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Algae on Plants


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Good Evening Everyone!

Hoping some of you vets could answer some of my newbie algae questions. I've recently been battling, what I believe to be, some algae build up on the leaves of my plants, mostly the anubias variety. I rub or gently scrape it off during each tank cleaning. I have also tried bleach dipping them (5% solution) once, which didn't do much in terms of keeping them algae free. 

First of all, is this normal? I feel like I only see picture of these immaculate planted tanks and can't imagine someone sitting there for hours rubbing off algae. Is there a fish I can add to the tank to keep the algae under control? Currently I have a handful of shrimp, but I've recently heard you need many many shrimp to actively keep a tank clean. Lastly, I've noticed that the new growth on the plants don't seem to be affected by the algae. Do plants build up some sort of resistance to algae or does it just take awhile for it to build up on the surface?

Thanks in advance, 

Grant

 

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@Gigrantor I'm new so I won't pipe in too much but to say algae is totally normal and it can actually be a great thing. Check out the Algae 101 thread to see more info. Is it brown algae you're worried about? Or what are you experiencing? The immaculate perception is a dangerous one that I too had. I just don't think it's a super realistic goal to have a pristine tank with no algae whatsoever. Would that even be healthy? 

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Could you post a picture of the algae as to determine what type you are dealing with, and how much you have going on in your tank. Usually large algae blooms are caused by imbalances in your water column or fertilizer dosing. Those in conjunction with lighting can cause stress on your plants and stressed plants are more susceptible to algae blooms. 

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I will for sure post a picture when they are covered again in a week or so. I just cleaned them off last night and thought about posting here to get people's input. It's a dark brown film on the top of the leaves. It rubs off pretty easily, but it makes the tank cleaning about twice as long to get to everything. Not the end of the world, just wanted to see if there was something I could do to lessen or prevent it!

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My preferred solution to algae on plants like that is ramshorn snails. They're little, adventurous, you can buy them for next to nothing anywhere that sells fish, and they'll reproduce to the levels of detritus you have to clean up.

But other potentials are a mystery snail or some livebearers like endlers, guppies or platy. Others have success with shrimp, but they can be a bit sensitive and shy for my tastes.

Edited by Kirsten
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It appears to be what is called brown algae. Brown algae is actually a bacterial bloom of Diatoms and not true algae. You have a few options at your disposal. The safest way, with better long term results is to increase filtration, and water flow. With better water flow it makes it harder to stick everywhere and better filtration will capture it while free floating before it sticks. The next best thing is adding critters that eat the stuff. As previously mentioned snails, shrimp, and sucker fish, will all munch on the stuff. A good clean up crew will help you between tank maintenance. Otocinclus catfish are my personal favorite. They are a schooling sucker fish that only get about an inch long, and work better as a team of 5 or more depending on your tank size. Lastly and my least favorite approach is to dose your tank with Seachem Phosguard. It is a binding agent that binds silicate and phosphorus. I would only recommend Phosguard as a last resort and only for extreme cases, as it could disrupt some of your other bacteria in your tank. 

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I just put some otocinclus catfish into my freshwater tank and they are eating algae off all the plants and walls. Without any algae these guys would starve!

 

I don't think a little bit of algae is bad, it's good. A sign you are growing life, but too much will overrun a tank. 

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