Two aquarium questions

[Magnum Man]

if the aquatic plants can't outcompete the Algae, the plants will suffer, and algae will cover them... ( Algae grows fast, most aquatic plants are slow growing ) if you have terrestrial plants growing out of the aquarium, most plants that do well, growing out of an aquarium, are fast growing...

it's definitely easier to limit hours of light, do the water changes, and limit feeding... but depending on the plants you have, the plants will need at least a minimum of light, so your plants may suffer if there isn't enough light either...

 

[Country joe]

Thanks for that I've cut my lights from 10 hrs to 8, see if it helps, and I have my bedroom blind closed permanently

 

[Country joe]

 

[Colin_T]

actually I'm convinced one of the easiest methods to control algae is with plants, that outcompete the algae for nutrients... I have my lights on my tanks at my hours... like 18 hours of bright lights, per day, & my mature tanks have no algae... but I have 6-12 Terrestrial plants growing out of each tank...

Fish and plants need 8 hours rest so reduce the lighting time to 16 hours a day max.

 

[Gachstar]

Question one: my view is it may be question 2. Algae needs nutrients. I do a minimum 30% every 7 days on my tanks, and feed carefully. I don't get much algae, even in tanks near windows. So rather than lighting period, consider your feeding and water changing routines. Most of us overfeed. For algae problems, it's all interconnected.

If you were to do 30 or even 40% water changes every week, you'd likely reduce the algae growth. Cut back on how much you feed, and you may be getting somewhere. Light alone isn't the issue.

When it comes to algae, I put the plastic background cover on the glass that the sun shines on. I find that helps a lot. If you don’t like the designs just put the solid blue side on it.