Does Light Cause Algae in Fish Tank Updated

Does Light Cause Algae in Fish Tank

The bane of many a fishkeeper, algae is the crusade of many people giving up the hobby. Jeremy Gay offers pointers on why y'all may take it â€" and how to control and get rid of it.

Algae is everywhere. There are algaes adapted to hot water, cool water, hard water, soft water, freshwater, seawater, bright h2o, and poorly lit water. It will grow wherever there is light plus water – and our fish tanks provide perfect weather. But why?

Provide less low-cal

Algae needs light to thrive and our fixed duration lighting is perfect. With no plants or corals in the aquarium, cut the light back to a few hours per day when you are viewing it.

Fish actually adopt lower lighting weather, will feel more secure and your nocturnal fish may become more agile in the daytime in depression light. Cut lighting to four hours a solar day, or less and the algae volition struggle. Cichlids bear witness specially skillful colour in dim, ambience room calorie-free.

Ane method popular with some found growers is the 'siesta' whereby lights are turned off for an hour or two in the middle of the day. This interrupts algae growth, only plants can put up with information technology.

Ensure no sunlight reaches the tank every bit algae will grow fiercely when exposed to it. Accept this into account when initially placing the tank. If some exposure is unavoidable, stick backing paper to the sides to try and block information technology out — or employ an internal structured background.

Less nutrients

The subject of which nutrients actually fuel algae growth is hotly contested. Some say that nitrate and phosphate cause algae; others claim that ammonia is the cause. Although nitrate and phosphate can exist used as fertilisers in heavily planted tanks, in a tank with trivial or no plants, or any marine tank, it will fuel algae growth.

Phosphate can as well impair coral growth in seawater.

Take readings of both nitrate and phosphate levels with test kits and then exercise your utmost to eradicate it.

Do plenty of water changes to bring levels downwardly, merely only if your source of water is significantly lower anyway, so again test.

A guaranteed fashion of obtaining a supply of h2o with negligible amounts of algae-causing fertilisers is to utilize reverse osmosis (RO) water or deionised water.

Purified water is one of the almost popular algae controls, as are nitrate and phosphate removal resins — and a combination of both purified water and phosphate removal resin used long term will go a long way. And, if algae is still present, test for silicates and try to eradicate them. Deionisers remove silicates.

More competition

There are natural ways of removing nitrates and phosphates from both fresh and seawater. Aquatic plants will take them up every bit they abound, and so heavy planting will commonly go rid of it. Some plants are fifty-fifty said to inhibit algae growth by releasing chemicals, though heavy planting is much more reliable.

Plants will utilize up all available nitrates and phosphates in aquarium water, likewise as trace elements and macros that would commonly besides feed algae. However, once they accept used them upward, the plants will go hungry too and demand feeding in their own right.

Marine 'plants' can also be used for the same purpose. Macro algaes like Caulerpa, kelp and seaweeds are higher forms of algae that we observe desirable and, although non every bit advanced as true plants, they use nutrients in the aforementioned style.

A refugium is some other tank connected to a marine tank and used to harbour macro algaes and useful invertebrates that would otherwise be eaten by fish in the main tank. Tank water flows through the refugium, the macro algae is supplied with light for growth and it consumes the nutrients equally it grows, removing them from the h2o column and making weather condition more than to the liking of corals.

Macro algaes are likewise known to fight nuisance algae by outcompeting them, releasing chemicals to retard them and growing in areas where the stuff would otherwise be growing. Don't put too much in the principal marine tank however, as information technology tin besides abound over and outcompete corals — and not too many fish, even the herbivores, can control a tank full of macro algae.

Phosphate producers

It is said that every living thing contains phosphate — fifty-fifty being present in rocks and gravels. Fish produce phosphate and it is also in their foods. More than fish and over feeding will cause more phosphate and nitrate from the filtering processes and, with zippo in the tank to take up either of them, they will feed algae.

Compare the analysis on the back of the food tub every bit some brands will take lower phosphate levels than others. Feed less, remove uneaten food — and rinse frozen food every bit the juice in the frozen cube is incredibly high in phosphate.

Big, messy fish will produce more phosphate than small ones and bigger, dirtier filters filled with gunge volition harbour more phosphate and nitrate. Run a lean, tidy tank.

Algae grazers

Where would be without our algae grazing plecs in tropical tanks, or our tangs in marine tanks? Smothered with more algae is the answer. Lots of fish graze algae, including a few you wouldn't normally consider, like mollies.

So in that location are ever growing numbers of inverts. In freshwater use snails and algae eating shrimp as well as algae grazing fish. In the marine tank use tangs, angels, algae blennies, snails, urchins, Hermit crabs and Mithrax crabs to bargain with the myriad of marine algaes.

Water flow

Opinion is over again hotly divided amid algae battlers. Some believe that high catamenia causes algae to grow while others feel that high flow and high apportionment aid to hold information technology back.

Both parties may have a valid point, though it would appear that strong menstruum can cause 'tearing' of slime algaes and cyanobacteria and that alternate flow tin also disrupt its growth and spread — and assist to dislodge it from surfaces. The merely mode to find out whether increased or decreased flow is best for you is by experimenting.

The algae equation

Light + water + nutrients = algae

The virtually effective style to wage state of war on algae is to attack it on several fronts. Lessen the duration of your lighting, switch to RO h2o, clean the tank more and add a selection of algae grazers. So you volition significantly lessen its stranglehold and maybe fifty-fifty beat it altogether!

Less light + less nutrients + algae grazers = less algae

Tip

Make sure lighting is matched to livestock and is replaced regularly with new bulbs/tubes to keep the wavelength abiding. Blueish lighting can cause backlog algae in freshwater and low Kelvin lighting, peaking in the cherry-red, can encourage algae in marine aquaria. Bulbs and tubes degrade over time, lowering their Kelvin rating, possibly causing more than algae and producing lite less useable by plants or corals.

This article was first published in the August 2008 issue of Practical Fishkeeping magazine. It may not be reproduced without written permission.