algae growth in established tank

[2xtheman]

My tank (see profile below) has been up and established for over a year now. I recently bought some new fish and have changed how much food I give out during feeding time because of the extra mouths. I have also been turning the lights on earlier because of my work schedule change. I've been doing the lights for longer than I've had the new fish, and new feeding quantities.

Needless to say, there has been more than usual algae growth. Is the extra algae growth due to overfeeding? Would adding an extra hour or 2 of light a day be responsible?

I couldn't really tell if the algae slowly grew or if it just popped up in a couple of days. I just know that a lot of the leaves on my plants have started to grow algae on them and this is resulting in small holes in the plant leaves. I use flourish excel every weekend during water changes.

What do you think the problem is?

[gm72]

Is this just standard green algae growth?

How many hours per day is the lighting on?

[Algenco]

probably a combination of longer photoperiod and the increase in nutrients

[VoidParadigm]

Cut the lights down an hour, or feed a little less.

If that doesn't work, do both.

[2xtheman]

I'm pretty sure its normal green algae. My hair algae went away months ago after a good 10 days with no lighting.

I will start feeding a little less, but I don't have much of an option for the lights, as I am gone all day. I guess I just need to find a more suitable quantity of food for all the fish.

My main concern is that the algae is hurting the plants. not much of it shows up on the glass, just the ornaments and plants. All my stemmed plants only have leaves at the very top because algae has killed the older, lower leaves.

[Sarkazmo]

Put your lights on a timer.

Dose Excel daily, not weekly.

Yes the algae will eventually cause damage to the plants.

Sark

[2xtheman]

I have flourite substrate so I only dose the flourish every weekend. I let the plants get the rest of their nutrients from the tank.

Should I also remove the leaves with algae on them? I don't know if leaving them in the tank will help the algae spread. I don't really want to cut ALL the leaves off my plants, but maybe the ones which have the most algae on them?

[Kevin.W]

My buddy had the algae problem as well and he cut/trimmed his plants that had the algae growth and that seemed to help. Sarkazmo is right, get a timer for your light as too much light if it si the right type of bulb can cause increased algae growth... man I love this forum...some smart people here

[2xtheman]

I am leaving the lights on the same amount of time, but one of the two burnt out the other day so only 50% lighting intensity. That should help a bit, while still making the tank visible.

I also removed the leaves with the heaviest amount of algae on them.
Other leaves I scrubbed with a toothbrush, to try and get the algae off them, but the bristles must have been too stiff because I ripped a few of the leaves.

Also did 50% of a normal water change in the middle of the week to help vacuum up any extra food which could be providing nutrients for the algae.

[gm72]

When was the last time you changed your light bulbs?

[rhonin]

Has anything changed recently that allows an increase in the amount of indirect lighting?

During the winter months, due to the sun angle, the amount of lighting in my apartment goes up during the day. While my torts and shrimp love it, it becomes a balancing act for my other tanks with an increase in the growth of green algea.

I reduce the amount of time the lights are on for my plants and monitor the nitrate levels a bit more closely.


A balancing act....

For cleaning plants, if the are not firmly rooted, I will remove and clean in a bucket of siphoned water by gently rubbing the leaves between my fingers or do this in the tank followed by a good cleaning to remove as much loose stuff as possible.
Not perfect but it removes enough to allow the leave to function as leaves.
For my African tanks I try not to remove/clip any living leaves as they have a hard enough time growing in this water as is.

:22:

[2xtheman]

When was the last time you changed your light bulbs?

The lights are probably 2 years old. The lighting setup is probably 15 years old though. The switch that turns the lights on and off broke off years ago so I actually have to plug/unplug to turn the lights on/off.


Has anything changed recently that allows an increase in the amount of indirect lighting?

I live in Vancouver so being early February, the sun still sets around 5-6pm. I think this makes the amount of extra light the tank gets negligible.

[gm72]

Well if the bulbs are 2 years old I think that is the problem right there. The temperature Kelvin changes significantly over time.

[2xtheman]

I think they are just some normal energy saver fluorescent bulbs. Does their spectrum change over time as well?

I will eventually get a new bulb because only half my tank is lit up now, but I will wait until the algae bloom dies down a bit. I will also take care in shortening the lighting time-line when I get the new bulb to avoid another algae bloom.