Create A Tropical Fish Aquarium With Katy's Tropical Fish - A Complete Guide

Welcome To My Newsletter Series. In this newsletter letter series I will provide you with information about keeping tropical fish. The information contained in the newsletter comes from my passed experiences while working with fish, conversations I've had with friends and other tropical fish lovers, as well as knowledge I gain while researching material to write the book. So as you can see that the content comes from a number of sources, which I think make for a well rounded newsletter series.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to your friends who maybe interested in tropical fish keeping as well.

CONTROLLING ALGAE

Algae grow in all fish tanks. Regardless of how well you keep the fish space clean, you will still experience algae. Unfortunately, when it comes to removing algae, there is no way to eliminate it completely even with constant cleaning. Once algae begins to grow, it will spread quickly. For instance, a small spot can easily triple in size within three to four days.

Keep in mind that there are many different types of algae. In fact, some organisms look like algae. If your fish tank were healthy, then the algae would be green. If algae were left alone, it would soon begin to grow into a hairy look. Now, if you notice brown or red algae, the problem would likely have to do with poor water quality. You will see red and brown in saltwater tanks more often than freshwater tanks. Green spots growing on the sides of the aquarium are actually diatoms, which are microscopic animals that secrete a hard calcium shell on which the green algae grows. Of all algae, this is the most challenging to remove.

Sometimes, a fish aquarium will also develop cyanobacteria, which is slimy stuff that grows a lot faster than algae. The colors could be green, red, black, or blue. However, cyanobacteria is hard to remove and even harder to control. What happens is that this thrives in tanks with good lighting and high levels of phosphate. To control cyanobacteria, you would need to clean the tank completely, lower the amount of light being used, and control the phosphate levels.

Keep in mind that algae are not dirt but a plant-like form of life. The green and brown algae is considered natural and normal, something that grows in all tanks. To live, algae needs light, water, and nutrients. Obviously, the fish tank will have water so you have to things that can be used to control the growth of algae – lighting and nutrients. First, lighting is the most important consideration when it comes to algae. Keep the tank away from a window so it is not receiving any direct sunlight. Then, instead of leaving the light on all the time, leave it on for a maximum of eight hours a day.

Then for the nutrients, algae use it to grow and survive. For this, the nutrients involve phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium. All of these nutrients come from uneaten food, fish waste, metabolism of good bacteria, and then the decay of plant debris or dead algae. Even tap water has a high level of phosphorus. Therefore, trying to maintain quality water to control algae is key. However, controlling nitrogen is one of the most important things. Therefore, remember the importance of water changes and testing the water on a regular basis.

To prevent the growth of algae, you have a number of options to include those listed below:

  • Do not overfeed the fish
  • If a fish dies, remove it immediately
  • Keep several pieces of rock that have never been cleaned
  • When using decorative coral, bleach the coral first
  • Add an external canister filter
  • Use an ultraviolet sterilizer
I hope you enjoyed this article and look forward to the next article which looks at Fish Behavior.

Until next time...

Katy
www.kingdomofpets.com/tropicalfish

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Katy's Tropical Fish - A Complete Guide To Tropical Fish Keeping