Hi all,
Sometimes people report algae "disappearing" on its own just with time and whatever maintenance they do. Other times, people say we need to remove algae (I have even said this because it makes sense to me).
The discussion of disappearance of algae is not "great" to have as it is unique to the tank (did you starve a nutrient by neglecting the tank, reducing overall demand - did you pay more attention? etc etc etc).
But - I have a specific question/thought which I think aids in all of the above (and likely has "less" impact in the short term, but "large" impact in the long term).
A few months ago, I reached some stability in my tank and I haven't really touched or fiddled with anything aside from trimming and watching - thanks to UKAPS. On purpose, I left a single Buce leaf with some BBA on it - just to see what would happen. Now, growth happens, shading happens, flow gets clogged - this is a changing system - so was the buce leaf shaded at some point ... yes - the buce is fine and growing (and that one leaf is "different"**) - and that may be more of a contributor than what I am about to propose.
**As I watched, the amount of BBA on the buce leaf has reduced. Now, algae's can't store nutrients as effectively as plants ... so during that shaded/reduced time, the algae may have starved (this is plausible). But slowly but surely in 6 months it has started to recede. Aside from the argument that my nutrients/flow/light gets reduced, I am providing an environment optimal for plants and necessarily this already established algae SHOULD be growing. Maybe something is eating it?
I am wondering if it is the Bacteria + Archeae (and protists) in the system.
Is it possible that people reporting that algae will go away on its own - in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc - is (at least in part) due to these micro organisms? After said period of time (perhaps years), their tanks are "clean" (rid of algae) and "healthy" (they may have been healthy all along).
Some great posts to shed some light on this are here:
@tiger15 < here> where he mentions that the algaes of new tank syndrome become food for microbes -- but can BBA become food too?
@dw1305 < here>
Some of the sound advice/strategies used to "beat" algae - nuke it, remove it manually, fix your parameters - is going to work. Other advice of just embracing algae in tandem with healthy plants is great too. And there is a < great thread >touching on this.
Just a conversation starter really.
Josh
Sometimes people report algae "disappearing" on its own just with time and whatever maintenance they do. Other times, people say we need to remove algae (I have even said this because it makes sense to me).
The discussion of disappearance of algae is not "great" to have as it is unique to the tank (did you starve a nutrient by neglecting the tank, reducing overall demand - did you pay more attention? etc etc etc).
But - I have a specific question/thought which I think aids in all of the above (and likely has "less" impact in the short term, but "large" impact in the long term).
A few months ago, I reached some stability in my tank and I haven't really touched or fiddled with anything aside from trimming and watching - thanks to UKAPS. On purpose, I left a single Buce leaf with some BBA on it - just to see what would happen. Now, growth happens, shading happens, flow gets clogged - this is a changing system - so was the buce leaf shaded at some point ... yes - the buce is fine and growing (and that one leaf is "different"**) - and that may be more of a contributor than what I am about to propose.
**As I watched, the amount of BBA on the buce leaf has reduced. Now, algae's can't store nutrients as effectively as plants ... so during that shaded/reduced time, the algae may have starved (this is plausible). But slowly but surely in 6 months it has started to recede. Aside from the argument that my nutrients/flow/light gets reduced, I am providing an environment optimal for plants and necessarily this already established algae SHOULD be growing. Maybe something is eating it?
I am wondering if it is the Bacteria + Archeae (and protists) in the system.
Is it possible that people reporting that algae will go away on its own - in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc - is (at least in part) due to these micro organisms? After said period of time (perhaps years), their tanks are "clean" (rid of algae) and "healthy" (they may have been healthy all along).
Some great posts to shed some light on this are here:
@tiger15 < here> where he mentions that the algaes of new tank syndrome become food for microbes -- but can BBA become food too?
@dw1305 < here>
Some of the sound advice/strategies used to "beat" algae - nuke it, remove it manually, fix your parameters - is going to work. Other advice of just embracing algae in tandem with healthy plants is great too. And there is a < great thread >touching on this.
Just a conversation starter really.
Josh