# No/Little growth causes algae?



## Jaap (5 Feb 2015)

Hi

If i have none to very little growth, might my aquarium be more susceptible to algae as opposed to if a had better growth? This might mean that all factors might be correct except light and still I might get algae?

Thanks


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## Martin in Holland (6 Feb 2015)

You better ask yourself why you have only little growth.


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## Jaap (6 Feb 2015)

Hi Martin...I am guessing is due to insufficient light levels, however we should not diverge from the initial question because this is important. 

If I have no growth and this no growth leads to algae THEN there is a chance that my low light causes algae to appear or if already present, to grow. 

You understand where I am going at? 

Thanks


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## Martin in Holland (6 Feb 2015)

I was trapped just like you in the matrix too....but the truth is that to much light and to little CO2 (current/flow) causes algae. Sure you will get faster growth with more light (if nutrients are present to support this), but also more algae growth and less easier to handle balance. Try sticking with low(er) light and CO2 (floaters help too) for now and slowly go from there.


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## Jaap (6 Feb 2015)

Martin in China said:


> I was trapped just like you in the matrix too....but the truth is that to much light and to little CO2 (current/flow) causes algae. Sure you will get faster growth with more light (if nutrients are present to support this), but also more algae growth and less easier to handle balance. Try sticking with low(er) light and CO2 (floaters help too) for now and slowly go from there.



Thanks for the reply Martin but please allow me to respectfully disagree with you. I have plenty of co2, circulation and nutrients...sometimes its the light...you have to accept that some people have lower light levels....I had the grobeam 600 at 100% and had no growth, now I have the grobeam 1500 tile at 65% and yet no growth...

Mr. Teapot has a very nice aquarium and this is a post from his journal: Anecdotally, I had nearly no growth when in dry-start, with a single 600. I think other people have had success though - I guess the difficult thing to get one's head around is that every tank is different and some things work in different set-ups. It's interesting with my first dry-start, as the only limiting factor was the light level. Therefor don't think it's too much of an assumption to conclude, if I had close to zero growth over three weeks with a 600, I didn't have enough light... With the caveat that I'm no expert in planted tanks!

He has the same tank size and setup as I have and his TMC 1500 tile is at the same height but at 100% intensity....

Take my word for it...CO, circulation and nutrients are more, much more than enough in my tank...in fact it is physically impossible to increase the CO2 or the circulation any more...

So, as I stated earlier, please lets NOT diverge from the question.

If I have none to very little growth, might my aquarium be more susceptible to algae as opposed to if a had better growth?


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## alto (6 Feb 2015)

Jaap said:


> If I have none to very little growth, might my aquarium be more susceptible to algae as opposed to if a had better growth?



Yes


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## Jose (6 Feb 2015)

Low light does not cause algae. Lets take for e.g the most extreme of cases: Imagine you have so little light that your plants cannot photosynthesize and your plants die. This is very unlikely and not your case. In this case you would get algae in the long run because your tank would get a lot of organic build up, but for this, plants have to be in total darkness almost. With very low light your plants should just grow very slowly.  If plants are not growing its due to something else. If there is algae then its due to something else than low light in your tank.

There is also the posibility of some hard plants melting (again suppossing light is very very low). All you need to do is clean the tank with more water changes.

Notice Im not getting into co2 here or other things.

Low light just means less likelyhood to get algae.


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## Jaap (6 Feb 2015)

ok...lets see this from another perspective...

Lets say that the algae was there from before and that the plants grow very very slowly...will this increase the algae if all parameters are good but light is low?


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## alto (6 Feb 2015)

What's the temperature in your tank these days?


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## john dory (6 Feb 2015)

I have bba on a 3d back wall...so you would think my tank id full of spores.
However,my plants are 100% algae free...now that i've reduced the lighting intensity.
The plants in my tank grow slowly under a single 25w t8...so i therefore deduce,slow growing plants do not cause algae


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## Jaap (6 Feb 2015)

alto said:


> What's the temperature in your tank these days?



21-22 degrees Celsius


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## Martin in Holland (6 Feb 2015)

You keep saying that your CO2 is great and light should be good too...yet you still have stunned growth and algae problems ...
It's sometimes difficult to see what the problem is and than we start looking at other things..... I can only tell you what I did, you have to make your own decisions. I toned everything down in my tanks...less light...PPS pro ferts...plants that don't do well, don't get a second chance anymore, I just get easier plants ...it works for me (and my wife), I even have to give plants away now.


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## Jose (6 Feb 2015)

Jaap said:


> Lets say that the algae was there from before and that the plants grow very very slowly...will this increase the algae if all parameters are good but light is low?



Definately not. Plants can outgrow algae even at a very slow pace. In other words, you can have a tank with anubias only and very low light and have 0 algae. But you do need to keep on top of things.

Keep good aeration in the tank through the night and do more water changes. How are these two in your case? If you want you can add fast growing plants for some time and then remove them.

Algae is still growing in your tank because plants are weak for some reason.

Try to take out physically as much algae as you can.


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## Marcel G (6 Feb 2015)

Hi Jaap,

if your plants are growing very slowly, then the algae may set on them more easily (this is especially common with Anubias species). When your plants have fast growing rates, then they also produce more O2, which can somehow improve the environment conditions (aerobic bacteria can work more effectively on mineralizing the organics), and more often they exchange leaves for new ones. This all can help to stay algae free. So I would say that slower growth may have some disadvantages over fast growth. But in itself the slow growth does not "cause" any algae. Even if plants have lower amount of light and nutrients, they still can be in a very good shape and condition (see Amano tanks).

Marcel


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## Julian (6 Feb 2015)

Jaap, what makes you say it's physically impossible for you to increase CO2?


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## roadmaster (6 Feb 2015)

I have grown anubia,crypts,in tanks with no lighting other than that which comes through a window across the room.
They grew very slowly with no CO2 and only fish food/fish waste for nutrient's.
Why I wonder did algae not grow in these tanks also?
Lighting was very low except for maybe a couple hours toward's evening when setting sun cast a ray upon the tank.


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## kirk (6 Feb 2015)

Hi jaap, what is your fert regime?  I had problems with growth too in my last tank I thought co2 was ok flow etc then started to think it was temp or ferts.  Never had growth problems with t5 I was chucking handfulls of plants every week. Since going led the only plants I chuck is dead ones lol.   I'm hoping to crack it this time round  with the new set up.  But I can't resist messing


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## dw1305 (6 Feb 2015)

Hi all,





Jaap said:


> If I have no growth and this no growth leads to algae THEN there is a chance that my low light causes algae to appear or if already present, to grow.


The problem is that physiologically you can't really make a distinction between the plants you want, and the algae you don't.  

As a general rule if  the basic requirements (PAR & nutrients) are met for photosynthetic organism they are suitable for  both plants and "algae". 

Also algae isn't really a very useful term, the "Green Algae", like _Cladophora_ and _Spirogyra_ are physiologically close to all the higher plants, whilst BGA (Cyanobacteria) are prokaryotes, and BBA "Red Algae" and they are both a million miles away taxonomically.  

Personally I have limited aims, I plant heavily and then just aim to keep "low light" plants in limited growth. I'll have some algae (I'd be worried if I didn't), but it won't grow very quickly, because none of the plants do.

I can <"ramp the light up">, whilst not adding higher levels of nutrients (including CO2), because the amount of light will regulate the amount of plant growth, and I'll feed the plants on demand, via the <"Duckweed index">. 

Have a look at <"The Goias nook">, here a green algae (_Cladophora_) as been used very successfully as "plant" in an algae free high tech. situation. 



 

cheers Darrel


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