is no algae a prob??

[charlie_stubbs]

my tank is located in an area that recieves no direct sunlight. none. period. it is actually in a shady area on a landing going up the stairs and works great illuminating this area at both during the day and at night. i turn the lights on in the morning and off again at night. the tank has been running almost three months, one month fishless cycling and two with fish, 16 cichlids and two upsidedown catfish in a 55 gallon. my readings are always good and have had no probs with ammonia or nitrites since my fishless cycle completed. my problem is, i have yet to see any algae on my glass. anywhere. i check every day when i do my "head count" and after three months there still is no algae. could this indicate i have a prob?

 

[silentskream]

no.

algae means you have extra nitrates in your tank. usually meaning you're overfeeding or overlighting your tank.

the less algae you have the better except in rare cases.. however, some fish need some amount of algae in their diet.. and thats why you can buy algae tabs at your LFS.. or you can drop in some zucchini.

 

[severum mama]

it's not always caused by an excess of nitrates. A lot of types of algae result from nutrient imbalances, which may involve many factors.

At any rate, consider yourself lucky! Not having algae isn't a problem at all for your tank, since you don't keep any species like otos that may depend on it. As long as your levels are all good, your tank is doing great!

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

I'm jealous of your apparently low phosphate/silicate tap water...

 

[Marinemom]

No algae is not usually a problem. Most people would love to have this problem. I think your tank is doing great with no algae and as long as you do not have fish in the tank that require algae in their diet such as plecos or otos, then you should be fine.

Marinemom

 

[jonnyfry]

only if you have a mag float fetish

 

[feemia]

My tank's been running for almost 7 months and I'm just starting to see some traces of algae. I think it's only appearing now because I've been dosing a very small amount of nitrate for my plants. Until now it always tested 0 for nitrate.

 

[charlie_stubbs]

i do water changes faithfully (mostly twice a week 25%) and i am carefull not to overfeed. i have two upsidedown catfish that do a wonderful job cleaning up the scraps and i may add 2 more. my worry is i have a hard time finding two during "headcount" and with so many caves for my cichlids i might never really know where they all are if i add more. masters of disguise they are, i've even found them hiding in plain sight!!!

 

[J double R]

i've got a 20g with absolutely no algae.

high nitrates are usually not the sole cause of algae, but rather the lack of other nutrients in a planted tank.

 

[tackful]

My tank has been running for 5 months and has no algae, although every few days I clean the glass at the slightest sign of any. Otherwise, nothing on the driftwood or the rocks or plant leaves. I used to have problems before my plants started growing, but now that they've taken over the tank everything's fine. I add nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, and trace elements daily, and have 2 Siamese Algae Eaters. Tackful