Imagine one day you wake up to see that the water in your tank has turned green. Wouldn’t it be scary? If you wonder what it is, the answer is an algae bloom.
Algae are one of the notorious microorganisms that can cause havoc in an aquarium. They are plant-like microorganisms that perform photosynthesis to survive. It means they use light to convert nutrients into energy for sustaining. However, they are not true plants and can be single-celled or large and visible.
Experienced aquarists often encounter this issue and know how to deal with it as well. However, in this article, we will tell you what steps you can do immediately to halt algae growth and then gradually remove them from the tank.
What are Green Water Algae?
Different types of algae can infest the tank’s water, and among them, dealing with green water algae is the most difficult. Their cellular formation is the reason behind it. Green algae are single-celled phytoplankton. They float freely in the water. What makes them hard to deal with is their ability to replicate extremely quickly.
Since it is free-floating algae, it doesn’t stick and grow on the glass or aquarium décor items. Instead, it just floats in the water column, turning the entire water green. Green algae don’t even grow on the surfaces. In addition, they replicate so quickly that you might see the entire tank’s water turning green in just a few days. As a result, taking immediate steps to stop their growth is essential.
What causes green algae?
There are many factors that contribute to the growth and proliferation of green algae in an aquarium, and some of them are as follows-
- Excessive nutrients
- High level of ammonia
- High sunlight
When these three components– nutrients, ammonia, and sunlight are present in excess, they create an environment that is feasible for green algae proliferation. And, it leads to an algae bloom.
Immediate steps to halt green algae growth in an aquarium
Since the speed with which green algae grow is rapid, performing a weekly or partial water change could make only a little difference. However, it will still be a good start. Once you have changed the water, the next step will be to employ different strategies to halt the algae growth further.
Below are some effective measures that you can take to stop algae growth immediately-
- Create complete darkness
As we already know that green algae rely on sunlight for their growth, blacking out the tank will help considerably. It means you need to cover all the sides of the tank with paper, cardboard, or anything else. A simple newspaper will also do the needful. Cover the top and the sides of the tank properly.
In this way, the natural sunlight will not be able to enter the tank. A whole coverage will block the sunrays completely. Doing this for at least three days will halt the replication of green algae further. It may help you get rid of green water to a great extent.
While most of the algae will die and won’t reproduce in the absence of light, the stubborn ones may still bother you. For them, you may need to block the light for around a week. It will curb the algae bloom 100%.
While this method is effective for removing algae, the plants and fish in the tank may also suffer. Blacking out is an extreme method that you can adopt for the immediate halt of green algae bloom in your aquarium. It is good when you want an instant result.
- Introduce algae eaters
There are different species of fish that love to feed on green algae. Besides, there are other water organisms as well, such as crabs, snails, sea urchins, etc, that eat this type of algae. Introducing them in your algae infested tank will help in reducing their quantity to a great extent. However, this won’t give a permanent solution because eating all the free-floating algae is not possible. In the meantime, they will start replicating and again increase in quantity.
Therefore, employing algae eating fish and organisms along with other methods will be the best. It will ensure that you will get rid of green water in your tank.
- Install an ultraviolet stabilizer
A UV stabilizer is one of the most effective ways of killing green algae. Even though algae require sunlight to grow, a UV stabilizer can kill them. Interesting, right?
It happens because the powerful ultra violet radiations pierce the outer layer of algae, breaking down their chemical bonds. As a result, they become unable to reproduce and replicate. Their quantity starts reducing, and eventually they disappear from the tank.
Installing a high-quality UV stabilizer in the tank ensures that your aquarium will always stay free from algae bloom. Using it in a tank that already has algae will kill them and provide long-lasting protection as well.
Even though a UV stabilizer may cost a lot, the protection it provides makes it one of the most effective for aquariums.
- Employing algae inhibitors
Algae inhibitors are potent chemicals that inhibit the growth of algae. However, the only downside to these chemicals is that they do not kill the algae that are already present in the tank. Instead, they just prevent them from growing further.
So, if there are little algae in your tank that your algae eating fish will manage, using an algae inhibitor will be useful.
There is one more downside of algae inhibitor– it may pose certain risks to the fish and plants inside the tank. It is the reason why using an algae inhibitor is considered the last resort to stop algae bloom.
- Replace the aquarium water filter
One of the common reasons for algae bloom is the presence of an outdated or improperly working filter. The function of an aquarium filter is to clean and circulate the water so that it stays clean, fit, and healthy for fish and other lives in the tank.
A filtration unit performs three types of filtrations–
- Mechanical filtration in which most of the solid debris, like uneaten food particles, fish excreta, plant matter, etc., is filtered out.
- Biological filtration that consists of beneficial bacteria that help in breaking down the harmful toxins present in the water like ammonia, is converted into nitrite and nitrate.
- Chemical filtration helps in getting rid of dissolved impurities in the tank. It involves the use of activated charcoal or carbon for this purpose.
If any of these filtration stops working, the water balance gets disturbed. As a result, the first thing that you will encounter is the development of different types of algae, resulting in an algae bloom within a few days.
If you are experiencing this, it could be because your filter is not working properly, and it’s time to either replace or maintain it. As the water filtration stops, abundant of harmful microbes develop and ammonia doesn’t convert into nitrite. It creates a playground for algae to grow, develop, and bloom.
Therefore, make sure that your water filtration is working right and its all three filters are working properly. Once it starts functioning well, everything that algae require to grow will vanish, creating healthy and well-balanced water.
Final words
A green water tank is a sore to the eyes of aquarists. Therefore, fixing the issue before it gets bigger is essential. You need to take essential measures on time to make sure the water stays clean and free of algae. While a properly functioning filter is enough to eradicate the growth of algae, employing other measures also helps considerably.
Always have at least one or two algae-eating fish or aquatic organisms in your tank. It will eat the problem before it spreads. If the budget allows, use an ultraviolet stabilizer to curb the issue. If the problem is too intense, a complete black out will definitely resolve the problem in a week.
So, make your choice according to the intensity of algae bloom and enjoy a well-maintained, healthy water ecosystem in your space.
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