How can you get rid of algae in an aquarium?
Posted on Sep 09, 2008 under algae aquarium |
contrary to many of the answers here, algae eating fish are never a solution to an algae problem.
you need to ID the type of algae you have, and then treat from there. algae is predominantly caused by excess nutrients and excess light. keeping the nutriants (such as nitrates and phosphates) in check will help suffocate the algae, and keeping the light the tank gets regulated will also help.
algae eating fish will ONLY eat soft algaes. they will not touch green spot algae, blue/green algae (or cyanobacteria, which is actually quite toxic, and not a true algae) and only the siamese algae eater will eat hair algae. algae eating shrimp may make more of a dent such as cherry shrimp and amano shrimp.
you need to treat the root cause of the algae, and not the symptoms.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Clean the tank out once a month. To slow down the growth you can also buy algae eaters from your local aquarium.
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April 29th, 2008 at 6:36 am
the simplest way is to buy an algae eater. if not keep your aquarium out of direct sunlight and buy an algae scrubber to wipe down the sides of the tank. DO NOT use a household sponge and they have toxic(to fish) chemicals in them
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April 29th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Adjust your lighting. Too much light and particularly direct sun light can cause algae to grow out of control. If you are seeing heavy algae growth on the glass and plants, clean the tank and then reduce lighting by a few hours a day until the problem improves.
If it is just light algae with spots on the glass or a light film on plants, thats normal. An algae eater or two will do the trick.
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April 29th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Algae eater can take care of that, maybe 2 depending on the size of the aquarium, we you go to the pet store ask them how many, regardless if you have one or not your tank will still need to be cleaned occasionally, just not as frequently as w/o an agea eater. There are also ho tech cleaning/filtering systems, but they come at a cost, check the pet store.
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April 29th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Simpliest way to get rid of algae is to buy some algae eaters ex: plecos but they also poop a lot as well so better buy a scrub for the aquarium and keep them out from direct sunlight 'coz it'll definitely cause a lot of algaes :).
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April 29th, 2008 at 6:51 am
You can get some algae eating fish to help lower the amount of algae in your tank, however, the algae will continue to grow unless you work out why it is occurring.
Generally speaking algae takes a hold of tanks when the nitrate levels are high. Algae thrives on nitrates (as all plants do). Do more frequent 30% water changes and check your water for nitrates. Try to keep the reading below 40ppm. 20ppm is better
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April 29th, 2008 at 6:58 am
contrary to many of the answers here, algae eating fish are never a solution to an algae problem.
you need to ID the type of algae you have, and then treat from there. algae is predominantly caused by excess nutrients and excess light. keeping the nutriants (such as nitrates and phosphates) in check will help suffocate the algae, and keeping the light the tank gets regulated will also help.
algae eating fish will ONLY eat soft algaes. they will not touch green spot algae, blue/green algae (or cyanobacteria, which is actually quite toxic, and not a true algae) and only the siamese algae eater will eat hair algae. algae eating shrimp may make more of a dent such as cherry shrimp and amano shrimp.
you need to treat the root cause of the algae, and not the symptoms.
References :
April 29th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Sometimes algae is a sign of over feeding which most people do . Other than that , I agree with cat's answer .
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April 29th, 2008 at 7:16 am
First thing to do to is to reduce the amount of light because that will stop it growing as much. Also water snails are good for clearing algae so ask at the local fish/pet store about which ones and how many (I have just got 2 golden mystery on the advise of the fish store). Also use on of the manual algae cleaners from the pet store such as the magnets or you get and other items.
Never use chemical eliminators as I did this and it cased my fish fins to become frayed all round the edges (I am now medicating with melafix to sort this out). The less chemicals you put in the better.
If you do get the snails you may have to put one algae wafer in a week at times that there isn't much algae in the tank. Snails are a great way to get rid of algae and become an extra pet for you in your tank
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April 29th, 2008 at 8:13 am
buy a algae eater
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April 29th, 2008 at 8:51 am
suggesting that people go out and buy a pleco to help their problems is outright dumb. most of the pleco species get relatively large (some near 2 feet), and all put out a ton of waste. this would require MORE water changes, and be counterproductive, since the algae that you are trying to get rid of is almost certainly at part due to overfeeding/water conditions to begin with.
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April 29th, 2008 at 9:05 am
There is a product "Flourish Excel." It is an organic carbon for plants. A side effect of using it is that it helps prevent certain types of algae from growing.
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April 29th, 2008 at 10:13 am
To keep algea growth in my aquarium under control I keep it in a place without direct sunlight. I also went out & bought a few different kinds of algea eating aquarium snails. They've been a great help & now my tank is almost algea free.
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