What can I use in my aquarium to get rid of that unsightly green?

Question

I have tried almost everything that I know of and yet there is still green. Do you know of any good products or even home remedies to get rid of it? It is a freshwater tank with tropical fish.

Answer 1

Some algae is good for your tank, but certainly not green everywhere.

Here is more on algae and how to controll it.

There are a few ways to control algae. Also, monitor your lighting and excess food in the tank.

Algae are mostly-photosynthetic organisms that sometimes resemble plants but are not plants, having no true roots, stems or leaves. Algae grow in freshwater and saltwater. Saltwater algae are sometimes referred to as "seaweed." Like plants, algae require light and nutrients to grow. We supply plenty of both in our aquariums, with several hours of aquarium lighting a day and nutrients like nitrates and phosphates from fish waste.

Algae come in many forms. There are microscopic, one-celled algae, filamentous algae that resemble hair, algae that grow in sheets, and macroalgae that look like plants. There are even algae that live inside the outer integument ("skin") or calcium shell of some corals, anemones, and other sessile invertebrates called zooxanthellae. There are slimy-looking algae that are often not algae at all, but a colony of primitive photosynthetic organisms known as cyanobacteria. There are also very hard-to-remove little dots of green that sometimes grow on aquarium panels which also are not algae, but diatom or radiolarian colonies (microscopic, one-celled, animals with hard shells) with algae incorporated in their matrix. With all that said, let us answer some common questions right up front:

Algae growth is inevitable in an aquarium.
Algae consume nutrients in the aquarium that if allowed to accumulate, are harmful to fish. Algae can be a good thing.
The presence of green algae in an aquarium indicates a healthy environment for fish.
There is absolutely no way to completely prevent algae from growing in an aquarium, without killing the other life in the tank.
Chemicals should never be used to control the growth of true algae in an aquarium, and should only be used in rare circumstances to control cyanobacteria.
Correcting a severe algae problem requires time and patience.
Natural methods of controlling algae are the best and most effective.

Algae removal from the tank panels can be done on an as-needed basis, but no more than once a week. Removing algae involves either correcting negative water conditions to control or slow excessive algae growth, or an age-old process known as "elbow grease" (scrubbing it off!). Algae removal in an aquarium should be done only when necessary. We have seen many aquariums where daily removal of algae resulted in fish that were so stressed, most had diseases and were dying. You should never remove all of the algae from your tank. Allowing some algae to grow in the aquarium can be beneficial to the aquatic environment.

When algae is removed from aquarium side panels, care should be taken to select an algae scrubber that will not hurt the finish of an aquarium. Be careful not to get gravel caught in an algae scrubbing pad where it can scratch the aquarium. Never use household cleaning pads to remove algae. They contain fungicides that kill fish.

First, test the water you are filling up your tank with. Many public water supplies (our homes) have a concentration of nitrates at around 7ppm or higher. (Bottled water is no better).
This could be the start of your problem.
Be sure your tank is not within direct or indirect lighting such as a window or in a room where the lights are on constantly. Is you tank near a heat source. Sometimes we do not take into consideration a fishtank is near a heat register which can and does add additional temperature changes to your tank.

be sure to clean the filter as well? Be sure the entire filter is cleaned and free of algae.

Use a razor or scraper and gently scrape all sides of your tank. Clean your gravel and return it to the tank as well.

If you have a stick on thermometer, get yourself a floating one. The stick on thermometers pick up ambient air temperatures from OUTSIDE the tank and can be up to 10 degrees off. DON"T trust them.

You can also purchase phosphorus pads for around $2.00 at your local pet store. These can be cut to fit with your filter and remove large amounts of phosphorus. These can be reused over and over just remember to rinse them out well when you clean your tank.

Test your water. You will want to scrape the sides of the tank and do a water change no more than 20% every other day. This should only be done if the algae returns in a heavy form.

If you need any more help, you can im or email me.

Answer 2

First you should determine what the "green" is. In many cases it will be algae, in other, it could be cyanobacteria (see photo: http://www.aquamax.de/Shop/Artikelbilder/Zusatzbilder/Algen%20im%20Aquarium_Blaualgen%20-%20Cyanobacteria_STUG_cyano1.jpg). This looks like algae, but is usually a brighter green. Some references call it "blue green algae", but it is a bacteria, not an algae at all.

In both cases, a good place to start is by removing as much of the stuff as you can - clean ornaments and plastic plants in hot water with a little bleach added (be sure to rinse them well before putting them back in the tank). If you have trouble getting into tight areas, you can use an old toothbrush. Use a gravel vacuum to siphon away pieces as you scrape the glass. Do a 30% water change every week to remove nutrients (fish wastes, nitrates, phosphates) that have built up in the water. Adding live plants will remove some nutrients, but this only works if you choose plants that will grow with the type of lighting you have.

If what you have is algae, reduce the light it gets for photosynthesis - this can mean putting the tank out of direct sunlight and turning off the aquarium lights (or having them on for a shorter time each day). Some fish and invertebrates will eat some types of algae, but they may not eat all of it, or all types. There are chemicals that you can use to kill the algae, but these should be used only after trying natural methods of control first.

If what you have is cyanobacteria, no fish or inverts will help that much. Neither will reducing the light. Live plants and water changes are the way to go. If you MUST resort to using chemicals, algae remedies won't work. Instead, you'll need to use an antibiotic - erythromycin is usually effective, but this will kill al the beneficial bacteria in your tank as well. Your tank will need to be cycled again, you'll be likely to have cloudy water for a few weeks to a month or more, and you'll need to keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite levels so they don't overcome your fish.

Answer 3

Change your water more often,

check your tap water for high nitrate and phosphate levels, if they are high, use RO water or bottled water.

limit the total # of hours your lights are on per day... start with 8 & scale back as algae grows.

Change the color of lighting to a less plant friendly one.

All green algae is edible (except for cyanobacteria, which is blue-green). You can get a cleaner fish to suck it up. Ottocinclus is very good for this.

More drastic results are using a product called algone. Its a bunch of crap that creates slime in the water & makes algae stick to the filter. It also increases redox potential of the water.

Most drastic step would be purchasing a diatom filter. Not really necessary though.

Answer 4

Good old scrubbing. Get a magnet-type scrubber for the walls of the tank, and take out the plants and decorations every month or so and scrub them with a toothbrush (keep one specifically for this) under running water. Don't use any kind of soap! Just scrubbing and water.

Answer 5

Green = algae

get some Pleco's, they eat algae, or some other type of algae eating fish.

Answer 6

A decent filter, and algal feeders. Mollies will do the job, and a fish that used to be called Plecostomus plecostomus.

Answer 7

Water changes.

It sounds like algae.

Answer 8

try a pleco or algae eater or a butterfly loatch it always works for me its good for your fish so maybe scrape it of with a racer.it is called algae

Answer 9

Try a couple of plecostamus'. AKA "Algae Eaters"

Answer 10

try getting a sucker fish(thats wht i call them i dont know their real name) but they clean the tank of alge and stuff like that.