Get Rid of that Algae Problem

There's nothing worse than having a beautfiul 125 gallon saltwater aquarium and you cannot see in it because it's overgrown with algae. Sure, they sell medication to put inside the tank, but it will kill hermit crabs, snails, coral and invertebrates. It also costs at least $30.00 and it doesn't work very well. If you have an algae problem you need to keep working at it until it's gone.

You need to take a look at the supplements you are adding to the water. If you have coral and other mushrooms you are probably adding trace elements, calcium, iodine and strontium. These supplements do not aid in unwanted alge growth. Some of these supplements actually keep the algae away by lowering certain levels of nitrates in the water.

You will need to buy a bottle of phosphate control and add drops into the water to lower the levels down. You will need to clean the tank at least once every two weeks. Make sure to move all the decorations or rock and clean the rock underneathe it. Clean the glass with a magnet or use a scraper to get rid of the algae. Clean off all decorations and the inside of the filer on a regular basis. The most common cause of algae is not cleaning the inside of the filter and the rock good enough.

If you have hair algae which looks like green hair hanging off of your rock, you buy medication to eliminate the hair algae but you may need to remove all of your coral, mushrooms and invertebrates unless you want them to die. It's very difficult to get rid of hair algae. You will need to drain some of the water enough for each individual rock to fit into a bucket filled with the tanks water. Pull all of the hair algae off the best that you can. Do not pour the water back into the tank because one strand of green hair algae with spread very quickly. The goal is to slowly by slowly get rid of the algae and green hair algae.

You will also want to buy fish which clean the algae. You can also buy snails and hermit crabs if you have a saltwater tank. Algae eaters work great for freshwater tanks. Make sure to scrub the decorations to remove algae from them. If the decorations do not come clean you could boil them in water if they will hold together during this process.