Products for getting rid of algae

[Oscar_Mania]

I get a lot of algae in my tanks and I was wondering if anyone has come across any good products for getting rid of it effectively. Right now I am using a sponge brush thing and I can't get it all off the glass very well. There's always stubborn stuff that clings on tight.

 

[daveedka]

As far as algecide products, I never used them, and most experienced hobbyist don't reccomend them.They are a temporary fix that can have some side effects. The algea will return, unless the cause is sought out and eliminated. As far as hard to reach algea, I have a stiff toothbrush glued to the handle end of my algea scraper, ther are very few places I can't reach with it.
Excessive Algea growth is usually an indication of an imbalance of some type in the tank. If it's a planted tank I'd post in the plant forum for some help, If it's unplanted, there are several fairly easy and inexpensive cures.

First of all in unplanted tanks, I always kept my tank as stripped of nutrients as possible, Granted ammonia will still feed algea, but without other nutrients growth is much slower.
Secondly, light. Cut your light down to a bare minimum time each day, and use bulbs that will show your fish colors well, but aren't necessarily good plant bulbs. the less light the less algea growth.

As far as a cheap quick fix, black out the tank for a few days (3 minimum, I like 4-5) completely block all light. Trash bags or posterboard are good for this. don't feed your fish during the blackout. you can do a water change mid blackout if you like, but immediatly black the tank out again. at the end of a good blackout algea will be gone. But remember this is only a temporary fix (as are algea killing products) and you will still have to find out the cause and eliminate it. If this is a fish only tank, there will always be some algea, but it can be controlled to a large extent. I may be speaking a little out of turn, but the only totally algea free tanks I have seen are planted. My FO tanks used to get blacked out about once every two months, and then a little scraping in between was enough to maintain it and keep things looking good.
HTH
Dave

 

[aquariumfishguy]

I must agree… products to remove all algae are a waste of time and money. You need to fix the root cause of the algae, and then there will be no need to worry about the symptoms.

 

[hermxl1]

I second that opinion. None of the algae products worked for me. What I learned is that the tap water I do my water changes with has phosphate in it, and this helps to feed the algae growth along with the ammonia. Controlling the nutrients is the only way to control the algae. When I had a bad case of algae bloom and brown algae I added some ( can't remember the exact name ) "Aqua Clear" by Mardell because it was supposed to help neutralize phosphate, and I did a tank blackout for 48 hours. After the blackout I did one more treatment of Aqua Clear and my water has been crystal clear every since.

Now after water changes I add a lil Aqua Clear to help with the nutrients but I still have to do a verry minor about of scraping in the same areas about once a month. (it just never stopsl)

 

[rich952]

A "friend" that was fish sitting for me said he cured my algae while I was gone. Bought some type of stuff and put it my tank. The bottle said it would get rid of algae but I think it was liquad fertilzer. I pulled long green strands of algae out of there until i had a 2 gallon bucket full. Don't use chemicals for algae control. Use light, other plants or grazers. This guy will not be sitting my tank again. Luckily I only lost one fish.

 

[Oscar_Mania]

Thanks for all the help folks.

 

[bayoupr]

Try cutting down on the amount of time your lights are on, also check the spectrum of your bulbs. A high red spectrum will cause algae to grow fast. A good option is to get a pleco for your tank.