Saltwater Aquarium Guide -- Algae Nuisance and Control

Algae Nuisance and Control (page 2)

8. Add herbivorous livestock (turbo snails, small hermit crabs, hard star fish, and algae-eating fish such as yellow tangs, blennies, angels, etc.) to the aquarium.

This will ensure that your aquarium will not be overtaken by algae that would cover livestock and organisms (such coralline algae) which depend on water flow and light. The importance of following all of the previous recommendations will ensure that the undesirable algae will not have the conditions it needs to survive, and undesirable algae is the scourge of any aquarium hobbyist.

While there are a few other contributors to algae growth it takes an abundance of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the forms of Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and Phosphates along with light to promote the growth. These are the main contributors that build up due to feeding and waste reduction cycles.

You could go on a nonstop campaign to change massive amounts of water, using top quality RO/DI, reduce feeding and cut back on lighting. This would work but would be very stressful on the corals and other livestock. Best approach is to insure that your water is pure, watch feeding and manually remove as much algae as you can. As the input is balanced with the export, either by more detrivores and supporting fauna, more desirable algae cultivation and more aggressive skimming, it will balance out and the unwanted algae will diminish.

Why don't you see an algae problem in Reef Shops?

Don't be fooled when you go into an reef store and notice that their aquariums have no visible algae, it will grow and will have to be removed by hand on a regular basis. The fact is that every morning the tanks are cleaned and maintained, giving the impression that the store knows something about water quality that everyone else doesn't. All they are doing is daily maintenance, in addition to the procedures stated above.

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