Could too many plants cause algae?

[quenton]

My 65g tank got way, way overgrown over the last three weeks because I have been overly busy at work preparing to go on vacation. I would say 3x the plant mass I would normally keep (given the pail full of plants I discarded last night).

I usually prune every week (since I started using CO2 6mo ago).

This tank had bothered me the last week because I was seeing algae that I had not seen before (types and quantity). Nothing else changed -- just the plant mass. It was so much of a jungle that the fish were not swimming around much (I did not realize that until I cleaned it out and watched them this morning).

I won't let that happen again, but just wondered if this could be part of my recent algae problem -- perhaps water motion was being blocked to some extent, I don't know.

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Could too many plants cause algae?

If you are dosing and removing plant biomass at a stable rate, then you do not change anything except not removing the biomass for a few weeks/have 3x the plant biomass and still maintain the same dosing amounts/rates, what do you think?

It's like dosing a tank 3x the size almost.

So you will run out in such a tank where as you may not in the other.

The other thing, often algae willl entangle in plants that you might other wise prune.

In general, if we neglect tanks, algae appears, this also means normal pruning etc

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[quenton]

Re: Could too many plants cause algae?

If you are dosing and removing plant biomass at a stable rate, then you do not change anything except not removing the biomass for a few weeks/have 3x the plant biomass and still maintain the same dosing amounts/rates, what do you think?

It's like dosing a tank 3x the size almost.

So you will run out in such a tank where as you may not in the other.

The other thing, often algae willl entangle in plants that you might other wise prune.

In general, if we neglect tanks, algae appears, this also means normal pruning etc

Regards,
Tom Barr

Of course, its obvious (once you point it out ) -- I was thinking about the physicality only, the stopping of motion, the blocking of light, but of course the uptake is probably killing me.

Having pruned last night, my tank looks SOO much better -- and my knowledge just grew some -- thanks tom.

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Could too many plants cause algae?

Too many can block flow and CO2 light etc.

You change the circulation patterns when you have 3x as many weeds.


Regards,
Tom Barr