How to Prevent Algae - 5 Planted Tank Tips

Did you know that algae is one of the biggest reasons hobbyists give up on their aquariums. The good news is that if you follow some basic guidelines you can have a successful planted aquarium without suffering from any algae issues.

It is always better in the long-term to prevent algae from occurring rather than having to continual treat it. Treating various types of algae is the topic of a separate video so let us know in the comments which types of algae you would like to know more about.
MAKE YOUR AQUARIUM A SUCCESS

[Guest-slqb]

Remember guys the most important thing to fight algae is patience..

Do water changes, adjust the light, ferts, and the flow, also do manual remover, and add some algae eater like in this video.

I always see algae as a "balancer" in my tank, if there's some imbalance in my tank, algae helps me to 're-balancing' it. That way I can tricked myself to be less worried (and sometimes mad) so I can focused on the root cause of the problem.

Good luck!

[tigersunruss]

Always love your tanks. I just bought the phyllanthus for my new tank and already existing tanks. Thanks for your wisdom sir !

[anthonypope]

Great info I would love to see more videos on BBA I have a lot of it on my fluval edge I have java fern anubias and cryps what other plants do you recommend as the lighting is not very bright so I have to use low light plants I do have alge right deep in my substrate I am using JBL Pro flora keeps active for 5 years and its topped of with mando 1mm quarts gravel I don't know if its cyanobacteria how do I get rid of it cheers

[bhagyamaithripala]

Great content Sir. I am battling Green String algae these days.

[fahn]

I always seem to have staghorn pop up in my high energy systems, mainly on rock and wood. I'll have a heavily planted tank, do weekly 50% water changes, dose a comprehensive fertilizer daily, and keep my CO2 around 30ppm, and test for virtually 0 nitrates. Despite these ideal conditions, I still see staghorn. I mostly keep shrimp and snails so most nuisance algae never makes an appearance, but staghorn is one unwelcomed guest I always seem to run into.

[praveenkamble]

Superb... Simple and clear.. thanks George Farmer.

[jewelleryhannah]

A very timely video! 🦠 Zero algae for the first 160 days or so of my scape, then it seems as the days got longer and lighter and I changed up my plant feeding routine, some hair algae and some green spot algae has appeared. I’ve just removed a whole clump of moss (which was growing well but I couldn’t get the strands of algae out) and two java ferns which have been struggling since I put them in and never recovered. Also I cut off the worse-affected anubius leaves. Also
continuing with usual weekly maintenance with a 50% water change. Hoping this will prevent too much algae growth. My next step is to fill in the gaps with a couple more new healthy javas, a nice big buce, and perhaps another anubius or something, and also reduce the photoperiod. Fingers crossed!

[lonerider]

Hi I'm gonna buy tropica fertilizer fir my lowtech aquarium. I read that phosphate is essential for even slow growing plants & fish waste does not produce enough phosphate & need to be added in inorganic form.so I'm confused of buying tropica premium or tropica specialized fertilizer. Can you suggest me?

[WorldAquariumSingapore]

nice video there, my tank near to my air stone bubbles have dark colored algae they just stick on to the glass and not alot of them, are these ok?

[MigHeart]

Perfect and great Video!!
Super!!👍👍👍👍

[anniful]

I have given up my 20year hobby resently because of algae, Heartbroken, then after watching M D who recommend you found out it was my lighting, hope to set up a nano tank soon, thank you I will certainly be looking at plants, one question I have limited money do you really need Co2 or can I buy plants to do the job ? Cheers x

[matthewbishop]

Brilliant video. More about hair algae and brown algae would be good 👍

[saiaquarium]

It's great useful video.
Thanks for sharing 💯

[back-titration-fan]

Thx for the tips I need them right now 😅

[patricklaundra]

Love your comment that a little bit of algae is normal. And completely algae free is not likely. Plus the video of plants with a little bit of algae. From a professional source like Tropica and George as being normal ..

[josephposada]

Watersprites grow a dark almost brown to black mold looking algae. Could this be due to water hardness?

[alexchang]

Left my light on for a week while on a trip. Absolute algae explosion when i got back

[willf]

My tank is 4 weeks old. I use tropica soil powder and pressurized co2. I'm having hair algae now for 2 weeks. I don't know if I should fertilize the plants or not. The levels of no3 and po4 are almost zero. I also have bright light. Some fast growing plants and medium as well. In the Foreground I have acicularis mini. Please help

[JoshuaRilliet]

Bonjour, les algues que j'ai rencontré dans mon tout nouveau bac après son cyclage ce sont des diatomées, c'est la première fois que j'en ai et j'ai eu du mal à les identifier et à m'en débarrasser mais à présent ça semble être réglé 🤞

[nebis]

The only algae type I have and cant seem to get rid of... Is GSA... Aquarium glass is easy to clean but on plant leaves... Amano shrimps dont seem to eat them either!