Trying to get algae growing

[Audaxcity]

I'm trying to accomplish a "natural" feel to my 75g with algae growing on wood and rocks. I know, weird.

Problem is, the only algae I ever end up growing is BBS, green dot algae, and cyanobacteria. The BBS only sticks to plants and kills them, the green dot cover the glass, and cyano is gross and can take over the bottom of the tank.

I've increased lighting, but I don't know my full water chemistry. 25C if it helps. Also no CO2, and ample current. Any ideas how to grow, say, hair or staghorn algae?

Also can spirulina be grown in an aquarium?

 

[Hendre]

What lighting and fertilisation do you use?

Spirulina is a free-floating algae I think, and won't anchor down. Could you always use mosses on the decor?

You can use hydrogen peroxide to kill algae, read up on it! There's lots of instructions online

 

[philipraposo1982]

I regret going this route in my tank. It grows a thick brown with some red beard

Problem is that it's not anchoring down and the fish can pick at it. Alot of it floats in bits and ends up in my canister filter. Things don't look great unless it's full and thick.

I plan to clean everything and go back to a non algae setup.

 

[joe jaskot]

Be careful what you wish for. Algae can be a pain especially when it gets out of control.

 

[TheWolfman]

I agree with the others get some moss balls and cut them up and glue them to your rocks if that’s the look you want.

 

[Hendre]

I agree with the others get some moss balls and cut them up and glue them to your rocks if that’s the look you want.

Moss balls are cladophora algae, maybe best if you leave it in ball form. Normal mosses like Christmas moss or flame moss would look lovely once grown in

 

[Audaxcity]

No ferts. The reason I'm want to try algae is because moss doesn't attach that well to my decor for some reason. The current has pressed it against the driftwood for the last month or so and it grows like crazy, but it doesn't actually attach to anything but the filter intake.

Turns out spirulina was free-floating. Welp.

I don't have problems with eradicating algae when I actually try to. A 4 day blackout solves everything for me, so I'm not afraid to experiment. The problem is when I grow it on purpose, cyan, dot, and BBA are the only types I get, and they also just happen to be the only 3 types I don't want since they completely screw up my plants.

 

[TheWolfman]

Moss balls are cladophora algae, maybe best if you leave it in ball form. Normal mosses like Christmas moss or flame moss would look lovely once grown in

Not sure why you can’t cut them up and attach them to rocks and what not I’ve done it before without problems. Can you elaborate on why it’s a bad idea?

 

[Hendre]

Not sure why you can’t cut them up and attach them to rocks and what not I’ve done it before without problems. Can you elaborate on why it’s a bad idea?

Cladophoda in it's free form can be quite a pain and is referred to as aquatic HIV that should be avoided. Just not nice, not sure how Marimo algae would respond to change like that

 

[Viridis]

Turns out spirulina was free-floating. Welp.

Spirulina (assuming you mean Arthrospira platensis and A. maxima) is also halophilic. There are some Freshwater Spirulina spp., but I don't know where you'd be able to get it. Do you have a university nearby with a decent biology department (where in Canada are you?)? They're usually culturing a few algae species, and might be willing to give you some, or at least tell you where to go for axenic cultures.

Do you know the pH of the water? Some species prefer more alkaline environments and might not grow below a certain point.