Water Temperature with Planted Tanks

[Acara Mom]

After watching Aqua Scaping videos, I heard them comment strongly that planted tanks should be around 72-75 degrees or you will have algae problems. 
 

Well...my main two tanks have plants, fish that need 82-84 degree water, and I fight ALGAE! A very nice person gave me a schedule for my Fluval 3.0 which should help BUT my water is an issue!!

Anyone have this issue figured out??

[Koi]

There are a lot of different factors that can cause algae but I don't think temperature alone will induce algae. Or at least it won't around your temps.

I think 75 degrees is recommended because it serves as a good middle ground for a wide range of plants to grow well. Generally everything grows faster the warmer it gets wether its your fish, plants, or algae. So any imbalances in your tank will be exacerbated at 80 degrees compared to say 60.

I like to use a lot of plants or really fast growing plants to compete against algae. Elodea does a pretty good job pulling nutrients from the water and it grows really fast for me at 80 degrees. 

I'm sure someone here will be able to help you or at least lead you in the right direction. Any information you can give about your tank like water parameters, light schedule, and if you are dosing any fertilizers will help give a clearer picture as to what might be going on.

 

[Randall from Texas]

On 7/2/2021 at 9:49 PM, Acara Mom said:

After watching Aqua Scaping videos, I heard them comment strongly that planted tanks should be around 72-75 degrees or you will have algae problems. 
 

Well...my main two tanks have plants, fish that need 82-84 degree water, and I fight ALGAE! A very nice person gave me a schedule for my Fluval 3.0 which should help BUT my water is an issue!!

Anyone have this issue figured out??

I'm running at 85 and have my tank mostly dialed in. It's been a year long progression. Some plants just don't thrive at this high temp. I'm slowly buying one of each coop plant to see what makes it haha.

[Acara Mom]

Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge! 
I have been adding more plants and getting some propagation of existing plants. 
My phosphate runs low and I am watching how it progresses  my nitrates are low and no ammonia. But they say… Ammonia and light makes algae… But I show no ammonia but I have had some plants that decayed so I am probably missing when it goes up a little. I found this list online it is old but I thought it had some interesting suggestions!

I just reset my 3.0 to a siesta as was suggested by a knowledgeable person. I looked up the plant that you mentioned and I’m going to try to find it online. The process is almost overwhelming to get balance in the aquarium with high temperature fish.

The happy thing is I finally got some healthy German Blue Rams from Aqua Huna! They are AWESOME on communication and support!! Off the charts great! 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Acara Mom

[Acara Mom]

On 7/3/2021 at 12:03 PM, Randall from Texas said:

I'm running at 85 and have my tank mostly dialed in. It's been a year long progression. Some plants just don't thrive at this high temp. I'm slowly buying one of each coop plant to see what makes it haha.

Ps I recently moved away from Texas and I miss it! My water was much higher on the pH than here but either way there are adjustments! 

[Tanked]

The most common algae share the same preferred temperature range with the plants: 60-80 degrees.  While they both benefit from warmer water, the most common cause associated with too much algae is usually too much light.  I would start there.

[Patrick_G]

My mostly successful plan for algae control:

Less intense light or a shorter photo period, more plants to outcompete the algae, Otocinclus and Amano Shrimp, manual removal with a brush or mag float. And lastly I’ll use some Seachem Excel on occasion, especially in my tank that gets lots of natural sun. 

[Acara Mom]

On 7/3/2021 at 1:27 PM, Patrick_G said:

All good options! I had been cutting back on light but cut it more today. Going to get some Otos when they get more in.

Does the Excel kill some of your plants? 
Thanks. 

[Bobbie]

Hmm, I’ve always found that my algae issues were the worst when I overfed and added too much fertiliser, because algae thrives on nutrients. 
Maybe cut back on light, food and fertiliser for a few days and see if that helps?  
 

But also do you have any small snails in the tank? I know loads of people hate them but they’re great for managing algae, and I’d really suggest getting 2 or 3 once you get the algae under control. 

[anewbie]

On 7/3/2021 at 11:15 AM, Acara Mom said:

 

The happy thing is I finally got some healthy German Blue Rams from Aqua Huna! They are AWESOME on communication and support!! Off the charts great! 

I'm curious did you get any females or just males ?

[Patrick_G]

On 7/3/2021 at 11:08 AM, Acara Mom said:

On 7/3/2021 at 10:27 AM, Patrick_G said:

All good options! I had been cutting back on light but cut it more today. Going to get some Otos when they get more in.

Does the Excel kill some of your plants? 
Thanks. 

Expand  

I try to use the Excel sparingly. I think I mis judged the dosage in my little 3 gal plant only tank and melted the guppy grass, but other than that no problems. 

 

On 7/3/2021 at 11:22 AM, Bobbie said:

Hmm, I’ve always found that my algae issues were the worst when I overfed and added too much fertiliser, because algae thrives on nutrients. 
Maybe cut back on light, food and fertiliser for a few days and see if that helps?  
 

But also do you have any small snails in the tank? I know loads of people hate them but they’re great for managing algae, and I’d really suggest getting 2 or 3 once you get the algae under control. 

I know it sounds counter intuitive but I seem to have less algae when I fertilize at a higher level, especially with my slow growing epiphytes. They seem to stay algae free when they’re well fed and growing as fast as possible. 

[Bobbie]

I suppose that leads to an important question, @Acara Mom what kind of plants do you have? Slow growing plants will always have more algae problems than fast growing ones, and will have an impact on how you treat the outbreak

[Streetwise]

In my experience with algae v plants, it can be really helpful to address window light and ambient light besides just looking at your tank lights and parameters. Blackout curtains for my kitchen/dining room helped me really get things balanced in a bright room.

[Acara Mom]

On 7/3/2021 at 2:29 PM, anewbie said:

I'm curious did you get any females or just males ?

I got a mix of Four females and two males. 
One of the females has very different coloration, but overall the most important thing is that they seem very healthy. Also,  their Staff is very helpful with questions before I purchased. I’ve had some bad experiences with German rams and I like them a lot so I wasn’t going to get them unless I got some answers or at least headed towards answers. They were absolutely wonderful!

[Acara Mom]

On 7/3/2021 at 4:04 PM, Streetwise said:

In my experience with algae v plants, it can be really helpful to address window light and ambient light besides just looking at your tank lights and parameters. Blackout curtains for my kitchen/dining room helped me really get things balanced in a bright room.

That is interesting! I wonder if you have your lights set for say only 6% for a couple hours does that count towards algae accumulation? I have my light set for very low in the morning because I’d like to see in the tank at least a little bit to check on everybody. And then I have it ramp up later in the morning and then a  Siesta in the afternoon And then ramp back up for a few hours.

[Acara Mom]

On 7/3/2021 at 3:44 PM, Bobbie said:

I suppose that leads to an important question, @Acara Mom what kind of plants do you have? Slow growing plants will always have more algae problems than fast growing ones, and will have an impact on how you treat the outbreak

I have some of both and the ones that are nice and healthy but they have some blue green algae spots on them. Now I’m getting some blue green algae on a big piece of wood that’s in the tank. This particular tank is only a 40 breeder. The water is not that deep and the light doesn’t really have brackets to raise it up from the glass. One of the downsides of the 3.0. So I’ve cut my intensity of light down for most of the day to just over 50%. 

[Patrick_G]

On 7/3/2021 at 1:04 PM, Streetwise said:

In my experience with algae v plants, it can be really helpful to address window light and ambient light besides just looking at your tank lights and parameters. Blackout curtains for my kitchen/dining room helped me really get things balanced in a bright room.

So true! I’m planning on re-scaping this tank and I’ll put frosted film on the right side near the window. 

[Streetwise]

@Acara Mom, I was getting tons of hair algae in just one tank, despite running the same settings with multiple tanks. This tank was in a different room, and the windows were driving the additional algae growth. I have it documented in my Indoor journal.

[Acara Mom]

On 7/3/2021 at 3:44 PM, Bobbie said:

I suppose that leads to an important question, @Acara Mom what kind of plants do you have? Slow growing plants will always have more algae problems than fast growing ones, and will have an impact on how you treat the outbreak

My big mistake was in the beginning of setting up this tank. It is only about four months old now. I did not do enough water changes. I was doing them weekly and I should’ve been changing the water more frequently at the beginning. I had cycled material I put in the filter and felt I had it under control. Ha ha on that

[Acara Mom]

On 7/3/2021 at 4:10 PM, Patrick_G said:

So true! I’m planning on re-scaping this tank and I’ll put frosted film on the right side near the window. 

I like your tank! And yes that’s an excellent suggestion about the film on that one side. I have a bigger tank that’s by a window where there is a porch that I am considering putting something like that on the back. I think you may have just convince me. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Acara Mom

[Acara Mom]

What got me onto this topic was I watched all these videos of the beautiful aqua scaped Tanks. One of the videos they showed a list of what will cause algae and temperature was one. Then in another video they kept telling everyone that gave information about their tank that if their temperature was not closer to 72 then they were going to have algae issues. 

[Streetwise]

Videos can have some good info, but with forum tank journals, you can see how members deal with tanks over the course of months and years.

[Acara Mom]

On 7/3/2021 at 2:39 PM, Patrick_G said:

I try to use the Excel sparingly. I think I mis judged the dosage in my little 3 gal plant only tank and melted the guppy grass, but other than that no problems. 

 

I know it sounds counter intuitive but I seem to have less algae when I fertilize at a higher level, especially with my slow growing epiphytes. They seem to stay algae free when they’re well fed and growing as fast as possible. 

That was another thing that I did wrong at the beginning. Then I heard Cory say that was something people make a mistake doing when they start having an issue. I thought I was giving too much. Anyway, damage done now I’m on damage control. I’ve cleaned the plants over and over actually pull them out and try to clean them off and put them back. I’ve scrubbed hard scape and put it back. Kind of done with that every once in a while I will pull out a little piece. I think I’m down to the blue green algae because at first I had hair algae also. But Cory suggestion on Rosie barbs was awesome. I pulled plants out and stuck them in another tank and bought some Rosie barbs and they clean them off for me in no time!

[Streetwise]

@Acara Mom, start an aquarium journal and put a link in your signature so that we can all follow along!

[Acara Mom]

Kind of embarrassing! 😀