Will plant food cause algae?
- Thread starter TroyMIfishkeeper
- Start date
Algae is caused by excess nutrients in the water, in other words in a planted aquarium we all add some form of fertilizer to the tank for the plants to thrive. Well any nutrients that aren't used up by the plants in the water column can be a source for algae to feed on, but just like plants algae uses light for photosynthesis.
The simplest way to prevent this from happening is to add more plants to the tank, because plants use nutrients faster than algae so by adding more plants leaves nothing for algae to feed on. So by all means go ahead and dose the tank with the recommended dose, and in the future if you experience an algae outbreak just add in a couple more plants.
With that said, Aqueon and Flourish products are fine because they have a variety of nutrients in them, but API only adds potassium and iron nothing else, just for future reference try to avoid API plant care products...
Aqueon Guaranteed Analysis:
Flourish Comprehensive Guaranteed Analysis
Total Nitrogen (N) 0.007%
Available Phosphate (P2O5) 0.01%
Soluble Potash (K2O) 0.37%
Calcium (Ca) 0.14%
Magnesium (Mg) 0.11%
Sulfur (S) 0.2773%
Boron (B) 0.009%
Chlorine (Cl) 1.15%
Cobalt (Co) 0.0004%
Copper (Cu) 0.0001%
Iron (Fe) 0.32%
Manganese (Mn) 0.0118%
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.0009%
Sodium (Na) 0.13%
Zinc (Zn) 0.0007%
Flourish Comprehensive has a more balanced nutrient analysis, and provides some nutrients that Aqueon does not.
The simplest way to prevent this from happening is to add more plants to the tank, because plants use nutrients faster than algae so by adding more plants leaves nothing for algae to feed on. So by all means go ahead and dose the tank with the recommended dose, and in the future if you experience an algae outbreak just add in a couple more plants.
With that said, Aqueon and Flourish products are fine because they have a variety of nutrients in them, but API only adds potassium and iron nothing else, just for future reference try to avoid API plant care products...
Aqueon Guaranteed Analysis:
- Soluble Potash K20 - 1.0%
- Calcium - 0.2%
- Magnesium (Mg) 0.03%
- Sulfur (S) 0.036%
- Boron (B) 0.0006%
- Iron (Fe) 0.12%
- Manganese (Mn) 0.00008%
- Molybdenum (Mo) 0.0035%
- Zinc (Zn) 0.00012%
Flourish Comprehensive Guaranteed Analysis
Total Nitrogen (N) 0.007%
Available Phosphate (P2O5) 0.01%
Soluble Potash (K2O) 0.37%
Calcium (Ca) 0.14%
Magnesium (Mg) 0.11%
Sulfur (S) 0.2773%
Boron (B) 0.009%
Chlorine (Cl) 1.15%
Cobalt (Co) 0.0004%
Copper (Cu) 0.0001%
Iron (Fe) 0.32%
Manganese (Mn) 0.0118%
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.0009%
Sodium (Na) 0.13%
Zinc (Zn) 0.0007%
Flourish Comprehensive has a more balanced nutrient analysis, and provides some nutrients that Aqueon does not.
Last edited:
In an aquarium with plants you need to provide a balance between light, nutrients, and CO2. Too much light or too many nutrients can lead to the growth of algae. Too little CO2 and your plants won't grow but algae will.
