aquascaping with algae

[auban]

has anyone ever tried aquascaping with algae alone? i have a nice mat of hair algae that i have been growing out in one of my tanks, and thinking about it, i might be able to aquascape it. it seems to bee growing easily enough.

[brainwavepc.com]

that's like trying to accent a tattoo with zits...

[jkan0228]

There are some attractive algaes out there but IMO hair algae is just not one of them. They aren't all that attractive either.

Oh and it'll be hard to aquascape since they aren't like plants that can somewhat maintain their shape unless you have a nice thick patch of them.

But you can do what you want, would be interesting to see what you come up with. Pruning would be key...

[wahoo]

Learn to grow plants without algae and scape them. You'll be hard pressed to find information on this.

[Maechael]

I'd say try it, and see what happens.

It would be interesting to see if nothing else.

And since it's your tank, your opinion on what looks cool is higher on the list than others. No offense to those who hold the opinion.


But they are most likely right about not being able to find information about scaping with algae, as most of the scapers here, try to remove it not culture it.

Best of luck.

[ChadRamsey]

Originally Posted by brainwavepc.com

that's like trying to accent a tattoo with zits...

[brainwavepc.com]

I'm sure it could be done, but the problem is limiting that algae to only the areas you want it, it will soon take over everything and you will regret it.

[ony]

I neglected my shrimp tank and at one point had a tree scape with the leaf section made of hair algae. It actually looked better than you would think and did hold its shape, wish I had a picture. When I regained my interest in that tank the algae had to go.

[Knotyoureality]

I've long since lost the bookmark, but somewhere along the line this year I ran into a thread with a guy who let a filamentous algae basically take over his shrimp tank--it made this gorgeous lime green cloud that swirled gently in the current with just a few places left open.

The closest I've come is purposefully inoculating sun-lit mini-tanks (2.5 and below) with bits of soil and water from a variety of sources (ponds, the lake and river, the canal, golf course spillways etc) to try and get as many types of algae growing on the back wall and surfaces as possible.

[Acro]

There will always be those who say "it can't be done, it shouldn't be done", but then another goes against that and finds something new, makes something new.

Go for it, maybe one day there will be an algae scaping section on this website because of you.

[chad320]

Ive seen lots of nicely scaped tanks with algae. Clado is a popular one to scape with and it does well in cichlid or monster fish type tank where plants are difficult to keep rooted.

[Monster Fish]

Originally Posted by brainwavepc.com

I'm sure it could be done, but the problem is limiting that algae to only the areas you want it, it will soon take over everything and you will regret it.

This +1.

This was my 2.5 gallon opae ula tank.



Was trying to go with an alien-looking tank with floating spheres of hair algae with a lava-rock scape. However the algae took over and became a cloud of death, smothering the tank, and limiting the growth of other types of algae. However, the algae did a good job of keeping the nitrates down. Here's the tank before I took it apart.



The hair algae was growing into each crevice between the lava rocks, into the darkness. When I tore apart the tank, all the hair algae compacted and rolled into a ball was about the size of a baseball.

[Knotyoureality]

[QUOTE=Monster Fish;2027439]This +1.

This was my 2.5 gallon opae ula tank.



Was trying to go with an alien-looking tank with floating spheres of hair algae with a lava-rock scape. However the algae took over and became a cloud of death, smothering the tank, and limiting the growth of other types of algae. However, the algae did a good job of keeping the nitrates down. Here's the tank before I took it apart.

It may not have lasted long, but you definitely accomplished the goal! Very cool.

[chibikaie]

That does look cool, pretty much exactly what I've been trying to achieve. I've got Java fern acclimated to brackish water, been waiting for an algae explosion ... no go. I can't believe I'm complaining that I can't grow algae.

[fplata]

High light/low co2 will get you all the algae you want also limit dosing one of your macros and stop water changes.