[Dynomitefries]

As the title states, i'm purposely trying to grow some algae on some river rocks. I cant seem to find a thread that has the info I'm looking for.

I have a plastic container (with lid) sitting outside under the sun with river rocks in it. I used a few squirts of easy green in the water also. Additionally I have a tiny solar powered water pump circulating the water. After about the week, the water is green-ish, but the container is filled with mostly hair algae. When I go to take out some of the rocks to inspect them, its very slimy overall. Definitely not growing the type of algae I expected.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[mistergreen]

What algae do you want? I assume brown , green spot. They don’t need a lot of light or nutrient, maybe just a drop of ammonia. You can get ammonium chloride off amazon.
or dirty tank water will work fine.

 

[Dynomitefries]

What algae do you want? I assume brown , green spot. They don’t need a lot of light or nutrient, maybe just a drop of ammonia. You can get ammonium chloride off amazon.
or dirty tank water will work fine.

Would I need to let it sit out in the sun? Or is this something I can keep indoors. Do I need to circulate the water? I think my last attempted which generated hair algae clogged my pump....

 

[jake37]

otto don't really eat algae as much as bio-film and they should be fed some meat. I really wouldn't grow algae per sey for an otto - however you want a well establish tank with a lot of biofilm.

 

[mistergreen]

In the shade or by the window should work. No circulation. You’ll need to feed ottos algae wafers too for a balanced diet.