Post #61269 by Lake Surfer on Thu, Nov 20, 2003 10:43 PM

Algae problems? What kind of fish? Fresh or salt? How much are you feeding them? What is your tank water source?

Algae is a plant that feeds off of nutrients like phosphates in your water or uneaten food settled on the bottom or even a lot of light in the tank. Is your tank in direct sunlight? If you have a hood light how long do you leave it on? Longer exposure to light will grow algae in water... reduce the time light shines on the water. Large algae blooms come from an unbalance in your aquarium environment... mainly the water. What kind of filter are you using on the tank. As soon as I have a great increase of algae I check or change the filter cartridges... charcoal filters help clarify the water...

I've never really believed much in the liquid algae removers... there are also freshwater fish that eat algae... like plecos, but they sometimes have problems keeping up with tank algae and prefer leaf lettuce anyhow...

The surefire way to keep algae in check is frequent water changes and a good filter. Make sure your water has low phosphates and if you're using tap make sure you dechlorinate... I have been using refillable water from the grocery store for the last 6 years for my reef... it has been run through reverse osmosis... distilled water is good too... watch spring water, I have had problems with phosphates in it sometimes...

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2003-11-20 22:50 ]