Quick ultimate algea guide.

[JoeQ]

 

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/4/2022 at 1:39 PM, JoeQ said:

 

 

Nice! Probably very useful to a couple of beginners on this forum!

[JoeQ]

On 11/4/2022 at 11:12 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Nice! Probably very useful to a couple of beginners on this forum!

Yup!!!  Hopefully we in the planted tank community can start to erode the overwhelming, conventional wisdom mantra of "turn down your light" when dealing with any algea problem, which IMO is spill over from non planted tank advice. The planted tank uses healthy plant growth TO battle algea, and healthy plants need a healthy amount of light!!! IMO the first steps anyone should take when dealing with algea is setup a healthy environment for plant growth, aka improve water quality by removing dead decaying plant matter, trimming leaves that are covered in algea or "non beneficial", adjusting flow to circulate water throughout the whole tank, (or add additional airstones) lowering temp & if necessary adding more healthy plants (you can't expect a few struggling plants to instantly revive without the help of big strong plant buddies). Then from there I think one should next look at fertilizer regimes and light settings.

There was actually a pretty good video on how decomposition in a planted tank sends signals to your other plants that healthy growth should also decompose.  Im not sure on the truth of this but it sounds like a plausible theory. Hopefully some of the more knowledgeable voices can speak on it @Mmiller2001

@Seattle_Aquarist

 

[JoeQ]

 

[MattyM]

On 11/4/2022 at 7:39 AM, JoeQ said:

 

 

I want a googly-eyed algae guy! 

[Mmiller2001]

On 11/4/2022 at 2:45 PM, JoeQ said:

Yup!!!  Hopefully we in the planted tank community can start to erode the overwhelming, conventional wisdom mantra of "turn down your light" when dealing with any algea problem, which IMO is spill over from non planted tank advice. The planted tank uses healthy plant growth TO battle algea, and healthy plants need a healthy amount of light!!! IMO the first steps anyone should take when dealing with algea is setup a healthy environment for plant growth, aka improve water quality by removing dead decaying plant matter, trimming leaves that are covered in algea or "non beneficial", adjusting flow to circulate water throughout the whole tank, (or add additional airstones) lowering temp & if necessary adding more healthy plants (you can't expect a few struggling plants to instantly revive without the help of big strong plant buddies). Then from there I think one should next look at fertilizer regimes and light settings.

There was actually a pretty good video on how decomposition in a planted tank sends signals to your other plants that healthy growth should also decompose.  Im not sure on the truth of this but it sounds like a plausible theory. Hopefully some of the more knowledgeable voices can speak on it @Mmiller2001

@Seattle_Aquarist

 

My experience; that just having more plant mass is an excellent fix for algae. Have to dose nutrients, but just more mass. Looks better too!

[JoeQ]

On 11/4/2022 at 6:29 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

My experience; that just having more plant mass is an excellent fix for algae. Have to dose nutrients, but just more mass. Looks better too!

Im looking more for if you have any input on the chemical/ hormonal signals sent by plants to grow or drop leaves and die back and if this "signal" can be spread to other plants.  In the video above it was the first time ive ever heard of such a thing.

Edited November 4, 2022 by JoeQ
I cant grammer!

[Mmiller2001]

On 11/4/2022 at 4:34 PM, JoeQ said:

Im looking more for if you have any input on the chemical/ hormonal signals sent by plants to grow or drop leaves and die back and if this "signal" can be spread to other plants.  In the video above it was the first time ive ever heard of such a thing.

No clue honestly. And I've never experienced anything like that in my tanks.