Plants have Algae

[Bev C]

hello  

i am new to plants in my aquarium never had problems with Algae before  with fake plants and bristolnose pelco .. 

 

but i am having Algae with my live  plants  in low tech no c2o tank  i have 2 Windelov" Java Fern and  2 Banana plant   and 1 Anubias Barteri  and i have all in one Easy Green Fertilizer   my plants specially Banana plants  have the algae bad on them and also Banana Plants have holes in the leaves..

i have clean and do water changes and it still comes back  been doing this for 3 months and the Algae is getting worse specially on the plants .. do i need the Easy green Carbon and Iron  too?   will that help  ? i use sand  and the Java and Anubias is on rocks .. Banana plant on top of sand  i  have a planted light and have adjusted the light schedule down to only 8 hours a day    but the aquarium sits with no lights or windows near it except aquarium lights .. i also adjusted the food on my fish feeding  to lower the waste  i was thinking of getting the Easy root tabs  for the banana plants .. if i get the algae under control i was going to get a few root plants too 

thanks for any help it is greatly appreciated 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by Bev C

[Some_sugar]

If the algae gets too bad I recommend doing a blackout where you turn the light off for a couple of days and put a towel over the tank. That is what I did to get rid of my algae.

[Bev C]

@Some_sugar thank you very much I will try that for sure ,, I have went  24 hours with no light before trying to lower light 

but never covered the tank and no light  for more then 24. hours  will try 2-3 days  ..  it is the green algae ....

i have been doing 2 water changes per week instead of one  and cleaning spot with a credit card when i see them  ,, do not have razor blade ..

also been cleaning sponge filter when i do water change it seems algae growing on that too ..  i might have to boil sponge filter or replace it does not get better  ( hate to  boil it since it is cycled and came from old tank when i upgraded  tank in Sept) 

i have a canister filter too along  with the sponge filter , my bristolnose  pelco loves hanging on sponge .. 

i know the Algae it is probably balancing my tank with light , fertilizer , and  new plants  , and feeding the fish ,,been feeding fish every other day instead of everyday

 plus  i do  have allot of water movement on top from both filters

i also got Easy Green Carbon for a back up if   needed later  but trying to  balance naturally first before using the a carbon 

 

I was waiting to order plants  but ordered some Amazon frogbit heard floating plants it helps with algae and balance  the tank  ,, but only ordered the Frogbit right now it was on my plant list along   a couple more Java  Fern  and anubis  plants

Edited February 9, 2021 by Bev C

[Mmiller2001]

Lower light intensity.

[Bev C]

thank you @Mmiller2001 I will try that 

[Bev C]

update 

Want to thank everyone for the advice 

my algae is  lots better  I am adding a few more plants .... i put my lights on a timer 8 hours a day i have my lights on 60% and that is helping i feed my fish every other day .. i added Seachem Flourite Black Sand under my  regular sand that seems to help too ..I watch my nitrates too ...plus i am going next week ,, to get a few   snails 🐌  to help my bristolnose pelco

Edited March 28, 2021 by Bev C

[Bev C]

Update August 21 

Thanks everyone for all the advice , between everyone here on the forum and Aquarium coop team  my algae got better Thanks @Candi .. most of my trouble was nitrates.. from straight out of the tab they was very  high before i added it in tank . that was my culprit.

It took me a long while to get where i am at today with my plants 

,, I added  nitrite snails ,  small wave maker , adjusted light intensity , light time 6-7 hours also added timer  to lights  adjusted also fish feeding  …Plus added pothos plant  and  Seachem  Phosguard for the nitrate remover .. i really think the pothos plant helped the most with the nitrates .. as soon as the roots grew long  my nitrates went down allot my nitrates are normal now   .. I am not using the Seachem Phosguard full dose now only using half dose for 55 gallon 

Now all my algae’s are  gone and my bristolnose nose pelco and snails keeping it clean  .. and i am not using Carbon anymore do not need it but have if needed .. plus i have a few new plants and I need to replace the ones i lost from algae that i loved like the Brazilian Pennyworth  ..

I am only using  now Easy Green root tabs ,  every 3 moths and Easy Green liquid   1-2 times a week liquid and iron  once a month  still have a small plant deficiency in one of my plants working on that slowly ..  plus if i add a little every day for 5- 6 days skip day of cleaning works better for me instead adding all the fertilizer in one time …  My  plants are growing slow but still alive which is fine with me but they are growing 😀

But i found out the easy beginner plants like java moss , banana plant, java fern and anubias does not like me or my tank ..   no matter my light situational or what i do .. i am having best luck with  planted plants like Hygrophia green leave types , ludwigia repens , pogostemon stellatus octopus  and crypts  and amazon frog bit  and brucephalandra    my amazon frogbit and crypts are doing beautiful 

 

I did find out if have Finnex 24/ 7 planted lights to put on a timer and lower the light  intensity to 30-40%  for low light plants 40 -50 % for medium light plants  I even emailed company … they said 30-40 % for low light works best 

i run the  lights only 6 1/2 to 7 hours  and i split the time 3 hours in day 3-4 hours at night i have 30%red 30 %white lights .. works best for me i had a rough time finding information for finnex light with low light plants ..on the web so that is why i am telling you lowering the intensity to 30 -40% works for low lights with Finnex   ( hope that helps someone ) 

Thank you every one for your time and help  i am loving my tank and my plants more since the algae is better 

Edited August 21, 2021 by Bev C