Melaniew55
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2020
- Messages
- 23
Algae help
- Thread starter Melaniew55
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Leopardshark20
Aquarium Advice Regular
This is a problem I’ve deal with a lot with as a fishkeeper. I’ve tried a wide variety of solutions and I’ll share a few that have worked best.
- Limit the amount of light that the tank receives each day. Aim for about 10-12 hours each day, but definitely no more. A timer for your light really comes in handy here
- I’ve also noticed that natural light especially can cause algae outbreaks. If the tank is an area near a window where it receives a lot of natural light, consider moving it.
- Make sure not to over feed your fish; this can cause algae growth. You should only feed as much food as your fish can eat in 2-3 minutes.
- Another time-consuming but effective option is to manually remove the algae. You’ll have to be careful when dealing with plants, but you can use an unused toothbrush lightly scrape off the algae.
As for fish (and other aquatic life) that will help with controlling algae, you have a lot of options:
- For small aquariums (10-20 gallons), a school of 3-5 Corydoras are common in the hobby, but these fish will mostly scavenge for food scraps and won’t eat too much algae. Instead, I recommend going with a few gold mystery snails. Also consider other aquatic snails cherry shrimp, or Siamese algae eaters. Guppies, mollies, and other livebearers may peck at the algae as well.
- For larger aquariums (20 gallons and up), plecos are the go-to algae eater. They are relatively hardy, are easy to find in stores, and eat almost exclusively algae. Bristlenose plecos are especially good for this purpose and also come in albino and “super red” varieties. Also consider loaches, Siamese algae eaters, aquatic snails, and cherry shrimp.
I hope this helps! Please feel free to reply with any questions/comments.
- Limit the amount of light that the tank receives each day. Aim for about 10-12 hours each day, but definitely no more. A timer for your light really comes in handy here
- I’ve also noticed that natural light especially can cause algae outbreaks. If the tank is an area near a window where it receives a lot of natural light, consider moving it.
- Make sure not to over feed your fish; this can cause algae growth. You should only feed as much food as your fish can eat in 2-3 minutes.
- Another time-consuming but effective option is to manually remove the algae. You’ll have to be careful when dealing with plants, but you can use an unused toothbrush lightly scrape off the algae.
As for fish (and other aquatic life) that will help with controlling algae, you have a lot of options:
- For small aquariums (10-20 gallons), a school of 3-5 Corydoras are common in the hobby, but these fish will mostly scavenge for food scraps and won’t eat too much algae. Instead, I recommend going with a few gold mystery snails. Also consider other aquatic snails cherry shrimp, or Siamese algae eaters. Guppies, mollies, and other livebearers may peck at the algae as well.
- For larger aquariums (20 gallons and up), plecos are the go-to algae eater. They are relatively hardy, are easy to find in stores, and eat almost exclusively algae. Bristlenose plecos are especially good for this purpose and also come in albino and “super red” varieties. Also consider loaches, Siamese algae eaters, aquatic snails, and cherry shrimp.
I hope this helps! Please feel free to reply with any questions/comments.
nashihoude
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2021
- Messages
- 21
Check it if you have too much unwanted nutrient in the water or over feed, and it better to location your tank with direct sunlight, don't forget to set less lighting.
If you add some chemical to the fish tank, maybe it is the reason.
If the black algae can be wiped off, it means it is algae. If it can’t be wiped off, it means your aquarium light is too strong.
You can try the snails to remove black algae, hope can help you.
If you add some chemical to the fish tank, maybe it is the reason.
If the black algae can be wiped off, it means it is algae. If it can’t be wiped off, it means your aquarium light is too strong.
You can try the snails to remove black algae, hope can help you.
Caliban07
Aquarium Advice Addict
Some good advice so far….
Leaves with algae on them are no good anymore. They have become a growing site for algae because they lack the structure and growth patterns that prevent algae from taking a foothold. If a leaf has algae it’s because the plant has decided to discard that leaf in favour of new growth.
New plants will always do this. Plants will up-regulate or down regulate an enzyme called RuBisCO depending on the carbon dioxide availability. When the carbon dioxide levels fluctuate or change the plant will make new leaves with the concentration of this enzyme suited to extract whatever co2 is available.
Plants that have previously had access to aerial co2 levels and are then subsequently placed underwater will survive for a period of time dependent on the carbon stores. They last generally for about a week or two then they begin to shed older leaves. In this time they may have also used their carbon stores to generate new growth. The unsuspecting hobbyists fails to notice the new growth because the old growth begins to look tatty, dull and collects algae. They believe they are doing something wrong. You can never save these leaves. They are already decaying and decay releases ammonia and generates more algae. Better to remove the leaves.
If you put fertiliser in a tank with algae you will get more vibrant algae. The only way to rid the algae in a planted tank is to grow healthy plants.
If you don’t supplement co2. The best thing you can do is reduce the demand for co2 and the best way to do this is to reduce the intensity of the light. It is the intensity that drives co2 demand. Reducing the photoperiod without reducing the intensity will do little to help. It’s like whipping a horse that has no legs. Plants suffer from stress too.
Remove the worst affected leaves and reduce the light intensity. Then observe. Things take weeks to change in a no co2 tank and days in a co2 injected tank so patience is key.
Leaves with algae on them are no good anymore. They have become a growing site for algae because they lack the structure and growth patterns that prevent algae from taking a foothold. If a leaf has algae it’s because the plant has decided to discard that leaf in favour of new growth.
New plants will always do this. Plants will up-regulate or down regulate an enzyme called RuBisCO depending on the carbon dioxide availability. When the carbon dioxide levels fluctuate or change the plant will make new leaves with the concentration of this enzyme suited to extract whatever co2 is available.
Plants that have previously had access to aerial co2 levels and are then subsequently placed underwater will survive for a period of time dependent on the carbon stores. They last generally for about a week or two then they begin to shed older leaves. In this time they may have also used their carbon stores to generate new growth. The unsuspecting hobbyists fails to notice the new growth because the old growth begins to look tatty, dull and collects algae. They believe they are doing something wrong. You can never save these leaves. They are already decaying and decay releases ammonia and generates more algae. Better to remove the leaves.
If you put fertiliser in a tank with algae you will get more vibrant algae. The only way to rid the algae in a planted tank is to grow healthy plants.
If you don’t supplement co2. The best thing you can do is reduce the demand for co2 and the best way to do this is to reduce the intensity of the light. It is the intensity that drives co2 demand. Reducing the photoperiod without reducing the intensity will do little to help. It’s like whipping a horse that has no legs. Plants suffer from stress too.
Remove the worst affected leaves and reduce the light intensity. Then observe. Things take weeks to change in a no co2 tank and days in a co2 injected tank so patience is key.
