The growth of algae is a normal process. Algae have been on Earth for a billion years and can be found anywhere there is water and light. That being said, you could say it’s normal for algae to grow in your tank. Even better, it can be helpful by using ammonia as food, being food for fish and invertebrates, and even making air through photosynthesis.
An aquarium with a lot of algae, on the other hand, is often a sign that something is out of balance or that there are too many pollutants. Not only does too much algae look bad, but it can also hurt the fish by raising the pH too high, cutting off air to the tank at night, blocking filters, and trapping the fish.
It is possible to use algaecides, but they are very strong chemicals that could make the water even less balanced as the algae die off in large numbers. They also don’t get rid of the cause of the algae problem in the first place. So, the algae grows again because the factors that made it bloom in the first place are still there. Let’s attempt other methods instead.
Is Algae Bad For Fish Tanks?
As most people think, algae are not evil. Like plants, they use photosynthesis to make new algae from light and organic matter in the water, like fish waste. In the same way, they make air during the day and use it at night. Algae are less complex than plants, so they can live in “worse” conditions than plants. This means they can take in more wavelengths of light and use chemicals that plants can’t.
A lot of fish and invertebrates like algae, and it helps clean the water by filtering it.This is good for the ecosystem of your tank. Some types of algae can also look nice and make a tank look more natural. However, most people don’t like the way they look, especially in planted tanks where they block the view and scenery.
There isn’t really such a thing as a perfect planted tank that doesn’t have any algae in it. Let us say you have a friend whose lawn is always neat. Even they will have to deal with the odd weed, like algae in an aquascape. Here’s an example of a less-than-perfect lawn: five dandelion weeds have grown to be one foot tall. You can make it look like there are no weeds on the grass by mowing it. In the same way, we want to learn how to control algae in a way that makes it invisible and the tank look almost clean.
Is Algae Bad For Fish?
Algae in small amounts usually doesn’t hurt fish, but when there’s a lot of it in your tank, problems start to happen.
A rise in the pH level is one problem. Chemical burns from this imbalance can happen to your fish, hurting their thin coats that keep germs and parasites out.
Changes in air levels are another problem. When algae are exposed to light during the day, they make oxygen for the surroundings. But algae take in air when the lights are off.
Algae don’t use up enough oxygen to change the situation if it stays the same. During a bloom, however, algae can remove enough air from the water for your fish to drown.
Why There is a Lot of Algae In My Fish Tank?
The growth of algae in your tank is due to an imbalance of nutrients and lighting. This simple sentence can be hard to understand at first, but to grow properly, your plants need just the right amount of light and food. If you don’t give algae enough nutrients to grow, they will use the extra light to grow.
When there are a lot of nutrients but not enough light, algae will use the extra nutrients. This is because light controls how quickly plants can use nutrients. To make things even worse, it’s almost impossible to get the tank perfectly balanced because your plants will keep growing or you will cut them, which will change how much light and nutrients they need.
Quickly Get Rid of Fish Tank Algae: 5 Easy Steps
It’s important to get your tank as close to balanced as you can, since lighting and nutrients will always be out of balance. Then, use algae-eating fish to fill in the rest of the gap. This “one-two punch” method has worked very well for us to get rid of algae completely. Next, we’ll talk about the six most common types of algae that grow in aquariums and how to get rid of them.
1. Reduce the light
Cutting off algae’s light is one of the easiest ways to get rid of it. Lessen the light to eight hours a day if the tank has live plants. If there aren’t any live plants in the tank, turn off the light when you’re not looking at the fish.
Only leave it on for one or two hours a day. For severe algae blooms, you can also do something called a “blackout,” in which sheets or bin liners are used to cover the whole tank and the lights are turned off for a few days.
Algae really suffers in the dark, but strong, healthy plants can make it through. Once the light is turned back on, the tank owner can use other methods to fight the algae. But cutting down on the lights is the first thing you should do and it won’t cost you anything. Make sure the tank doesn’t get any sunlight at any time of the day or year, because that will cause algae. A greenhouse is not the right place for an aquarium.
2. Control nutrients
All nutrients are tightly cycled in nature, which means that any fertilizers for plants are quickly taken up and stored by the plants. If you have too many nutrients in a tank and not enough plants, or any plants at all, algae will quickly take them up.
Regularly changing the water will keep the nutrients low. If you have plants, use a liquid fertilizer to make them stronger and help them naturally fight off algae. If there are no live plants in the tank, you can use nitrate and phosphate resins to take up the extra nutrients and leave the algae without food.
3. Increase maintenance
In order to get rid of algae effectively, you should physically enter the tank and remove as much of it as you can. Brush plant leaves and decorations along with the glass every day with an algae pad or algae scraper.
If you leave the algae in the tank, it will settle and grow again, so use a syphon to get rid of as much of it as you can. As soon as you move the algae, put an old toothbrush on the end of a syphon tube and suck it out.
To get rid of algae, vacuum the rocks, scrub the tank, and change the water often (every day for a week if you have to). You should also clean the filter often.
4. Use Natural Things That Eat Algae
There are many tropical freshwater fish and invertebrates that eat algae in addition to the things named above. Add an Otocinclus catfish and an algae-eating shrimp to a small tank.
Mollies, Siamese algae eaters, and Bristlenose catfish are good for bigger tanks. They will all eat green algae and help keep it away, but if you run out of algae, they will need things that are made from algae to eat.
5. Plant heavily
There is a school of thought that says plants that grow quickly and are healthy can naturally fight algae and help keep it away. Set the photoperiod to eight hours, fertilize regularly, and use algae eaters this time. Additionally, CO2 can be used to assist plant growth.
Plants can fight algae by spreading out and covering the algae below, by taking in nutrients faster, and some people think by putting out their own natural algaecides to stop algae from growing on their leaves. Algae shouldn’t be a problem if you have a natural environment.
Types of Algae Aquarium
Understanding the types of algae that can thrive in aquariums is crucial for maintaining a healthy aquatic environment. From common brown diatoms to challenging black beard algae and rapid-growing hair algae, each type requires specific strategies for prevention and removal. Green spot algae and blue-green algae, though less common, also pose distinct challenges that aquarists must address with targeted treatments and maintenance practices.
Brown Diatom Algae
Diatoms that are brown or green can cover the walls, substrate, and other surfaces in your tank. They look like dusty, flour-like particles. You can easily remove it with an algae cleaner sponge because it’s so soft. Animals like otocinclus catfish, snails, and shrimp also like to eat it.
High amounts of phosphates and silicates are often what cause diatom algae to grow in tanks that have just been planted. You can easily get rid of this type of algae by giving it time. The plants will naturally take in the extra phosphates and silicates, and clean-up teams love to eat it.
Black Beard Algae (BBA)
People have the most trouble with BBA algae because not many things can eat it. It does what its name says”it grows in very thick, bushy clumps that are mostly black or gray but can be reddish or brownish.
If you don’t do anything, this algae will take over an aquarium in one to two years. It likes to grow on driftwood, tank decorations, and plants. As a result, there isn’t a single easy method to treat BBA because it can be caused by many individual factors.
You can add Florida flagfish, Siamese algae eaters, or amano shrimp if you don’t like the way the algae looks. The shrimp will take a long time to eat it, though, unless you have a lot of them.
To speed up the process, you can spray the plant or decoration that is infected with BBA with 3% hydrogen peroxide (which you can get at any drugstore). Leave it alone for 5 minutes, then rinse it off and put it back in the tank.
When algae dies, it goes red or clear, and animals may eat it when it’s weak. Keep in mind that there are no quick fixes. BBA can take anywhere from six to eight months to form, so it will take at least that long to get rid of it.
Hair Algae
All of the algae that look like wet hair when you take them out of the tank fall into this group. Examples include hair algae, staghorn algae, string algae, and thread algae. You might not want these algae around because they grow so fast or are so tough to get rid of.
Usually, they happen when there are too many nutrients (like iron), too much light, or not enough nutrients (because of the long lighting time). To fix this, try shortening the time you light your plants, adding more fertilizer, or removing iron. As a cleanup crew, you could use Siamese algae eaters, amano shrimp, molly fish, or Florida flagfish. To help them even more, you can use a toothbrush to remove big clumps by hand.
Green Spot Algae (GSA)
GSA looks like hard, tiny green spots on the tank walls and plants that grow more slowly and are hard to clean off. Numerous things, like too much sunshine or an imbalance of phosphate, can lead to an outbreak. To get rid of algae on aquarium walls, try a razor blade (for glass tanks) or a gift card (for plastic tanks).
Nerite snails, which like to eat GSA, are also a good first line of defense. But keep in mind that this species doesn’t reproduce in freshwater tanks. Instead, they lay white eggs that look like tiny sesame seeds all over the aquarium, which some people don’t like.
Blue-Green Algae (BGA)
In a scientific sense, BGA is not an algae but a cyanobacteria that covers the substrate, plants, and decorations in a slimy blanket effect. Many people who keep fish learn to know the smell of it before they can even see the bacterial colony.
No one knows for sure what causes BGA, but keeping your tank clean and circulating the water more with an air stone or powerhead can usually keep it away. People that eat algae won’t likely eat it, so don’t count on them to help you.
Since BGA plants use light to make food, you can try turning off the power to the tank for a week. However, this may be hard on the plants. We suggest that you remove as much of the BGA by hand as you can, change the water while cleaning the substrate, and then treat the tank with antibiotics.
One packet of Maracyn, which is made of the antibiotic erythromycin, should be added to every 10 gallons of water. After one week, the water should be changed again.
Green Water in Aquarium
If the water in your tank looks like pea soup, you probably have green water, which is caused by a lot of single-celled phytoplankton floating around. They reproduce so quickly, though, that big water changes can’t get rid of them.
If the tank gets full sunlight during the day, too much lighting, too many nutrients (like when you double-dose fertilizers), or too much ammonia (like when a pet sitter overfeeds or a new tank hasn’t been cycled yet) can all cause green water.
It’s hard on plants, but you can shut off the water to the tank for at least a week to get rid of green water. You could also buy a UV cleaner, which will kill the algae in two to three days.
Last Thoughts
You can get rid of algae in your aquarium by thinking about things like the size and type of fish, how they eat, the lighting, where the tank is placed, and how often it is cleaned.
Keep in mind that our goal is not to get rid of all algae, but to keep aquariums healthy for longer. There are a lot of good nutrients in the water and only a small amount of algae in the tank.
Having said that, we try to limit the growth of algae as much as possible.