# How to eradicate Green Aquarium Algae.



## aaronnorth (11 Nov 2008)

I have just recieves this email from Aquatic Magic on how to eradicate green aquarium algae, i am sure many others have too so it would be interseting to see your views on this:

*Useful Tips on How to Eradicate Green Aquarium Algae*

One of the methods for keeping algae away from your aquarium plants is to use the easy estimating index procedure of adding a prescribed amount of nutrients to your tank without having to use any test kits. You have to keep adding the required nutrients on a regular basis so there is no shortfall and change the water every week to prevent saturation. Thus, you can effortlessly sustain a moderate level of nutrients even without having to use a test kit.

However, if you have no time to spare in order to change the water on a weekly basis, here is a simple, quick, effectual and unconventional way of getting rid of algae from your Java moss or any other aquarium moss or aquatic plants you might have.

All you need is bleach and water. Make a mixture of bleach and water in the ratio of 5 parts bleach to 95 parts water in a receptacle. Add the moss. Swirl it around a bit and wait for a couple of minutes. The algae will get bleached if it is of the soft variety. If it is the hardier one like Hair Algae or Black Brush Algae, they will pale in color and eventually die.

Remove the moss from the container and rinse it thoroughly to make sure no traces of bleach are left. Alternatively, you could treat the moss to a solution of anti-bleach in another receptacle. After following these steps you may as well consider your moss to be brand new.

Considering that your aquarium is rampant with algae, bleaching the java moss alone will not eradicate it. This procedure works best for outgrown receptacles you might have for nurturing baby fish. Normally we might add some aquarium moss like Java moss to the receptacle to absorb the surplus nutrients. By the time the young ones (called the fry) have matured, normally the moss would be stricken with algae again.

Dipping in bleach would make the moss usable again. Make sure you bleach the receptacle as well and keep the bleach out of reach of little children. It is poisonous in an undiluted state.

We hope you like this article as much as we did.


Cheers!
AquaticMagic
Grow Happiness
http://stores.ebay.com/AquaticMagic


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It is a great tecjnique providing it is ok to do


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## Goodygumdrops (11 Nov 2008)

Sorry if I'm being dumb here,but if we're talking about fry,is a bit of algae not a good thing?


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## aaronnorth (11 Nov 2008)

Goodygumdrops said:
			
		

> Sorry if I'm being dumb here,but if we're talking about fry,is a bit of algae not a good thing?



Yes, the infusoria (or other organisms) can feed of the algae which provides food.


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## Goodygumdrops (11 Nov 2008)

Typical,me being dumb and relatively smart all at once.Yes,it feeds fry,but then you can clean it off afterwards to put back in your main tank.Teach me to read properly before opening my big gob.


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## aaronnorth (11 Nov 2008)

Goodygumdrops said:
			
		

> Typical,me being dumb and relatively smart all at once.Yes,it feeds fry,but then you can clean it off afterwards to put back in your main tank.Teach me to read properly before opening my big gob.



I do it all the time


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## ceg4048 (11 Nov 2008)

Hey Aaron, what's so revolutionary about using bleach baths to clean algae? It's one of a couple of techniques and is certainly not the "greenest". Peroxide and Excel are also used and are more environmentally friendly. People have been using the 1:19 bleach to water mix for ages...

Cheers,


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## Goodygumdrops (11 Nov 2008)

I think for a quick fix on certain plants it would be ok,but it's not going to solve algae issues in a tank is it(I mean,the whole tank)?But for what they've mentioned,lots of people wouldn't know that,could that also be used to treat new plants before adding them to your tank?


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## ceg4048 (11 Nov 2008)

Well, from what I've seen bleach does about as much damage to the plant as it does to algae. Bleach weakens the plant making it more susceptible to algal attacks. If a leaf is in such bad shape that it requires a bleach dip then you'd be better of cutting it off because leaves rarely if ever recover from severe algal attacks and they just serve to feed more algae so this is counterproductive. I definitely would not bleach a new plant, that's for sure. Bleaching and then neutralizing hardscape, rocks, wood, glass and equipment is fine but that's about it. I totally agree that you have to fix your algae problem in the tank as a top priority though, otherwise no amount of bleach will solve it...

Cheers,


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## plantbrain (12 Nov 2008)

The first on line I saw using bleach dips for algae in FW planted tanks went to Dan quackenbush, about 1995-1996 or so.
I've looked for aquarium hobby references for algae control, but 1994 was it.

I know they used this same method for other things, particularly research to sterilize things, tissue culture and what not going back another 20-30 years at least.

Paul K. used it in the past back in the 1960's according to his accounts(he's still around too).

I just prune it it away and bump the CO2 up when I see it appear. I can also encourage growth by decreasing CO2 and not dosing.

Then repeat and get the same result several times.
It's not much of an issue really for me.
But in some foreground plants, it can be tough to get rid of.
Still, if you trim the foreground, not uproot, and trim it well, you should be able to get it and adjust CO2 so it will not come back.

If you do not have many transfers between tanks or get new plants coming into the tank, the dip methods are fairly effective, however, give some time before you think you have it licked..............likely you do not an dmiss something or got reinfected.

Most algae spores are/can be air bourn.

Regards, 
Tom Barr 

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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