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For a better basic understanding of algae in the aquarium we recommend you read this article.During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. Quite frequently the reasons for algae lie in the macronutrients (NPK) or in the carbon dioxide (CO 2) supply. Algae growth is often furthered by a nutrient imbalance, and for this reason it is important to check the water parameters of the aquarium and to optimize the fertiliser regimen for the aquatic plants. It is really important to find out why this happened in the first place, and to take countermeasures, or else there may be another algae outbreak. Important: a black-out treatment will remove the algae rather easily, however, it does not remove the reason why the algae proliferated. After some time under regular light they will regain their old appearance. The stem plants may look straggly and a little leggy after the treatment, which is due to the lack of light. Do a large water change, as the dying algae can pollute the water considerably. For feeding your aquarium inhabitants you can switch the lights on briefly.Īfter the completion of the black-out treatment you should bring your aquarium back to its original state - with the exception of the algae, of course. If you happen to have many stem plants and sun-loving ground-covering plants in your tank, keep the black-out period to 7 days max.ĭuring the treatment, you ought to peep into your tank every three to four days to check on the algae and the state of your plants and animals. A maximum timeframe would be two weeks, given that your plants mainly belong to the shade-loving group (mosses, ferns, Anubias, Cryptocoryne).
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The use of algae-eating aquarium animals can speed up this process considerably. Only black-out your tank as long as the algae need to disappear. As a rule, aquatic plants can deal with this treatment a lot better than algae. The lack of light weakens all organisms that rely on photosynthesis. Remove the algae as thoroughly as possible manually or by siphoning them off before you start the black-out treatment. Shut off your CO 2 supply, and abstain from adding liquid fertilisers. Make sure you keep the organic load in the water down and feed only very sparingly. Simple measures that help move the water surface more intensively are for example setting the filter outlet higher up or installing an airstone in addition. During the black-out it is very important to keep the tank well-aerated. Dark cardboard or pieces of cloth are a good means of shutting out all light. You should not only switch off the aquarium light but also prevent sidelight from entering the tank. This method is almost totally inefficient against red algae, though.ĭuring a black-out treatment, the aquarium is shaded off against all light during several days. It is efficient against blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), most filamentous green algae and algae films. The so-called blackout treatment is a relatively easy non-invasive measure to rid an aquarium of algae.
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