Green Carpet Algae Saltwater Aquarium

What is known as green turf algae in the hobby is really a generic name given to hundreds of different species of macroalgae that describe certain similar characteristics.

Green carpet algae saltwater aquarium.

In fact it shows that an aquarium is well balanced and healthy and the cultivation of macroalgae forms is actually beneficial. When disturbed it comes off in sheets. They are coarse wiry and generally have thicker wider blades than green 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.

For a fish only tank this matting will be simply ugly but in the reef tank it can smother and kill live corals. They will chew up any hair algae in the aquarium and will happily eat most macro algae. Hair algae are less desirable. Phosphates po4 and nitrates no3 are primary nutrient food sources for red and other slime algae.

What is that or what is the cause of that and how can you get rid of it. Combining them with a kole tang covers more algae you will face in a saltwater tank. Phosphates are commonly introduced into aquariums through the use of unfiltered fresh tap water as well as many aquarium products that may contain higher than normal concentrations of po4 such as sea salt mixes activated carbon kh buffers foods and many other sources. It is also one of the most the hardy herbivores you can purchase for a saltwater aquarium.

The appearance and growth of algae in an aquarium is not bad it s just the natural order of things. You have this beautiful fish tank with nice aquarium plants and so on and then suddenly everything turns into a green carpet like surface. It can grow quickly and can cover the substrate in the aquarium. If what you see in your saltwater aquarium is a green feathery looking mass it is probably green hair algae.

It only becomes a problem when the algae is allowed to grow out of control and cover everything in the tank. The foxface is an amazing algae eater in saltwater aquariums. These algae form thick hair like mats that can carpet your aquarium. 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.

The cure for green hair algae is the same as the prevention. Cyanobacteria formerly called blue green algae are not really algae but are a phylum of photosynthetic bacteria that live in moist soils and water. They can help they are. The species structures can be unicellular to filamentous and some species are colonial.

Emerald crabs and lawnmower blennies are two animals with a taste for green hair algae. Turn green hair algae into food. Starve it into oblivion.