11 Tips for Aquarium Algae Control without Chemicals
Aquarium algae control is a problem for almost everyone who has a fish tank. Algae is a single cell plant organism exist in almost all water sources. It is hard to eradicate. A single algae cell will multiply quickly if the condition is right.
To do well in aquarium algae control, we must first understand how they grow.
Algae is a plant. Like all plants, algae need water, nutrients, and adequate lighting to survive. The primary nutrients the algae require to grow is nitrogen compound such as nitrate and ammonia. Also, it needs phosphate and trace minerals.
If we can eliminate or reduce one or more needs of the algae, then we can certainly keep algae under control in an aquarium.
The following is a list of the things we can do to for aquarium algae control.
- Limit the Light Exposure to the Fish Tank
Fish do not require lights to survive. Algae do.
Like all plant-based life forms, algae must have long time exposure to the lights to produce their food source through photosynthesis.
By reducing the time of light exposure, algae will starve and thus take a hit on their ability to multiply.
To limit the light exposure, we can do the following.
First, we must not place the fish tank near a window, or anywhere it can get direct sunlight and daylight.
Second, it is the best to find the darkest corner of your home for the aquarium.
Third, get an automatic timer for the aquarium lights. Set it to turn on the lights for no more than 8~10 hours each day. The shorter, the better.
When you already have an algae problem, you might want to keep the aquarium lights off for an extended period. No side effect to the fish. Plenty of hurt to the algae.
- Reduce feeding the fish
Fish food will convert to ammonia one way or another. Leftover fish food will rot in the fish tank to produce excessive ammonia and phosphate. The fish food swallowed by fish will also create the same thing after fish digest and poop it out.
Therefore, less fish food means less ammonia and phosphate in the fish tank water.
Sounds easy, right? Not so fast. Majority of the fish hobbyists are overfeeding their fish. You only need to feed the fish once a day, with no more food than they can finish in a minute or less. Remove all excessive fish food you can still see at the end of each feeding. Reduce the quantity the next feeding to make sure there will be no more leftover by the end of one minute.
If algae problem is already presence, you might want to skip feeding for a day or two, or even three. Once again, it won’t hurt the fish at all.
- Get a premium fish food
Not all fish food is the same. Some fish food has plenty of useless ingredients in there as filler. Switching to a premium fish food will reduce fish poop because it has less filler. As a result, less pollution in the fish tank.
Also, getting a premium fish food will also benefit the fish health and colors greatly.
- Reduce the number of fish
Fish produce ammonia. More fish in the tank means more ammonia produced. As a result, heavily stocked fish tanks are more easily to get the algae problem than lightly stocked fish tanks.
We recommend not to overstock your fish tank. If you already have too many fish, reduce the number of fish will improve water quality. It will limit the algae growth.
- More frequent partial water changes
Aquarium nitrogen cycle converts ammonia to nitrate on a constant basis. As a result, nitrate builds up continuously in a well-established aquarium. If you do not do partial water changes for a long time, the nitrate concentration will become too high. You would be asking for algae.
Doing partial water change will remove a lot of the nitrate every time. A partial water change can also directly reduce the algae spores in the aquarium water. We recommend weekly partial water change of 30~50% as a standard procedure of aquarium maintenance.
When you have an algae problem, you may increase both the frequency and the percentage of water change. You may change up to 70% of the water for each water change. And you can do it once a day, several days in a row just to massively reduce the nitrate concentration along with the phosphate present in the water.
- Physically remove algae
We just mentioned partial water change. It could reduce the free-floating algae in the water. However, it is not enough. Many species of algae will grow on the surface area in the fish tank. We can see the side of fish tank turn green. Same goes for the decoration. Sometimes there is hair like string algae attached to objects inside the fish tank.
In this case, just pull out the “hair” algae by hands. No need to be polite. It is the quickest way to remove string algae from a fish tank.
Scrap off the surface algae from the side of the fish tank by using an algae scraper. You may also take out decorations to wash them under the tap. It can be done during every aquarium maintenance as a part of the routine.
- Time the lights to switch off in the middle of the day
As a low life form, some species of algae might have a hard time to switch photosynthesis on and off quickly. We can take advantage of it by switch the aquarium lights on and off multiple times a day. For example, if you may turn the lights on at 8 am, then turn it off at noon for one hour, then turn it on for four more hours before turn it off. Once again, an automatic timer can come in handy. Plants will not be affected.
- Increase the water circulation
Algae has free floating spores everywhere in the water. The algae species that grow on the surface area of objects will have an easier time to settle down in still water. If your aquarium has good water circulation throughout the tank, it will be harder for the algae to grow on the surface.
Strong aquarium filters provide good water flow.
You may also increase the water flow in the fish tank by adjusting the position of your filter system. Or add a powerhead.
- Increase aeration
Algae need CO2 for photosynthesis. Increase the aeration to increase the oxygen level in the water will deplete the CO2 for algae growth.
The fastest aeration in a fish tank comes from surface water movement. We can increase surface water movement by adding an air stone or two. You will need an air pump for it to work.
This method only makes sense if you do not have aquatic plants.
- Get some natural algae eaters for aquarium algae control
Algae eater is a broad name. There are many species of fish will more or less eat some algae. Do not fall for the name “algae eater,” since they might not even be the right species for the job. The real top algae eating fish are Otocinclus catfish, Twig catfish, Siamese algae eater, Bristlenose Plecos, Mollies.
Make sure you get the right fish for your aquarium. Some of them such as Pleco can be very big when fully grown. Otocinclus catfish require a school of at least 6 or more to do well. Or they will become very shy and hide all the time.
Other than fish, many species of aquarium shrimp and snail are great at eating algae as well. Amongst freshwater shrimp, the best algae eater is Amano shrimp. Some smaller shrimp species such as red cherry shrimp, crystal red shrimp, will also chew on algae for food.
Amongst the algae eating snails, my favorite is Zebra Nerite Snail. They are not only good at eating algae, but they are also an excellent addition to any freshwater aquarium for their appearance. They even will never breed in freshwater. So there is no possibility of overpopulation.
Ramshorn snails are also great for eating algae. You might like their appearance too since their flesh is reddish.
Do not 100% count on algae eaters for aquarium algae control in your fish tank. They will help significantly, but not eliminate the problem if you do not do the other things to keep algae in check.
- Get live aquatic plants
Live plants will go after the same nutrients required by the algae. As a higher life form, live plants will outcompete algae if you provide them with what they need. Adequate lighting, and CO2. Most aquatic plants require more intense lighting than algae need. Provide high wattage lights will help the plants. The co2 injection will also make a huge difference in letting the plants win.
One more thing,
No chemical algae remover, please!
Keep in mind that we do not recommend to use any chemical product for algae control in a fish tank. Anything that is not natural might be harmful to the fish and kill the aquatic plants. Combat the problem naturally is the best way to win the war on algae without any casualty.
There is no single solution to the algae problem. We can never hope to completely eradicate the algae since they exist even in the tap water. However, we can keep it at bay if we starve it out by reducing what it needs, introducing natural predators and competitors.
Good luck with the aquarium algae control!