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Plants to stabilize 2 Gallon tank and prevent Algae growth?

H

Hamzerii

New Member
Joined
20 Dec 2023
Messages
2
Location
Milton Keynes
Hello,
I made this 20 x 20 cm tank at the start of the year, but algae took over really bad, it was growing really fast, covering every surface so I gave up and took out all the plants as they were covered with some sort of hair algae.
  • The lights were on for around 6 hours and on the lowest setting. (It's in a high setting for the picture)
  • I didn't do many water changes as there is no livestock yet.
I'm going to try again and replant the tank.

What are some things I should do differently?
- I think I should plant heavily from the start, would this help?

new.jpeg

At the beginning ^
algae.jpeg

(Algae got much worse after this ^)

Also, I had no way of removing the algae from the pearlweed as everytime I'd try to pull out a piece of algae using tweezers, it would pull out the plant with it.
 
That looks to me like diatoms and water changes is the only thing that can fix it , you can try a fork to clean plants.

But diatoms don't last this long or never have in my case 2 months at most.

Also perlweed as far as I know is a demanding plant which require co2 and high light for optimal growth (I might be wrong)
 
Apply the below tutorial or get some floating plants!
G H Nelson

Thread 'Using stem plants as a filtering aid at Start Up!'

The subject of using fast-growing stem plants as part of a filtering aid has cropped up a few times recently.
This idea has been around for a long time so not new, it has benefits especially for a new set - up.
I try and cover at least 50% of the water surface minimum.

1. Improves water quality.
2. Reduces excess light.
3. Reduces diatoms.
4. Reduces Nitrite.
5. Reduces Nitrate.
6. Helps reduce algae out-breaks.
7. Indicator of a Nitrate shortage.
8. Oxygenates the water column.
9. Increases beneficial bacteria.
10. Plant cover.

Using fast-growing stem plants as a floating plant...
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Nice layout though, the stones with the crevice looks cool. Various house plants are also good for soaking up extra nutrients, though the scale might not match your scheme, I enjoy the look of it.
 
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