Green Carpet Algae Saltwater Aquarium

For a fish only tank this matting will be simply ugly but in the reef tank it can smother and kill live corals.

Green carpet algae saltwater aquarium.

Cyanobacteria formerly called blue green algae are not really algae but are a phylum of photosynthetic bacteria that live in moist soils and water. These algae form thick hair like mats that can carpet your aquarium. Combining them with a kole tang covers more algae you will face in a saltwater tank. Starve it into oblivion.

It only becomes a problem when the algae is allowed to grow out of control and cover everything in the tank. Phosphates po4 and nitrates no3 are primary nutrient food sources for red and other slime algae. It is also one of the most the hardy herbivores you can purchase for a saltwater aquarium. Once green hair alga has a foothold in a saltwater aquarium it can soon cover everything in your tank if prompt measures are not taken.

They are coarse wiry and generally have thicker wider blades than green hair algae. In fact it shows that an aquarium is well balanced and healthy and the cultivation of macroalgae forms is actually beneficial. The species structures can be unicellular to filamentous and some species are colonial. Hair algae are less desirable.

In this article we will try to answer all that questions and give some information about hair algae. Common in freshwater aquariums a small amount of green spot algae in your tank is normal and expected but an overgrowth should be prevented or treated. The cure for green hair algae is the same as the prevention. If what you see in your saltwater aquarium is a green feathery looking mass it is probably green hair algae.

The appearance and growth of algae in an aquarium is not bad it s just the natural order of things. Emerald crabs and lawnmower blennies are two animals with a taste for green hair algae. They will chew up any hair algae in the aquarium and will happily eat most macro algae. The foxface is an amazing algae eater in saltwater aquariums.

As its name suggests green spot algae first appears as tiny green spots on pretty much any surface in your tank decorations plants glass etc. You have this beautiful fish tank with nice aquarium plants and so on and then suddenly everything turns into a green carpet like surface. When disturbed it comes off in sheets. They can help they are.

If your local fish store doesn t have a nice selection of marine iguanas that was a joke another option to help get the green hair algae under control is to add some livestock that will eat it. It can grow quickly and can cover the substrate in the aquarium. What is that or what is the cause of that and how can you get rid of it.