Glass Algae?

Ok first of all, sorry for another post. Last week I made a post on different type of algae. I don't want it to get mix up...

I have this green brown algae on my glass tank. I usually scrub it with white towel. Is there a way to keep the algae off? I already have a CuC. What can I do? Thanks

 

Typically everyone must clean their glass on occasion. If it's more than once or twice weekly, however, you may have a problem that can be fixed.

Does your tank receive sunlight? What type of lighting do you have, and what is your daily photo-period? If not LED, how old are your bulbs?

 

LED Light, I got it brand new from OCreef, has it for 2 months now. I do 12hr on DT and 12 hr on sump. At night I only leave the blue LED on (moonlight). I usually clean once every 2 week.. maybe 2 sometime..

Thank^^

 

How old is the tank?

 

Green film algae is inevitable. The brown algae is probably some diatoms, that's just a sign your tank is a bit new. You should get a mag-float tor something else made to clean the inside of an aquarium though. You do not want to use a towel. I am assuming, you wash this towel? If could contain traces of soaps and other chemicals that, if they accumulate will kill your liestock, or even drive more algae and you will have no idea why.

 

What are your water parameters. Having nitrates and phosphates in your tank will cause algae. Why don't you try lighting you DT 10 hours a day instead of 12, and leaving your sump light on 24 hours. What do you have in your sump? You should throw some chaeto or other macroalgae in there - it will comsume excess nutrients (phosphates and nitrates in particular) and compete with other algae in your tank. Also, feeding less can help too. I switched to feeding every other day and it helped.

 

Just a quick question, because I've seen it mentioned before. What does adding more lighting time to the macroalgae do? Just encourage more growth so the algae in the tank will appear less?

 

Yes, it keeps the macro growing and using nutrients 24 hrs instead of 12. Some say that algae needs a break and needs to rest, but I don't really believe that myself. I run mine 24 hrs a day and the chateo doesn't seem to mind it a bit.

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Most organisms have internal clocks that synchronize metabolic function. There can be a number of rhythms ranging from hourly, to daily, to seasonally etc... Some of the most well studied and well understood are circadian rhythms. These are sort of daily rhythms that are synchronized ("entrained") to the dark light cycle. The cue for entrainment is bright light. If there is no entrainment cue, most organisms will go into what's called "free-running" cycles. This basically means that the organism will base it's metabolic function on a default cycle. In otherwords, it will sort of pretend that there is a day night cycle, but this cycle may not match the actual day-night cycle. It's "free-running".

IIRC the free-running period for cheato has not been worked out, but there is evidence of rythmicity. I know the cycle has been worked out for some close relatives of cheato, such as ulva and entomorphea. I don't remember what they were off the top of my head, but am fairly sure the daylight period was around 14h. So, light much longer than that is likely just wasting electricity...


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The algae is greenish, and it very hard. Is in a little small circle. I have to used a knife to get it off. I have chaeto and mangrove in my fuge. Going set my light to 10 hr. Do I need moonlight at night, when I turn my DT light off? Thanks.