Simple Tips to Get Rid of Algae With the Power of Aquarium Plants

‎ Live aquarium plants are actually one of your best defenses against algae growth. Think of it like growing grass on a front lawn. The healthier the grass is, the less likely weeds (aka algae) are able to creep in. Let's talk about a few things you can do with the plants themselves to make sure you get a leg up on the conversation.

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At Aquarium Co-Op, we focus on your aquariums. We specialize in freshwater tropical fish, aquatic plants, and the overall betterment of the freshwater fish keeping hobby. Our goal is to help you with your first pet fish and graduate you to an advanced aquarium hobbyist. If you'd like to take it to the next level, subscribe to Aquarium Co-Op and check out our weekly videos.

Cory McElroy is employed by Aquarium Co-Op LLC. He also owns Aquarium Co-Op LLC. Therefore, all content is sponsored by Aquarium Co-Op.

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[Banditomojado]

I always struggled with algae on my plant leaves until I added in floating plants. That was a massive game changer.

[laurabustos]

As a pro gardener, you're so absolutely spot on on the turf analogy!! People continually abuse their turf and then wonder why it's suffering and full of weeds.

[hummingbird]

Floating hornwort is incredible. You can pull out half the old darker growth every couple weeks. There's never much algea build up, and you get the old stuff out before it sheds. My snails crawl around on top of it, freaking cool 😎

[shesellsfish]

Floating plants and house plants in my tanks seem to keep the algae away and my low tech aquarium plants do well. Win-Win.
👍❤️👍

[hkk]

I've had a lot of luck growing plants outside the aquarium with the roots dangling inside. Absolutely NO alge, and my tank gets direct sunlight. Plants and fish are happy!

[michaelfox]

I have tried a somewhat different strategy to keep algae down, and it has worked well in two of my three aquaria. I reduced my lighting hours down to 7, I don't add any fertilizer, I change 10-20% of the water weekly, and I vacuum the substrate along with the water change. I get minimal algae growth on the glass in all three tanks, but in one of the aquaria (Fluval Flex 15), I get a black spotted algae on the plants. The three tanks are moderate-heavily planted with a mix of easy plants. Nitrates are low; 5 ppm or less in all three tanks. The Fluval with the algae problem uses Fluval Stratum substrate; the other two have inert gravel. The Fluval with the algae problem is also kept at the warmest temperature (~78F or 26C) because it has a betta in it; the other aquaria (a 29 and a 10) are kept 3-5 degrees F cooler. If anyone can either explain to me why the one tank has the algae-on-leaves problem and the other two don't, and what I can do to fix the problem, I'm all ears.

[celticbarry]

These plants work well for me in Scotland with average led lighting, no nutrients or anything and very soft water. I've tried quite a lot of different plants but Sessiliflora Limnophila, Anubias Nana, Java Moss and Cryptocoryne Beckettii Petchii work well for me.

I like to put the Limnophila in a back corner area, moss on wood or rock, anubias around wood or rock and then leave open sand but put one Cryptocoryne planted in the sand. they all grow well. I trim the moss and Limnophila every month or two. The anubias has grow in 7 months from 2 smaller pieces to 2 bigger ones, 2 medium ones and 3/4 very small ones that have just started out. The cryptocoryne melted back from big green leaves to skinny longer reddish purple and green leaves that stay low down.

[FusionDeveloper]

I'm watching to to know what plants to avoid so that I can possibly get some algae growing for my starving snail breeding tank that keep it spotless clean.

[XMSX]

Wish aquarium coop sold floating plants 😢

[dspinoy]

Can i keep the plants in the pots that they came in with the rock wool. Thanks.

[Paul-]

These are great idea for my 30 gallon Landen rimless aquarium. Thank you

[JdkShinobi]

Oh snap I didn't know you started working with them. Congrats!

[tray]

How do you guys not get your filter to just suck the floating plants up? Thanks

[jason_chan]

Right on Irene! This is so spot on! I had so many algae issues in the first couple of months establishing a new tank until I bit the bullet and loaded up on more plants, particularly fast growing stem plants and floaters. The water lettuce and octopus are fantastic at outcompeting algae and are thriving. They’ve multiplied a lot so now the trick is ensuring they have enough nutrients via root tabs and of course Easy Green 😂

[donovanleeds]

Do NOT put fresh-cut pothos into your tank. Keep it in a glass of water until it scabs over and starts roots or you risk killing your fish. The sap is toxic.

[bettymaverick]

I added 3 one inch long Siamese Algae eaters. In six months they grew to almost 6 inches. I had a lot of Algae but miss calculated the size the fish would get to. They are huge for my 55 gallon aquarium. I also added Pothos plants which grew large root systems. Algae is not a concern for me anymore. Just large fish. Good video lady.

[frankcapel]

Team aquarium co-op awesome video Irene love all the content from the channel keep up the great work and yes easy green is the best out there for me see you on the next one 🌿

[readysetawesome]

In my 120G I had no luck with beginner plants like swords and Java fern, with the addition of Root tabs and easy green I saw slight improvement plant growth but it quickly was surpassed by even more algae. I kinda tried everything including easy carbon and nearly daily water changes. Part of this is about my tank being immature, yes, but there’s no single formula that worked for me short of going fully high tech/co2/not at all easy, which is finally getting me growth that I only dreamed about for the last year.

I do wish P.S. Octopus was recommended to me sooner, it’s way more beginner friendly than a sword IMO. I’m having great luck with these now

[MarijkeWillemsen]

To much fertilizer can also cause algae if the plants are not ready to use it…when I start a tank i will start with max 6 hours per day and a lot of floating plants to reduce light intensity for the other plants en to provide strong growth in the aquarium, I increase the light to max 8 hours when the not floating plants are doing well, and I decrease the amount of floating plants little by little but ik always keep the floating plants so they use the excess nutrients out of the water instead of giving algae a chance, Floating plants have enormous growth and filtration power, their amount can double every week. So don’t forget to take a few seconds and a bucket to remove te excess of the floating plants every week!

[lemonlizard]

moss has to be my pick. It is extremely fast growing, keeps parameters stable, promotes growth of microorganisms and gives the tank a green forest vibe. The only downside is that it grows really fast. It could take over the tank/outcompete other plants if you have them