*What’s your best suggestion for getting rid of algae?* Comment below to share your experiences, and subscribe if you want to see more videos like this! goo.gl/4q2idY
I’m a beginner too but in my experience so far, if you have a decent light and easy plants, 8-10 hours is on the longer side. I’ve played around with between 6-8 hours along with a dimmer to find what seemed to keep plants happy without excessive algae. As I was getting tank started, I also tried to start off with a LOT of plants, including some faster growing ones like Rotala, which I think was a big factor in preventing algae. Just my experience in case it helps anyone else :)
After training for my degree in plant and soil science, I hate seeing "balance your tank". It's a BS cop-out... Understand: "Liegig's law of the minimum" and study "Eutrophication", those two topics and a good test kit provide more than enough foundational knowledge to control unwanted growth. Nice video on the topic
I havent had a stringy Algae bloom yet, but I get green on the glass. I bought the clean up crew and supplement their feeding with some Algae Pellets every few days. So far so good.
For me, Cleanup Crew is my first thought. Fast growing plants at the running in phase. Dialling in lighting via the timers. Fertiliser dose rates suitable to the plants stocking level. And finally, I like to leave small amounts of floating plant debris, since they often begin growing again, as Free New plants :)
Oh my goodness, you don't know how happy your thumbnail comment made me. I seriously was up at 11 pm the night before, totally feeling discouraged at not being able to make a decent thumbnail. Thank you; that's exactly the encouragement I needed to hear!
Nice video! Like the way you structure the whole thing. I have low light plants. I find that light intensity is a factor. I tinted portions of the lamp and the green algae got under control.
Soaking the plants n ornaments on 3%h202 worked for me. What puzzled me is for organic matters like wood..plants..the BBA on them took abt 3to4 days before the BBA turned red. For rocks, filters pipes etc..they turned red within 2hrs after putting back in tank. But still abit paranoia abt the BBA as they are still lurking around the tank and dunno when they will come back again.
I have a 29 gal tank that I haven't set up yet. Bought it used. I had one before but it was a non-planted tank and I loved it. Now I want a planted tank but I am in shock over how expensive the hobby has become. Being retired on a limited income, it will be difficult for me to get this tank up and running. Just the start-up with the cost of substrate and tons of plants will be costly. I plan on running the tank with no fish for some time to get the plants and the bio-environment established. Then the insane prices of fish today. Wow!! Twenty-five years ago, Neons were 3 for a dollar, not anymore. Anyway, thanks again for your videos. Invaluable information!!!
There are alternatives to that costly substrate. I spent $40 for a couple 15# bags of Seachem Flourite for my 20g, and then found that I could have bought a $7 bag of SafeTsorb and got the same thing. It's a different color, but still looks nice. Lots of other tips like that if you browse some of the popular forums. Same for plants: If you shop around, you can find reasonable prices. I started with no fish, too. I set up my tank at the beginning of April, used Dr. Tims bacteria & ammonia until the cycle started, then added plants mid May. I'm still running it without fish and it's doing great, other than algae starting to grow. Seems like a good time to introduce some fish, especially some sort of algae eaters. Good luck with your tank.
Thank you! Have had my first tank for about a month and have brown algae starting to pop up, so this video is perfect for me! (I even had the thought "hmm I should check A Gamer's Wife channel for tips" the other day!)
Thanks so much for his helpful video. Another recommendation for a video in the future- another all my pets video. It’s been over a year since your last one, and your 20 gallon tank has changed so much. Also, I can’t wait to see the new cherry shrimp tank!
It’s important to mention that when you’re cleaning filter media (e.g.: filter sponge) you clean it in water taken from the aquarium. If you use tap water you will kill the beneficial bacteria in your filter and may end up needing to cycle the tank again.
Great tip! Interestingly enough, I watched a video by a microbiology college professor who says he washes his sponge filters in tap water with much success. I haven't totally converted to that method, but it's an interesting video for sure if you want to check it out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jp49hdba0eY.html
All of the people on planted tank groups online overwhelmingly say that a product called Thrive is the best fertilizer on the market, beating both Seachem and easy green products. I haven’t tried it yet, but when I run out I’ll be getting some to try it out.
What I do for algea is to add pathos vines. If you don't have the filter that hangs on the back use lead weights to keep the ends from falling out till you have enough roots. Pathos takes any extra nutrients out of the water column. Also looks good. This sometimes works too well. Rachel O'leary put it in one of her tanks just to help with a heavy bio load. She had blackbeard algea all over this tank which she loved. It destroyed all of it. That's where I got the idea.
Haha, I saw that video from Rachel and got some pothos from my aunt to help. Maybe it's because my pothos is still young, but it didn't lower my nitrates as much as I thought it would. I'll keep monitoring it as the plants get bigger and see what happens.
Have actually two questions. Do the types of filters use today contribute to algae because back in the days when we use power heads and undergravel filters it was or seemed to be much less of a problem. I admit that the light systems back then were not contributing as much of a problem I remember a 55 gallon tank that stopped having an algae problem when I put a canister filter on it and I mean a filter meant for anaerobic bacteria processing. But who knows I love your videos
Great info as always! But I've been wondering if the tanks in your videos are all yours? Because these are some of the most beautiful aquascapes I've ever seen.
Haha, I wish! Some of the footage comes from an aquascaping gallery I visited in Houston, which you can see here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mFAjibmO324.html
Hi, I couldn't find any video about getting rid of snails, often when you buy plants you just can't avoid getting a snail infestation in your tank, how can I clear out my tank from them?
This is amazing! Its snappy and gets the point delivered...keep up the good work! Btw, is the shy guys tank with the loaches your current community tank?
Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure since this was taken at an aquascaping gallery. It looks a little like Hemigrammus rodwayi or Serrapinnus kriegi or something similar? Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
Thanks for the video. I need your advice , I have a non planted tank about 1 month old,10gall, I already have cycled, but I have this brown algae on the walls. It is not receiving direct dun light but I do need to reduce the lap light...I can do that. Any thought of introducing snails? I do not want plecos, kif a snail is an option what type would work and do I need to quarentin them? If so how can I do that. Any advice is appreciated.....thanks again.
Brown algae is very common in new aquariums, and many times will lessen with time as your plants mature (assuming it's a planted tank). I know lots of people like mystery snails and nerite snails, but you might need to do more research or ask other people since I'm not a big snail keeper. :)
Amazing video! I took your advice and bought a 500ml bottle of Flourish Advance. Have been dosing for 4 days now and so far have really noticed a significant boost in root growth of all my plants. So far I am impressed. Have you noticed any improvements from using it?
Yay, that's awesome! Yes, I've noticed not only better rooting, but also no more pinholes in my plant leaves. Guess I really must be lacking in those nutrients that Flourish Advance provides.
@@GirlTalksFish if you read the ingredients there are many different amino acids. Being we use clean tap water that is sterile I believe that is why sometimes our plants struggle as they do not get all the things that they would get out in the real world.
Awww thanks! I just get the regular ol' black sand from PetSmart and Petco (amzn.to/2WT0Tk8). I like it because it's heavier and larger grained than some of the CaribSea sands, which means it's easier to clean with a siphon (won't get vacuumed up as easily). It also doesn't cloud up the water (even without rinsing) because it's heavier. The sand is an inert substrate and won't have any nutrients in it though, so I do use root tabs for my rooted plants. Hope that helps. :)
My fish tank is next to the window and I don't get algae. I don't fertilize, not even in my planted tank. My plants are great, but no algae except my moss balls. Even the week I skipped the water change, the water was cleaning. I never clean the glass, but do gravel vacuum once a week when I do my 50% water change. Plus rinse out the media in the back hanging filter or sponge filter. I hope I don't have to worry about algae ever, but I know it's only a matter of time.
I will say, if your lighting is strong you might only need 6 hours of light a day. My lights I bought ended up being super heavy duty (72 par at 12”!!!) so I dimmed the lighting to 80% using a dimmer switch and cut back the light timers to 6 hours a day and dosed ferts on every 50% water change. My plant growth exploded and my algae problem disappeared!
First, let me start by saying thank you! Your advice has helped me rethink some things before I start my first planted tank. But I am a bit confused. If I use a plant substrate (eco complete) which has everything for healthy plant growth, why do I need to supplement with liquid and tabs? I know the substrate will eventually deplete but on a new start up?
Great question! Yes, I've since learned that you shouldn't add much fertilizer to a newly planted tank because the plants aren't settled in and it'll tend to cause algae growth. Wait till the nutrients in Eco-Complete are used up a little more before adding more.
You're right - I didn't mention a blackout period. I had... mixed results when I did it against brown and blue-green algae. Sure, the algae died after several days but then came right back as soon as the lights were on (even though I was trying other algae eliminating tactics in conjunction). And the plants didn't like the blackout. So maybe... I would do a blackout to get rid of the algae the first time and then do manual removal every time afterwards so that the plants won't suffer from the lack of light too much.
My Hygrophelia Compakt are showing signs of CO2 deficiancy, but they're looking really healthy otherwise. Some little holes here and there from Bladder Snails and Corycats eating the leaves, but other than that they're great. Is it bad that I like the look of some algaes? There's this Greenn Bushy Algae on my Wood and Stones and it makes the tank look more natural.
For the outcompete option, is it okay for my tank to have a little aquaponics system above it (asuming the tank is large enough with little plantation) Oh and it's a gar tank
Yeah, for sure! I know Axolotls Anonymous (facebook.com/axolotlsanonymous/ ) actually sells aquaponics kits that you can put above your aquariums. Great for heavy bioload creatures. :)
Pothos plant(devil s ivy) is great for removing nitrates, any cutting off a plant at least 6-10 inches stem in water will grow , leaves don't do well in water but will survive for periods of time
Good question. Do you plan on growing any live plants? If so, they generally like 6-10 hours of light. However if you have no live plants and just fish, they generally don't need to have the aquarium light on (as long as they're in a room with some kind of indirect sunlight or ambient lighting). If you do turn on the aquarium light, just make sure not to keep it on all night because your betta needs to sleep. :)
Hi Gamey... excellent info. Love your vids. Just so you know I always watch just don't always leave comments. It takes away from watch time. YOu know the drill... Luvya!!🐟💚😊👍💙💦
@@GirlTalksFish Oh, I'm from San Diego, that's why I'm asking. We have two Pet Zones: the one in City Heights is run by the father, and the one in Kearny Mesa by the son.
Probably clean up crew BUT NO COMMON PLECOS also I would make sure I was feeding them as well In case there was not enough Algae was there for them to eat
I found out Algea is good for your tank but if you want a natural way to kill algea add mossballs not only will they look great in your tank but they kill algea its like plant warfer sciense or someting it work great for my small tank.
best trick i have learned is to weigh my fish food, and decrease by 25%, it takes care of the algae problem in the long term, apart from the black beard algae off course
Is it my phone ? But why is the video just a tiny little square in the left corner and can't see rest of the shot..whats going on over there? Yakuza or Mafia forcing you to decorate,clean,and set up tanks for them? The Gamer abusing you? You abusing the Gamer???? Lol
