapted to changes, and to very low nutrient levels, beyond what aquarist can practically manage in order to limit algae.
So algae are never limited in a plant or a reef aquarium, there's plenty of nutrients.
So what is the key?
Inducing the algae bloom.
What is the trigger there?
There are different triggers for different species, some triggers are subtle, many we do not know about(claiming competition between plants does not make it so, nor that you are correct, if you do not know, just say that! Don't fudge!)
Some we do.
I can induce GW by adding NH4 at 1.0ppm at high light and reduce the CO2 down.
I can induce many species of algae, but mostly BBA by dropping the CO2 ppm down in a CO2 enriched system.
I can induce BGA by lowering NO3 below 5ppm and keepoing there after a few weeks.
Etc.
Some I do not know how to induce.
I can tell you this, few other folks do either
Even fewer have bothered to grow algae in their systems also.
But that is the confirmation, that is how you test your theory. If you are unwilling to test your own theory/hypothesis, it's still just a guess and you will never get farther than that:thumbsup:
Final word, limiting PO4 will not avoid algae.
This is my tank and I add about 10ppm a week using KH2PO4:
The algae are hardly limited by PO4 obviously, that cannot be why the algae are held at bay, nor nutrients(they are rich in the water column and the sediments), luight is about 2w/gal so not that high either.
CO2 is 95% of the "trick" for planted tanks and algae issues.
Keep light at lower to moderate levels, never high.
That will help the most.
The article touches on that and most of it is very good.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Green water, after 2-3 days of use, that's it, and it's rare that it's even any issue on established tanks, due to cycling. So new tanks that get GW, might use a UV 2-3 days, then never again.
Those are the statistics.
Fish and parasites etc?
That's another matter, but for algae, not much use other than a one time GW bloom which does not harm plants(annoys the aquarist though/unaesthetic).
They are correct in that many cases that Cleaner aquariums are much more prone to algae than say established planted/reefs.
However, it's not due to competition.
There's no competition occurring.
Plants have the same access to the nutrients at richer levels as do the algae. At lower levels(clean tanks), the algae can still grow well because they have far less demand than the much larger and faster growing plants(in terms of total biomass).
Even the worse algae bloom, in terms of total dry weight biomass, is tiny.
A few day's growth of Egeria densa is massive by comparison in the same aquarium.
You cannot have the idea of competition both ways here, while often repeated and parroted, it's a DEAD wrong concept to suggest and one the aquarist can and have tested and shown to be false.
Algae are much better adapted to changes, and to very low nutrient levels, beyond what aquarist can practically manage in order to limit algae.
So algae are never limited in a plant or a reef aquarium, there's plenty of nutrients.
So what is the key?
Inducing the algae bloom.
What is the trigger there?
There are different triggers for different species, some triggers are subtle, many we do not know about(claiming competition between plants does not make it so, nor that you are correct, if you do not know, just say that! Don't fudge!)
Some we do.
I can induce GW by adding NH4 at 1.0ppm at high light and reduce the CO2 down.
I can induce many species of algae, but mostly BBA by dropping the CO2 ppm down in a CO2 enriched system.
I can induce BGA by lowering NO3 below 5ppm and keepoing there after a few weeks.
Etc.
Some I do not know how to induce.
I can tell you this, few other folks do either
Even fewer have bothered to grow algae in their systems also.
But that is the confirmation, that is how you test your theory. If you are unwilling to test your own theory/hypothesis, it's still just a guess and you will never get farther than that:thumbsup:
Final word, limiting PO4 will not avoid algae.
This is my tank and I add about 10ppm a week using KH2PO4:
The algae are hardly limited by PO4 obviously, that cannot be why the algae are held at bay, nor nutrients(they are rich in the water column and the sediments), luight is about 2w/gal so not that high either.
CO2 is 95% of the "trick" for planted tanks and algae issues.
Keep light at lower to moderate levels, never high.
That will help the most.
The article touches on that and most of it is very good.
Regards,
Tom Barr
