Is algae bad for fish?

But, somehow, in a rush to have the “cleanest”, most sterile home aquarium, algae has received a bad rap. Lets take a second and think about what algae is and ... African Cichlids and Mollies immediately come to mind as fish needing algae to really thrive in captivity. Lastly, an aquarium filled with algae looks good. read more

So algae are important in a healthy aquatic system but too much algae is a different story. Measures to limit algae include: Reduce the amount of nitrogen entering the system (fish food, plant litter, animal wastes, etc.); mechanically remove the algae and other organic matter (particulate filter, raking, etc.); or improve the bacterial response to excess nitrogen (increase or improve bacterial activity). read more

Algae: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Algae, plural, noun /ˈalgə/ – A simple non-flowering plant of a large group that includes the seaweeds and many single-celled forms. Algae contain chlorophyll but lack true stems, roots, leaves, and vascular tissue. read more

Certain fish love to eat certain types of algae, so in some cases a small amount is beneficial. But for the most part we try to eliminate algae from our tanks because it looks bad, which is the opposite of what we generally are going for. read more