Algae, is it good or bad?

[jrsoccer190]

So I have had my tank for probably around a month and a half now it is a 5 gallon with just one betta in it. I have noticed some algae beginning to form. Should I do a quarter tank water change or is algae a good thing? I tried to put some liquid algae removed but that didn't seem to do anything. Thanks. Here is a picture by the way. I don't understand why the picture is upside down. Sorry :/

[Hadoken Kitty]

I have bristlenose plecos in my 20 gallon to take care of the algae that grows in there, but unfortunately there was nothing that I could do when it came to the big log. It would grow like mad no matter what I did. Eventually I just washed it off. It never hurt anything or threw my water parameters off. My fish never got sick or died. I just didn't like it. Whenever I see it in my smaller tanks, I just take the decoration out and give it a swish in hot water then put it back in.

[aokashi]

oh, that's actually kinda pretty. True algae is actually good for water quality :)

if you ever have excess algae and decide to clean it all off manually make sure you test and increase water changes for a period of time afterwards if you have a cycled tank. This is due to the fact that by getting rid of a large amount of algae, you are putting more load on the biofilter.

You don't have a lot of algae at all though :3

[Oldfishlady]

I agree aokashi....some species of algae is expected, normal and can be a good sign of a healthy tank. However, since aquariums are closed systems-we might need to manually remove it on occasion with regular water changes-especially on the viewing walls and live plant leaves-but on decorations and the non-viewing walls-I would leave it-it can help the tank look more natural by softening edges and it also provide food/area for microorganism to colonize and the Betta will graze on it for added nutrition.

Be careful using the algae removing products-especially if you have live plants or invert-it can be toxic-plus, mass die off of algae can cause water quality issue-so be sure and make water changes after you use it.

[rachelq]

i have algae on my betta's cave and that's the only place it gross.
i've wiped it off before but it always comes back so now i just leave it. i think it's a good thing to have now, but before it confused me.
it's just a part of having fish i think.