Magnesium and algae growth

[jambon]

I was doing some reading and saw a comment about a higher...  I believe around 1400ppm magnesium helping control algae growth. It makes a bit of sense but I would like more info..  I am battling hair algae atm. I think it's all tied together.

[ef4life]

Too high of magnesium isn’t good for snails and other inverts. 

[Tamberav]

4 hours ago, jambon said:

I was doing some reading and saw a comment about a higher...  I believe around 1400ppm magnesium helping control algae growth. It makes a bit of sense but I would like more info..  I am battling hair algae atm. I think it's all tied together.

I don't believe it is the Mg that helps but something else that was in the bottle of kent Mg that people used to dose.

 

High Mg can have negative impacts on inverts.

 

Hair algae is a nutrient or debris issue or not an effective CUC. 

[mcarroll]

 

On 11/29/2019 at 8:04 PM, jambon said:

I am battling hair algae atm.

Hair algae blooms are generally brought on by stocking a tank faster than the tank can keep up with the increasing bio-load.  (Too many fish, too fast in an immature tank.)

 

There's not enough competing organisms to use up the nutrients as fast as the algae can.

 

Blooms become a problem when they are left alone by the aquarist and when there's no -- or an inadequate -- cleanup crew.

 

That simple.

 

If the aquarist remembers they are the #1 member of the cleanup crew and stays on top of algae growth by removing it plus they add a small quantity (4 or less) of new herbivores each time, then it doesn't take long to get control.  👍

 

If you need a guide for the manual removal of the algae (the only arguably tricky part), check this video out:

How to get rid of green hair algae

[jambon]

Well said mcarrol... I did rush a wee bit on  my livestock list. It is all coming together now. I do have a constant maintenance schedule that I stick to.

Since I posted this I have at least doubled the feeding of the  livestock  and the algae is slowly coming under control...

[mcarroll]

Nice!

 

That's a great hot-to video, BTW.  Very pedantic (a good thing) so by the end you'll have no doubt about exactly how to do it.

[jambon]

Hey mcarrol that is a good video and that is a lot of snails, 1 per gallon! I have 3 or 4 in my 32 gallon. Is this how you keep it in check? Do you use phos RX also? 

   Thanks

[mcarroll]

Up to 2 per gallon!  And yes it is a lot.  👀

 

Don't add that many all at once.....scale up to that number slowly, but steadily.  Stop adding when you have control on the algae, of course, and then add no more so your snails don't end up starving out later on.