I've learned pretty quickly that white gravel for fish is like white carpet for kids... no matter what you, there will be stains

1: Manual removal 2: No direct sunlight 3: Reduce photo period 4: Reduce light intensity 5: Replace fluorescent bulbs before they start to burn out 6: Blackout 7: Clean up crew(Snails, Shrimps, Crabs) 8: Fish(that reduce algea in your aquarium) 9: Do not overfeed your fish 10: Reduce phosphates/nitrates and silicates

Great info Thomas! Thanks for sharing. For me, having liquid rock, limiting photo-period especially in medium to high lighting tanks, and keeping lots of inverts keeps me algae free.

I found this very helpful, I have live plants in my tank and had a problem even with having snails. I didnt want to do the lighting changes because of my plants. I reduced my feeding, and got otocinclus catfish to eat the algae off my plants. Im also doing more frequent water changes and more tank maintenance then before (30gal). I think it was an imbalance in my water from feeding and overall quality of the water. Ive done extensive research being a new keeper to the hobby. Thank you :)

YES. Very important topic! Thanks for explaining it in such a fun and easy way.

This was a very good clip overall! I have been in the Aquarium Hobby along time, and when I thought, "What about that?," he then answered it.

Thank you for sharing! 😊 love your vids, super informational & fun too!

Three days ago my front lawn and backyard had green grass, frozen it was, but it was green. Now I'm up to my eyeballs in white thanks to that horrid winter storm on Saturday, so I'm going to buck the trend and say to algae, bring it on. I will welcome that green stuff. I'll get rid of it when spring arrives. Actually, I'v had my nano tank up and running for over a year and haven't had any algae yet thanks to a lot of scraping on my part. Heard of tennis elbow, now there might be algae wrist! Great vid. Lot's of wonderful info.

really enjoying your video's, very entertaining! thanks for the great tips!

for planted tanks, if i see hairy algae I reduce fertz and feeding. If i see green/brown "dusty" algae I turn down light period a bit and raise my lights from the tank a bit and add more fertz and/or co2 and try to boost my plants growths with minimal lighting

Love the T-Shirt you wear in this video. Captivating, energetic, helpful and informative you are. So new here to the live planted tank hobby. My first thought was a tiny bit of green hair algae on rocks and rear glass of my tank was actually kind of attractive looking. Tho as I have recently have increased lightning and beginning to supplement cO2. I now get what the all the fuss about algae is really about. Before I wanted to try to strike a balance between having a little bit of algae on the rocks and rear glass while keeping the plants healthy and water clear. But I am now beginning to feel convinced maybe my idea is pretty dumb or at least not a good idea. Today I will definitely be reducing my photo period by half to around 7 hours instead of 12

I have wild bladder snails that grow in a little watering hole in my front yard.in summer months they have massive blooms with I take full advantage of.

Fantastic video as always very helpful. One question, I have green hair algae and the tank is still very young 3 months. You mentioned cleaning the gravel. I have a 1 1/2 inch sand bed and everywhere I read it says don’t disturb it. To add to this issue I also have nassarius snails helping to turn over the sand. I don’t want to clean the sand and disturb them. I think my next plan will be to get an Emerald Crab and see how they get on. Thoughts?

just had an algae bloom in my aquarium

Great suggestions. I'm off to make some adjustments!

Ha dude great info there . In the middle of scraping my first planted tank . Doing lots of research and planted tanks seen to be hit or miss . Can you give me any tips on what things most important when setting up to make sure of a good start please . Great channel 👍

Omg I needed this so much thanks

Great video! My tanks are good for algae but my pond is another issue haha!

Great info man.

I don't have an aquarium but want one. My wife took care her boss' and she hated cleaning algae so she thinks she'll have to do it again. Now Im armed with some great info!

Once again you have excellent advice for us. Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed watching!

Also having lots of aquarium plants helps, competes with the nutrients algae needs

I don't know what kind of algae I have but I have to say I like it. The back and one side wall of two 5 gallons tanks that I have are covered with beautiful thick green carpet of green. The water is extremely clear the fish seem happy. My 90g is another storey, relentless green water as I continue with frequent large water changes. I see a UV lamp in the near future. thanks for the tips

can you do a video of macroalgae in a (planted saltwater tank ) thinking about this a a option for my 36 gallon bow front with green spotted puffer ?

Great vid. I was wondering if you could do one on Brown Algae (Diaton). Keep having a great time making these vids.

Hi big Al’s, do you know how I can get rid of diatom algae in my nano saltwater tank? It keeps coming back. I use RO water to top off and pre mixed saltwater from big Al’s to do my water changes. Thanks

Hi Thomas! are there any corals that don't require much light at all please?? 😀👍

I think it’s also important to understand the algae isn’t necessarily bad, I only clean the glass on the front of my tank and usually let the rest grow, a lot of fish and shrimp love it. I will also run two types of lights, one that has a spectrum that’s good for the plants and one just for looking at stuff that is not going to add a lot of bright light that’s going to affect it as much. I also like to add desirable algae like real Marimo moss balls and things that live off of the same nutrients that will suck those out of the water a little bit and compete with the algae. Once you figure it out, dosing with H2O2 (peroxide) isn’t all that hard either.

Great tips

hi thomas great vid as usual. ive ordered a green killing machine even tho i have no algae. will it stop the algae from forming and should i have it on 24/7. cheers .

Great Video Al.....

Hey Thomas, my plant leaves were starting to turn yellow so i started adding flourish. When i did, it seemed to help the algea grow more than anything. Any tips?

The only thing that caught my attention besides Thomas, is the board with the pictures of snakes behind him. This man is simply amazing!!!! :D

I just added pond snails. I know from experience that they multiply quickly. If I get too many I just put some of them in my two Black Convict tanks...munch, munch.

My tanks are in a sun room - I have one tank planted bamboo and 2 nerites, a rubberlip, some corys and an Oto- I overfeed my Buenos Aires Tetras to keep them from destroying the bamboo, but I still need to add algae wafers. The Oto is the workhorse - he non-stop eats eats eats. The rubberlip and oto were what turned my tide against the green after chemicals, phosguard media, scrappers, etc. Chem Free now!

A year ago, I had a really annoying brown algae problem. I accidentally introduced rams horn snails to the tank and wasn’t aware how terrible they were since they wiped out all the algae in the tank. Unfortunately, they ended up over breeding and crashed my tank and became another headache. The fix for the rams horn snails was adding 6 assassin snails. This wiped out the rams horn snails (about 500+) in about two weeks. Follow the advice of not over feeding the fish and definitely put shrimp (ghost shrimp), corydons, and a bristlenose pleco (6 inches max) to you tank. I don’t EVER clean algae in my tank. I even have to add algae wafers, moss balls, and an occasional zucchini in the tank just to give the pleco and the shrimp some more greens else to much on.

Awesome! I’ll have to turn my light down. Now, can you do a video on canister filter cleaning/maintenance? I am using the exact same one Thomas recommended in the how to build a salt water tank series. Which reminds me, Thomas wants me to submit a video for the react series. Where so I submit that at?

Mr .i Like your Tips .about the sun shine and algy

I bought a pleco to deal with my algae in my 75 gallon fresh tank. He did such a good job, he ran out of food, so... I had to buy algae wafers to feed him. Kinda backfired on me, huh?

Great tips thnx🤓👍🐟🐠

A new ornament got put in the tank suddenly it was growing black hair algae, I took it out of the tank & put it in another tank that contains a Chinese algae eater after a few days the black hair algae was gone and I placed it back into it the original tank. A few days later I was harvesting some plants out of the tank that had black hair algae and put one in the tank with the Chinese algae eater... To my surprise he was not interested however the platys and swordtails and mollies were all over it like kids on Christmas Day. ☺

I have a bowl with some floating plants hoping to grow live food for my fish tank, but brown algae grows in it Is it goanna add algae to my fish tank if i pure water from that to my tank?

I just got 2 Siamese algae eaters and a pleco and worked out great

I have tried the various Algae remover chemicals and I no longer use them. It was almost a guarantee I’d lose fish from it. Those products, I believe, reduce oxygen in the water and it definitely shows in the behavior of the fish. I do like the AA green machines though for green water.

Hey Thomas how many fist-sized rocks could I put in a 75 gal? Currently have 5, 2 of which are smaller than a fist. Another question: I have researched that moss balls are good for lowering nitrate levels. However, in that same 75 gal mentioned above, lives a very curious, aggressive Midas Cichlid. Will he eat them or shred them possibly?

I never have a losing battle against algae after implementing my current setup: I use RODI water, for my freshwater tank, I dose a little bit of sachem replenish and discus trace, I use a 20 gallon long tank as a sump, in the sump just a simple filter sock, lava rock for bacteria, I grow pothos plants in the sump as a refuge and I run carbon in a small media reactor,, that's all,, I change about 5% of the water every 2 or 3 weeks. I mainly just maintain the filter socks (rinse it). For my saltwater tank, Triton method

I am having an outbreak of diatom. Can't seem to get rid of it. Would LED light cause that? Any suggestions? It's in my 20 gallon community tank.

I reduced the light cycle to 6 hours, increased water flow, added more plants and my platties, amanos and snails seem to be doing a decent job. Still, if I don’t do consistent water changes hair algae finds spots to grow. I just ordered a CO2 regulator this morning so I’ll have that going soon too.

Hi Al I am having a big issue and I don’t know what to do for my tank. I don’t want any of my fish or community to die in the tank. The water looks like a foggy brown it’s so horrible and I’ve tried changing it twice and still keeps reappearing! I’ve tried vacuuming the tank but not all of it cause i try to leave the fish in while I vacuum the gravel. I also have a filter but I’m wondering if it’s too big for my tank. It says for 10-30 gallon tank and the tank is 10 gallons and has one betta two pet snails and two ghost shrimp but the current seems too strong for the fish and community.

I also would like to add how to combat red algae. While it's not a true algae, it has personally been the biggest algae-related problem for me. Also combating it is quite different from true algae, and hardly anything actually eats it. So: for one, Simese Algae Eater is the only freshwater fish regularly available that eats it. I discovered that Yellow Rabbit Snails eat it too, and do a great job at that. Personally, I would recommend the snails, because, while they are rare and kinda pricey, they devour the bacteria without leaving behind a lot of waste. And the huge thing is that they cover every single corner of the aquarium from behind the filter, way up high, and down low. The algae eaters only stick to the bottom and get too big to get the small crevices. Now, the ultimate way to kill it is bleach. You see, cyanobacteria is very unlike algae, in that, taking away light and water will not kill it. It can go hundreds of years without those, it just can't reproduce. Once either one is reintroduced, it breeds again. So, bleach is one of very few things that actually kills it. DO NOT PUT BLEACH IN THE TANK THOUGH! Get the decor, grave, etc. Into it's own bucket, and fill it to a 1 part bleach-10 part water ratio. 2 hours is all it takes for everything to die. A lot of the algae will be attached to the stuff, but it should be transparent/white. Take a hose, turn it on high, and spray THOROUGHLY so the water overflows until there aren't any soap bubbles. So about for 15 to 20 minutes. When you've sprayed for a few you should get your hands in to turn the decor around so you can directly spray into corners and crevices. After all bubbles are gone, dump all the water out, refill it, and dump it again. Get the plants and such a little dry and get off any remaining dead algae, and you are golden!

Thanks. I find that my guppies like to eat BB algae. I also read somewhere that Nerite snails are not really that effective but they look good.

I’m currently having an algae problem. The room my tank is in has too much direct sunlight but I’m getting black out curtains to solve this. I also have a colourful light bar in the back of my tank that I keep on at night, is the light bar a part of the problem too? I’d hate to stop using it :(

If you do a 48 hour light blackout should you stop CO2 as well?

Nice!!!!!!

There is a solution to several of these at once- guppy grass. . Guppy grass is a vacuum for nitrates and phosphates. I have it in all of my tanks and they are all crystal clear.

I have my 2 micro tanks in complete sun light with plants and zero algae but my bare 20 gal tank has a ton of long flowing algae

I have the exact opposite problem since most of my favorite fish are bottomfeeders and algae eaters so I have to actively try to grow algae but that’s just my experience

When u had green water I did a blackout

I think you should have mentioned all algae types and specific ways to combat them e.g. H2O2 for blue green algae infestation, more oxygenation via airstones etc.

Did you decide to not keep a tank in this room?

What about using an algae scrubber? They are not difficult to make

Thanks 🤩☯️

Cheers bro.

Sad but happy news my 75 gallon planted tank I have to restart it. I have a really bad black algae breakout that I can't control so have start over. Good news that its turning into a saltwater tank.

Where were you yesterday?? I tore down a tank last night because I couldn't deal with the algae issue! I'll know better for next time :)

What if you have hundreds of pond snails that just keep taking over that accidentally got in your aquarium.. my filter seems to be over ran with tiny specks everywhere so I assume they're little babies that are eating off of my beneficial bacteria bio wheel in my Marineland penguin... the problem is is I don't want to have to rinse all that biomedia and wheels out just to get rid of those snails cuz then my tanks going to go through a cycle.. please any suggestions I really need something to go on?? Thanks in advance!!!

What about boosting the plants growth in hope to outcompete algae for food? Using fertilizers (NOT OVERDOSING!) or/and root tabs? If you have a densely planted tank with fast growing plants...that are healthy and happy? Will that make a difference?

Isn't co2 supposed to help keep it down too?

For my planted tank can i choose when i have my lights on, could i have it on from 1pm to 7pm for example ?

Anything ideal for an aquatic turtle tank? Inhabited by 2 baby Cumberland Sliders.

Ok. I have a 5.5 topfin with a light that has white blue. Green, red leds and it's on a timer for 8hours. I have the brown algae on glass, gravel, and my plants.

Another tips dont use too much fertilizers especially on easy plants, also add more plants they get the more nutrients and they dont let the algae to build so much. Also most of livebearer fishes( guppy, edlers,platy etc) are eating some types of algae.

Why are diatom filters not a thing anymore? seems like it can do a lot of useful things upto and including removing green water. as well as all kinds of other things. but it seems like no one recommend them and not many companies make them now.

What about tannins?

What exactly are those magnet things doing?

Love

I have 2 tanks. A 90gal tall for a red eared slider. She's just starting to outgrow it and I'm looking for a 120. My other tank is a small terrarium style maybe around 10gal. The "10" gal is a platy tank that is BURSTING with green alge. And I love it. It has Anubius that overflows outside of the tank and creeps up the wall. Alge is beneficial for soaking up nitrates and nitrites. I'd love to send you photos of the tanks for your reaction series. I don't have Instagram or Twitter.. How can I send you photos? Just subscribed today as well. Loving the content you are producing. Keep it up.

My neon tetras are too small so when I feed, they can't eat the food. I have to smash the food to make it smaller

Guys seachem purigen is amazing

you're adorable, great info loved your vid.

UV will stop surface algae if its efficient, ive not had a spec of algae since installing UV on my system

Bleach? And the green water comes after the algae on the walls in my case so this would have worked well for me

Great video, but what UV does is cause thymine dimers to organisms exposed to the UV light. Meaning it only harms organisms in circulation. Green algae is easy to damage as it only stays in suspension. Other algae and a plethora of pathogenic single celled organisms can be controlled with UV. However, UV does almost nothing to established biofilms or established algae on surfaces. I'm not suggesting you don't already know that, but it should be included when you discuss where UV is applicable. It preventative, it is not something you add after you have an algae outbreak

I can't be the only one who likes the look of algae.

"Oh my god, they killed Kylo Ren!" "You bastards!" ...That's Ben for "nice hair cut, dude."😂

I completely disagree with you on the chinese algae eaters. They eat "some" algae when they're young, but they go full out carnivore when they get older. They're also a terror to virtually every fish that doesn't eat it too, and they lose their color. Their name does not describe them at all.

I need help guys

Use modern LED lights for up to six hours, over filter your tank, change water 10%/week, get a pair of plecos. Get live plants to compete with algea, use fertilizers and Co2, clean the gravel, don't overstock nor overfeed the fish. Bigger tanks are better, avoid nanos unless you're pretty serious. 55 gallons are the sweet spot for freshwater, you can have discus fish, a puffer and some pretty cichlids, even a Leopard gourami and some Tetra fish. Get a Fluval FX4 and an small Ehaim canister for backup and your're set. I have this for more than 5 years. Do not go cheap on filtering.

WOW thanks OMG ♻️⚠️💝🎊

Also, Thomas u know how you said Chinese algae eaters really help but in an article, it said that those were fakes same with flying foxes and golden algae eaters and siamese ones are way more effective and I was searching everywhere for one and even my local bigals had only chinese ones

#1 should have been water changes. Period. You can do all the other crap, but if you have an over abundance of nutrients in your water, you're going to have ongoing problems. This is the most important way to remove algae, remove what it feeds on in the water column. The worst mistake you can make is trying to cover up the problem instead of solving it.

But what if I WANT to grow algae?

Now do 10 ways to grow algae

Awesome video < 3 #FishGodThomas :D :P

Lol. I put a marimo in my tanks, now both tanks are literally covered in algae. Both are empty right now, they've just been sitting there since my fish decided to be a bully and kill everyone one day. (No. None of them were agressive or territorial, and they were both species tanks.) Then the day after, that fish died.

also, the plecos weren't meant for algae it was just to clean stuff in general but the algae eaters were godly

Does Algae produce oxygen in your water?

I know a secret way to win the battle :)

Charmer 😉😁

Also.. Photos plants, if aquatic plants would be too much.