# Tired of the algae...how long should my photoperiod be?



## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

You say you have a weird work schedule. Out of curiosity, what's your water change schedule like? Also, Excel is not a guaranteed substitute for CO2...it just helps.


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## Mathman (Apr 5, 2009)

Try reducing the light intensity.


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## brewster (Jan 1, 2012)

First, in my opinion, nothing in this hobby is exact. Having said that I would first cut your photo period to 8 hours. I would cut your light intensity as previously stated, maybe in half w/o co2. Depending on what you want to do for plants, you may want to consider diy co2.

Just one guy's opinion.


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## s_s (Feb 15, 2012)

freph said:


> Out of curiosity, what's your water change schedule like?


30%, once a week. 

And I'm always fighting low nitrates (5-10ppm). I suppose that could be because my swords/frogbit are a bit of a nitrate-suck as they are almost always sending out new leaves, or maybe my "hill" of sand-capped flourite in the back of my tank is deep enough to be anerobic (although I've never seen bubbles on the side of the tank, nor have I seen it burp). Maybe both.


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

Cut back to one light for a while, 10 hours a day.


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## herns (May 6, 2008)

s_s said:


> I have no CO2


One of the main factor that causes algae even if you dose excel everyday.
Also, you have too much light and longer photo period for your non co2 tank.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

With T5NO lights, assuming you don't have T5HO fixtures with T5NO bulbs, you shouldn't have more than low medium light. Of course, high up in the tank, nearer the lights the intensity is higher too, by quite a bit. Is that where the BBA is growing? I think you could use just one of those lights and get good lighting, with low intensity. So, you could try that.


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## s_s (Feb 15, 2012)

normal output ballast.

BBA grows everywhere. High on my swords, low on my micro-sword (_Lilaeopsis brasiliensis_).

The _Lilaeopsis brasiliensis_ is my most light intensive plant and since I've added the second fixture, it's actually grown roots and even few shoots, which it never did before with the single fixture. 

I guess I should try DIY CO2. I was also thinking about adding some peat to my canister filter, since my tank is something of an Rio Orinoco biotope. I don't plant on making it extremely dark blackwater, but maybe just slightly tea colored. i have a feeling my cardinals and rams would appreciate that.

Anyways, thanks for the suggestions so far. I'm going to cut the photoperiod down to 8 hours and see how it goes.


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Your Algae Question*

Hello s...

I've read algae grows best in water with a high level of dissolved phosphates and nitrates. Large, weekly water changes of at least half the tank volume will remove them. 

I float a lot of Water wisteria and Pennywort to use the extra nutrients in the water. 

I also got some "Ramshorn" snails for the local pet store and even though they overbreed and make little piles in the corners of my tanks, they've removed all the visible algae.

B


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

BBradbury said:


> Hello s...
> 
> I've read algae grows best in water with a high level of dissolved phosphates and nitrates.
> 
> ...


I have read that your future is determined by the arrangement of planets and the moon when you were born. Neither that nor the above statement is true, even if we have read them.

Algae require minute amounts of nutrients, compared to plants, so virtually all water contains enough to satisfy their needs. 

If we can keep our plants growing, and healthy, that does more to prevent algae from even starting than anything else we can do. But, plants need carbon to grow and be healthy. The more light we have, the more carbon they need, because they grow at a rate proportional to how much light they have. CO2 is the best source of carbon for plants, by far. So, using even DIY CO2 will help a lot.

Unfortunately, once BBA gets a good foothold in an aquarium it is very hard to get rid of it. The best way to do so is to clean up all of the BBA, removing all infested leaves, killing all that is on the hardscape with hydrogen peroxide or Excel, cleaning it out of the substrate, off the glass, off of everything. Then start over, with a reduced light level and with CO2, plus adequate fertilizing. From then on, attack even the tiniest bit of BBA that shows up in the tank, so it can't get bigger.


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

I would try only using one light for a while.

I run unfertilized, non CO2 tanks with T5HO lights and between the tannins in the water (from Indian Almond Leaves) and massive coverings of either frogbit or duckweed I don't have algae issues.

The only tank that I have algae issues in is my 40B which has a 2 bulb T5NO light and seems to result in algae pretty intensely under the light. This is the only tank that I have that is not covered in floating plants. Something in the tank eats all of my floaters so I can't keep it as full of floaters as the other tanks.

Large amounts of floating plants seem to be very good at combating algae. The one downside is that they will probably suck all of the nutrients out of the tank so if you have regular plants that you care about you will need to either dose ferts or use root tabs so that the non-floating plants can still get some nutrients.


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