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re: Subject: Algae on leaves, ADP v3 #824
Duane wrote...............................
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 06:48:04 EST
From: AquaServe at aol_com
Subject: Algae on leaves
Quick question: My newly established biotope is doing wonderfully. The
plants are growing fine and all appear to be in good shape. My problem is
that I am having some algae growth...that's normal but I am seeing much of
that growth on the leaves of my plants. I am concerned this will evenually
kill them. I have a flying fox (not sure if it is a REAL Flying fox) that
does some cleaning but not much. What can I do to prevent or slow this
process and am I looking at a potential problem in the future if this trend
continues? The aquarium is a 29 gallon with 60 watts of light. The photo
period is set to 11 hours. Should I decrease that period? Any suggestions
would be appreciated. Thanks
Duane
======================================
Duane, glad to see you made it to the hobby and you have joined us!
This sounds like a case of were your normal regime may have worked for a new
tank setup but now that you have acclimated fish and plants your maintenance
and fertilizer regime it not working. YOU MUST CHANGE SOMETHING. Try doing
a 50% water change every other day for a week or so and FEED LESS. You
should also trim off the algae infected leaves which are probably dead or
dying adding N and P back into the water! After which time you might start
adding your fertilizer at 1/4 or 1/2 dose then see how things go. Algae can
usually be attributed to high N or P and/or an imbalance of other
trace-elements. Over-dosing NPK and/or your trace element mix or commercial
fertilizer may inhibit the uptake vital nutrients.
Try to figure out what's going on over time with a good N, P and Fe test
kits (sorry Morten). Read everything you can, identify the algae you have
and capitalize on other ADPer's experiences. Coming out your mains (for our
UK friends), is your water hard/soft, does it already have lots of N or P?
What about C02? Are you adding it ? With ~2w/gal you may need it. What
plants in particular have algae? Are they the heavy root-feeder types or
plants that tend to draw most nutrients from the water column. What about
your substrate? What are you adding/not adding to it? Your substrate is
new and it may be void of Ca/Mg/Fe and your heavy root feeders may need an
extra NPK boost at the root-zone. You could also get some young & hungry
SAEs they may be all you need. When in doubt plant heavily, change water
frequently, add stuff to your tank in moderation then cut that in half, be
patient, try to observe and document your observations, and adapt to them,
and above all repeat to yourself continuously ..OOMMMM....I WILL REACH PLANT
TANK NIRVANA..OOMMMM....I WILL REACH PLANT TANK NIRVANA..OOMMMM....I WILL
REACH PLANT TANK NIRVANA.
Hope this help!
(Sorry, I don't know what got into me....cheeeeeszz... now the experts may
step in .....I think I hear a chain saw buzz coming closer to me)
Tom Brennan