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Algae, is it good or bad?

1K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  rachelq 
#1 ·
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 :/
 

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#2 ·
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.
 
#3 ·
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
 
#4 ·
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.
 
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