# Trying to grow algae on purpose!



## holly12

I'm trying to grow algae on purpose for my Oto's and Zebra snails. I've got about 6 tupperware containers sitting in various windows, with water and lava rock and feller stone. They've been there for 3 weeks now, and still no algae........ seriously?! Tanks grow it like there's no tomorrow by accident and when I want it on purpose - nothing?! :fish9:

Any tips? Should I skip the windows and just put the containers under a desk lamp for a few days? (I've got the lids on so the water doesn't evaporate).

Thanks for any help! (My hungry Oto's and Snails thank you too!)


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## Auban

(1) take the lids off. algae needs gas exchange to grow.
(2) if you have any algae in your tank, seed the containers with it. 
(3) add a little fertilizer of some sort, a little fish food might work.
(4) cross your fingers! getting algae to grow can be just as hard as getting rid of it. 

if you are interested in growing diatoms for green water(food for daphnia, fairy shrimps, etc) and you like DIY projects, have a look at my photo gallery, i have a rough sketch of an apparatus i used several years ago to culture a pure diatom strain for use in coating photovoltaic cells. it worked great, but i stopped using it when i saw something on the news about a university research team doing the same thing


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## holly12

UGH! Here I am thinking the lids on is a good thing for weeks! Duh me! 
*1.* Ok, if I leave the lids just sitting ontop (not snapped on) but at an angle so air gets in but they don't evap' too much, is that ok? 
*2.* And, when water does evap' I just add a bit more right?
* 3.* And only use fish food once? (Finely crumbled into the water?) or will a small squirt of liquid plant fertz' work? 
*4.* It will grow the algae I need for Oto's _and_ for Nerite snails right? (I'm assuming they eat any type....)
*5.* When I go to start again, I'm assuming I use the same, now dirty, water, and also don't need any more fertz since the containers are seeded? And to not wash the containers out, or I'll have to start all over again, lol. (Sorry, this is new to me, lol).

My 10 gal has a closed top, with 2 open spots for the filter and heater to go in. I've covered those with saran wrap, so the snails and shrimp don't "go for a walk" as I've read they can do. Will this stop new algae from growing in the tank? (I'm hoping that air gets in because of the filter moving the water, the air stone, and when I open and close the lid for feeding and maintenance.)

Thank you soooo much, and again, sorry for all the questions.... you'd think growing algae would be a no brainer, lol.


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## jrman83

Just bring whatever you got here to put in one of my tanks. It seems to grow algae very well. Not sure how'd it look without the 20 Amanos it has.


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## holly12

Lol, I'd do that if we didn't live so far apart, hahaha!


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## Auban

honestly, one of the most simple ways to grow algae is to leave the light on your tank 24/7 untill algae starts to grow. as for your questions:
1 yes
2 yes
3 yes (both would work)
4 maybe. if it grows green water, your snails wont eat it but your bamboo shrimp will. if it grows a film of algae that you can eventualy peel off then the cherry shrimps and the snails will eat it. if you end up with green water, be warned that it can take over your tank.
5 just dont wash the containers and fill with more water. you may need to add more ferts to promote more algae growth.

as for the saran wrap, as long as you have an area where air can freely pass in and out of the tank it should be fine. the air stone adds new air from outside of the tank, and that alone should be enough. like i said though, you may be working too hard. leaving the light on too long is one of the biggest causes of algae blooms in aquariums, particularly the type that nerite snails and cherry shrimp will eat. 

anyway, i wont be able to post for a while, losing my internet. whenever i get it back ill come back to the forums. good luck!


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## snail

Use old tank water, not water straight from the tank. 

I leave my tank lights on for longer since I got nerites to grow more algae for them and that seems to work but I've thought about doing the same as you.


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## holly12

I want to leave the light on for a couple days straight, but I've got ADF's and Oto cats which are nocturnal and need a day and a night cycle... don't want to stress them out with too much light, so that's why I'm trying to grow algae on rocks that I can switch with the clean ones in the tank.

Hopefully what ever algae grows on the rocks will be O.k. for the Otos. I'm more worried about them than the snails, since when I do water changes, I can see a white/opaque film on the sides where there is no water, that have snail bite marks, so I know they are eating. They also hog the zucchini when I put it in the tank. So, it's the Oto's I'm really hoping will like the new algae. (They must be finding food though, since I've had them for 4 weeks now and they still have pea shaped bellies - little fat bellies.) Maybe they eat algae we can't see? (Plus the algae wafers I put in the tank at night).

If the water turns green I will only put a tiny amount (if any at all) of the water into the tank for the Bamboo shrimp. She gets Phytoplankton and crushed up veggie flakes though, so she's pretty good for food. She sometimes still scavenges, but I feed her every day so she should be ok.

Thanks for all the tips! I cracked the lids last night and added some small pinches of fish flakes. (Now I've got to keep my fingers crossed my 2 cats don't knock them off the shelves.... they LOVE to knock over water! They KNOW what's going to happen, but they look at it like.... "I wonder...." and then tip over cups and containers - ugh!)


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## bolram

I have a live daphnia culture and for weeks couldn't get algae to grow in the culture tub. Then out of boredness took the lid of and left it on losely to cover most of it and placed on the window. 2 weeks later its algae galore lol


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## holly12

Sweet! I took the lids off 4 of them last night, (then got distracted and forgot 2 of them). I'll take the lids off of the last 2 now, and put a little fish food in them.


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## bolram

If you can provide heat and lighting also it promotes growth of algae at a faster rate, thats why i use sunlight on a window it gets direct sunlight for an hour or 2 maximum per day. Since i moved it there i get the growth that i wanted lol


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## holly12

No South facing windows in this house. Some West facing, so I have them sitting beside those - no window ledge so they are on shelves beside.


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## rtbob

I have rocks set up along side my patio kinda simulating a dry creek bed. The sprinkler system wets them and the sun bakes them. Algae all over them along with snails.

Are all snails fully aquatic? Or do some not do well when in an aquarium?


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## Auban

if the snail is not in water, it probably shouldn't go in water. generally speaking, snails you find on land will die in water, and snails you find in water will die on land.


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## GuppyNGoldfish

When I had my tadpole tank setup, algae grew like crazy! It was a 20 gallon with about 2 inches of sand, 4 inches of water and 2 rocks I found outside. Then i put 2 giant clumps of tadpole eggs in there. No heater, or light, just natural sunlight through out the day. Within 2 weeks the tank had a ton of algae around the edges of the water. Im guessing the natural all day light, tadpole "egg jelly" and poop helped a lot for the algae to grow.


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## beaslbob

holly12 said:


> I'm trying to grow algae on purpose for my Oto's and Zebra snails. I've got about 6 tupperware containers sitting in various windows, with water and lava rock and feller stone. They've been there for 3 weeks now, and still no algae........ seriously?! Tanks grow it like there's no tomorrow by accident and when I want it on purpose - nothing?! :fish9:
> 
> Any tips? Should I skip the windows and just put the containers under a desk lamp for a few days? (I've got the lids on so the water doesn't evaporate).
> 
> Thanks for any help! (My hungry Oto's and Snails thank you too!)


algae needs nutrients, light, and carbon dioxide.

Hook the containers to a tank and circulate the water between the tank and container. commonly called an algae turf scrubber or refugium depending on the design.

my .02


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