Logic316 wrote:
Elaine T wrote:

Huh? Blue promotes algae, not red.



"Too much red light in combination with high nutrients will stimulate
algae growth"
http://www.algone.com/aquarium_lighting.htm

"Green hair algae thrive on more-red spectrum lighting"
http://www.syngnathid.org/articles/greenHairAlgae.html

I guess some species of algae like the blue spectrum, some like red :-/


Yes, but your articles refer to marine algae. Marine lighting is very
different because of the way the ocean filters longer wavelengths out of
light. People have posted here that actinics and sometimes 10,000K
lighting over FW promote algae growth.

Have you looked at how much red and how little blue is in the spectrum
of a 5500K bulb? 5500K and 6700K were not chosen arbitrarily. Those
are the color temperatures at tropical streams where algae-free FW
plants have been collected.

http://www.thatfishshop.com/equipment/lighting.htm is a nice little article.

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/lighting.html has some info on it as
well from old work at Phillips and by Dennerle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

I currently use liquid CO2. My plants have shown growth. It is only the
algae bothering me. I will try changing the bulb. Do you recommend liquid
CO2 everyday?

Thanks
"Elaine T" wrote in message
t...
Logic316 wrote:
Elaine T wrote:

Huh? Blue promotes algae, not red.



"Too much red light in combination with high nutrients will stimulate
algae growth"
http://www.algone.com/aquarium_lighting.htm

"Green hair algae thrive on more-red spectrum lighting"
http://www.syngnathid.org/articles/greenHairAlgae.html

I guess some species of algae like the blue spectrum, some like red :-/


Yes, but your articles refer to marine algae. Marine lighting is very
different because of the way the ocean filters longer wavelengths out of
light. People have posted here that actinics and sometimes 10,000K
lighting over FW promote algae growth.

Have you looked at how much red and how little blue is in the spectrum of
a 5500K bulb? 5500K and 6700K were not chosen arbitrarily. Those are the
color temperatures at tropical streams where algae-free FW plants have
been collected.

http://www.thatfishshop.com/equipment/lighting.htm is a nice little
article.

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/lighting.html has some info on it as
well from old work at Phillips and by Dennerle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Now I see something like looks like hair algae on plants!!!


"Pedro" wrote in message
. ..
I currently use liquid CO2. My plants have shown growth. It is only the
algae bothering me. I will try changing the bulb. Do you recommend liquid
CO2 everyday?

Thanks
"Elaine T" wrote in message
t...
Logic316 wrote:
Elaine T wrote:

Huh? Blue promotes algae, not red.



"Too much red light in combination with high nutrients will stimulate
algae growth"
http://www.algone.com/aquarium_lighting.htm

"Green hair algae thrive on more-red spectrum lighting"
http://www.syngnathid.org/articles/greenHairAlgae.html

I guess some species of algae like the blue spectrum, some like red :-/


Yes, but your articles refer to marine algae. Marine lighting is very
different because of the way the ocean filters longer wavelengths out of
light. People have posted here that actinics and sometimes 10,000K
lighting over FW promote algae growth.

Have you looked at how much red and how little blue is in the spectrum of
a 5500K bulb? 5500K and 6700K were not chosen arbitrarily. Those are
the color temperatures at tropical streams where algae-free FW plants
have been collected.

http://www.thatfishshop.com/equipment/lighting.htm is a nice little
article.

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/lighting.html has some info on it as
well from old work at Phillips and by Dennerle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Pedro wrote:
Now I see something like looks like hair algae on plants!!!

Most of the time hair algae comes attached to the plant when you
purchased it. It can also come in as some floating fragments in the
water that comes with fish from the pet store. You can try taking your
plants out and giving them a 3 minute bath in a solution of 1 part
bleach to 19 parts water to kill the stuff (just make sure to use the
generic household bleach, not the scented type).

- Logic316



"Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need
for its own existence."
-- Ronald Reagan

Pedro wrote:
I currently use liquid CO2. My plants have shown growth. It is only the
algae bothering me. I will try changing the bulb. Do you recommend liquid
CO2 everyday?

Thanks

The ONLY liquid CO2 product that I can recommend with any confidence is
Flourish Excel. Use it according to the directions on the bottle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Will the amount of plants determine the amount I have to use of the
fertilizers, etc? My theory on the algae thins is that I do not have many
plants and the algae is beating the plants for nutrients, etc. Does this
makes sense?


"Elaine T" wrote in message
. ..
Pedro wrote:
I currently use liquid CO2. My plants have shown growth. It is only the
algae bothering me. I will try changing the bulb. Do you recommend liquid
CO2 everyday?

Thanks

The ONLY liquid CO2 product that I can recommend with any confidence is
Flourish Excel. Use it according to the directions on the bottle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Pedro wrote:
Will the amount of plants determine the amount I have to use of the
fertilizers, etc? My theory on the algae thins is that I do not have many
plants and the algae is beating the plants for nutrients, etc. Does this
makes sense?

According to the brand I use (KENT), it say 1-3 doses a week, depending
on how heavily the tank is planted. It doesn't get any more specific
than that. But as far as I know, fertilizer specifically formulated for
aquarium plants shouldn't promote algae growth. Unlike ordinary garden
fertilizer (like Miracle Gro), it doesn't contain phosphates which algae
like to feed on. Some people, in an effort to save money, do like to use
Miracle Gro to fertilize their water plants. But as well as containing
algae-promoting phosphates, it also has ammonia in it which is bad for fish.

You could try and stop using fertilizer for a month or two and see if
has any effect. As long as you provide sufficient lighting, I don't
think your plants will suffer.

- Logic316



"I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one
behind me."
-- General George S. Patton

Logic316 wrote:
Pedro wrote:

Will the amount of plants determine the amount I have to use of the
fertilizers, etc? My theory on the algae thins is that I do not have
many plants and the algae is beating the plants for nutrients, etc.
Does this makes sense?


According to the brand I use (KENT), it say 1-3 doses a week, depending
on how heavily the tank is planted. It doesn't get any more specific
than that. But as far as I know, fertilizer specifically formulated for
aquarium plants shouldn't promote algae growth. Unlike ordinary garden
fertilizer (like Miracle Gro), it doesn't contain phosphates which algae
like to feed on. Some people, in an effort to save money, do like to use
Miracle Gro to fertilize their water plants. But as well as containing
algae-promoting phosphates, it also has ammonia in it which is bad for
fish.

You could try and stop using fertilizer for a month or two and see if
has any effect. As long as you provide sufficient lighting, I don't
think your plants will suffer.

- Logic316

Try reading Tom Barr's Estimative Index fertilizing method at
http://www.barrreport.com. You have to register for free to read it,
and it's well worthwhile. Use EI dosing for a "low uptake" tank and
you'll be fine.

I also believe that Tom has demonstrated reasonably well that phosphate
does not cause algae. I haven't hunted down all the publications yet in
his EI article, but the real culprit appears to be ammonia. Tanks with
lots of rapidly-growing plants outcompete algae for any ammonia that the
filter doesn't immediately convert to nitrate.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Elaine T wrote:

Try reading Tom Barr's Estimative Index fertilizing method at
http://www.barrreport.com. You have to register for free to read it,
and it's well worthwhile. Use EI dosing for a "low uptake" tank and
you'll be fine.

I also believe that Tom has demonstrated reasonably well that phosphate
does not cause algae. I haven't hunted down all the publications yet in
his EI article, but the real culprit appears to be ammonia. Tanks with
lots of rapidly-growing plants outcompete algae for any ammonia that the
filter doesn't immediately convert to nitrate.


Here's the direct URL to "The Estimative Index of Dosing" article:
http://www.barrreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1
You don't need to register unless you're going in through their
homepage, heh heh.

Very interesting. That ammonia can be bad, bad stuff even in tiny
concentrations. I'm still kind of skeptical about phosphates not causing
algae though. Despite his meticulous looking data, Tom appears to be the
only guy who claims that. I guess we just have to try it out for ourselves.

- Logic316



"Bureaucracy: The process of turning energy into solid waste."