What kind of algae issues should I expect? Blackhair? Will it be hard to manage or just take a bit work to get rid of until I get more plants?
Just my bank balance is very low until next week lol. Or should I go to the shop and get my credit card out?
Well, usually, first comes the diatoms. Those aren't too bad and are very common in young systems. It goes away after a time and they are easy to wipe off. Otos will make short work of them, and they are arguably my favorite algae. If one had to have a favorite algae. Yes, for me diatoms trump marimbo balls. Very nice to have in a back corner somewhere so you're plant-loving fish can munch.
Then, there's green water. This is a frustrating one because it can render an otherwise lovely scape invisible because all you see is green.
There are types of green algae that can adhere to the glass and are kind of crust and hard to remove. Or they can look like lttle hairs. Those are easier to get rid of than the crusty type. I'm not an expert in algae taxonomy.
You can get BGA (Blue Green Algae), which is actually a bacteria. This is a slimy thing that just coats everything and has a distinctive smell. Very fun.
There are the various hair and thread algaes, but I've not had these as much and don't find them to be such a nightmare. Some are kind of pretty, actually. There's one that is thin and green, but can grow densly and looks like shiny green hair. I like that kind in small doses.
The worst ones for people here seem to be thread algae, greenwater, and BGA.
When you have the right plantload, whether or not you have a high-light or low-light system, you see less or no algae. I could say that having the right CO2 and nutrient levels are important too, but that depends on the system you have. For high-light systems, these are necessary, as the plants grow at a faster rate because of the lighting and consume more CO2 and nutrients, but then how do you account for a good low-light systems being relatively algae-free as well? All plants consume various nutrients, including Nitrate, phosphate, iron, Potassium, and others, but they will also consume ammonia. Ammonia is bad, toxic to fish. In addition, you also have the nitrifying bacteria that we've been talking about in this hobby for decades, they convert the ammonia present to nitrite, then another set converts the nitrite to nitrate, which is much less harmful. They breakdown the ammonia too, and they are especially important for non-planted tanks. The bacteria, however, take a while to establish, as anybody who's cycled a tank knows. The plants are ready to do the job from the moment they arrive in your tank. Algae also likes ammonia, and small ammonia spikes, non-toxic to fish at this point, are, more often than not, the catalyst for algae blooms. Having the right plant load will ensure that all of your excess ammonia is being consumed by either your plants or, if you have established filter media, the nitrifying bacteria, or both. Water changes also reduce ammonia build-up.
I may be getting some of my facts mix-up, or I'm not explaining myself well. But this is the only way I can account for why my tanks, with their low-light, no added nutrients, and no CO2 don't have much algae and why people here with high-tech tanks, like Aaronnorth and others, who pump their tanks full of CO2, nitrates, phosphates, and other stuff can
also be algae free. The ammonia is the only ingredient that can be potentially shared by both types of systems, through fish waste and/or plant decomposition, and excess food or whatnot. Here is a thread from here where we discuss this issue. I, being more old-school, at first believed an excess or lack of certain nutrients were responsible for algae, and this thread was especially enlightening.
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/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry2045804"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry2045804[/URL]
As we continue to do research in this hobby, old views are being challenged. This is still a learning process, even for experts in their field, of which I am certainly not. I'm just an opera singer who likes growing plants underwater.
So yes, if you can, get more plants, especially fast-growing stems. They are the most efficient at consuming ammonia.
llj
PS: Did I get it right, Aaron?
You can teach an old dog new tricks.
