# Acceptable Algae



## Dfish2020 (Jul 19, 2017)

Just curious if any of you have algae in your tanks that you purposely leave in there because you like the way it looks or leave due to its benefits out weighing it's cons.

If so what type of algae is it and pictures would be pretty cool!

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## Acro (Jul 7, 2012)

On a goldfish website I'm on, I remember several members who allowed a lush, thick carpet of green algae to grow on the back wall of their aquarium. They left it there for their goldfish to snack on (as algae is a great food for goldfish, and grows fast) and for it's water cleaning properties. However they kept the sides and front of the aquarium scraped clean. From what I remember, they only had a few other smooth rocks as décor, with no other plants or items in the tank. 

As for other algae ideas, you might find these two threads of interest:
*Aquascaping With Algae:* http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/120-aquascaping/192313-aquascaping-algae.html
*Algae Can Be Pretty:* http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/23-algae/375609-algae-can-pretty.html

Dfish2020, do you have any interesting algae growth going on?



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## wendellperkins (Aug 6, 2017)

Dfish2020 said:


> Just curious if any of you have algae in your tanks that you purposely leave in there because you like the way it looks or leave due to its benefits out weighing it's cons.
> 
> If so what type of algae is it and pictures would be pretty cool!
> 
> Sent from my SM-J327V using Tapatalk


Many, approximately two-thirds of algae produce alleochemicals designed to compete with, or inhibit growth of other algae and protect its self from protozoa. These chemicals often inhibit plant growth both directly and indirectly through a combination of chemicals. The reverse is also true. 

There's too much to know and too much research that needs to be done to know if your specific algae is going to affect your specific plants. Not many algae have the ability to actually kill plants, so if you like the look of it then you should go for it. Just remember that if you suddenly start having trouble with your plants, the algae may be the issue.

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## Dfish2020 (Jul 19, 2017)

Acro said:


> On a goldfish website I'm on, I remember several members who allowed a lush, thick carpet of green algae to grow on the back wall of their aquarium. They left it there for their goldfish to snack on (as algae is a great food for goldfish, and grows fast) and for it's water cleaning properties. However they kept the sides and front of the aquarium scraped clean. From what I remember, they only had a few other smooth rocks as décor, with no other plants or items in the tank.
> 
> As for other algae ideas, you might find these two threads of interest:
> *Aquascaping With Algae:* http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/120-aquascaping/192313-aquascaping-algae.html
> ...


Yea keep a portion for my shrimp to graze on, trim it back every so often to maintain control over it. They are always picking threw it.. 

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## Remmy (Jan 10, 2007)

GDA on dark rocks looks great


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## Dfish2020 (Jul 19, 2017)

wendellperkins said:


> Many, approximately two-thirds of algae produce alleochemicals designed to compete with, or inhibit growth of other algae and protect its self from protozoa. These chemicals often inhibit plant growth both directly and indirectly through a combination of chemicals. The reverse is also true.
> 
> There's too much to know and too much research that needs to be done to know if your specific algae is going to affect your specific plants. Not many algae have the ability to actually kill plants, so if you like the look of it then you should go for it. Just remember that if you suddenly start having trouble with your plants, the algae may be the issue.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk


As of now all plants are fine, I do keep the portion maintained only for the shrimp, they really seem to love that patch not sure what type of algae it is, looks like a golden stringy hair type? I was way over dosing ferts in the begging I had the wrong
dosage selected on rotala butterfly   was doing ei instead of ei daily. 

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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

If you are growing plants well, it's hard to grow algae at the same time. I have seen tanks with just algae inside, and some of them were not bad to look at. I am sorry I don't have any pics on this...


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

fablau said:


> If you are growing plants well, it's hard to grow algae at the same time. I have seen tanks with just algae inside, and some of them were not bad to look at. I am sorry I don't have any pics on this...


As a general rule I agree with you, but to me it really depends what your growing and your hardscape. You could have very healthy fast growing stems without algae, but have algae all over the hardscape where organic content is high. This could be anything from BBA to GDA. I do agree that GDA is one of the few alga that can actually look good on the hardscape.


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## Dfish2020 (Jul 19, 2017)

houseofcards said:


> As a general rule I agree with you, but to me it really depends what your growing and your hardscape. You could have very healthy fast growing stems without algae, but have algae all over the hardscape where organic content is high. This could be anything from BBA to GDA. I do agree that GDA is one of the few alga that can actually look good on the hardscape.


Agree with this, seems driftwood is the generator.. 

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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Dfish2020 said:


> Agree with this, seems driftwood is the generator..
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


Yep, DW is a really good 'incubator' for it. With all the pores, etc a lot of organic matter accumulates. Rocks as well. Here's an old tank of mine and you could see the green algae growing on the rocks closest to the light while the plants are clean.


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## Dfish2020 (Jul 19, 2017)

houseofcards said:


> Yep, DW is a really good 'incubator' for it. With all the pores, etc a lot of organic matter accumulates. Rocks as well. Here's an old tank of mine and you could see the green algae growing on the rocks closest to the light while the plants are clean.


That green algae looks stunning on the rocks ! Such a natural look..  

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## Rnasty (Jun 30, 2017)

I don't have pictures but I leave some BBA on my rocks. 

1. Because it's hard to clean and my LFS doesn't stock anything that will eat it. My tank is also 3.5g so anything big enough to eat it is too large for the tank.

2. When the plants are grown in it gives a more natural look overall to the tank

3. It helps outcompete the other algae/cyanobacteria I am battling. I also leave all algae on the back wall like previous posts said for the same reason.

4. It's only growing on my rocks and nowhere else in the tank. If I see algae on my plants I remove it


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## mmoncur (Mar 12, 2017)

I really like this wispy green hair algae (Cladophora?) on my driftwood. It does like to grow stringy extensions I have to trim every now and then though.


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## Remmy (Jan 10, 2007)

My shrimp tank has some good green slightly fussy growth on the rocks, good for the little guys

https://youtu.be/_4pDht0iqMY


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## Dfish2020 (Jul 19, 2017)

Remmy said:


> My shrimp tank has some good green slightly fussy growth on the rocks, good for the little guys
> 
> https://youtu.be/_4pDht0iqMY


Some healthy looking shrimp too !  

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