Spot Algae in your Aquarium Tank

Spot algae are seen as circular, thin, bright green spots that adhere strongly to the Surface of glass and other hard surfaces of glass and other hard surfaces. Typical causes are excess light and excess nutrients.

Prevention of spot algae

Treatment for Spot Algae

The cure for spot algae is to scrub off surfaces. Spot algae can only be mechanically removed.

What causes excessive Algae growth in aquariums?

Too much light or too many nutrients in the water will cause algae to grow rapidly.

How do you get rid of green dot Algae?

Green spot algae commonly grow on objects that don't move- substrate, rocks, and even the glass of your aquarium.

Green spot algae will grow on slow-growing plants. Where it will appear as dark green spots.

You might notice the dreaded green spots first in the brightly lit areas of your tank. Too much light is actually one cause of green spot algae.

Green spot algae are harmless to your fish.

Causes

Too much light - High levels of light can be responsible for green spot algae outbreaks.

Low phosphate levels - You can't tell your phosphate levels just by looking at your aquarium. To do that, you need a special water test known as an aquarium test kit. If your phosphate levels are near zero, then it's likely that this is the cause of your green spot algae.

Method to get rid of Green Dot Algae

  • Manual removal when it comes to removing algae from the glass of your aquarium, there really isn't a better option than scraping it off.
  • To remove green spot algae from your plants, your best option is to cut off each leaf that is covered.
  • Algae Eaters - The zebra nerite snail is one of the best algae eaters when it's on your glass, plants, driftwood, or rocks, the Nerite will hunt it down and eat it up. Remember that any algae eater that you add to your tank is going to become an extra mouth to feed. Once your zebra nerite has removed all the green spot algae from your aquarium, it will no longer have a food source. And if you don't feed your snail, it will starve.

How do I stop algae from growing in my fish tank?

  • Reduce lighting
    • Do not place the tank where there is direct sunlight. Sunlight promotes algae growth. Use a timer to turn the lights on and off each day.
  • Water changes
    • The most important way to avoid algae is to perform regular water changes.
  • Clean it up
    • If you see algae beginning to grow on the glass, rocks, or other hard surfaces of the tank, remove it or scrub it.
  • Keep live plants
    • Live plants absorb many of the nutrients that algae thrive upon. Fewer nutrients in the water mean there is less fuel for algae overgrowth.
  • Keep Algae-eating Fish
    • Keeping Siamese flying foxes, otocinclus, plecostomus, or other algae-eating fish will help reduce some of the algae in the tank.

Why do I get green spot Algae?

Green spot algae is a common type of algae that you may see in your freshwater home aquarium. Those algae are attached to the substrate very strongly.

Green spot algae is a relatively lesser-known type of aquarium algae that most freshwater systems experience sometime throughout their lives.

This Algae is pretty easy to identify and treat, though involves less manual removal than other algae.

Green spot algae is a green Algae that can be tricky to clean from your planted tank and completely get rid of. Green spot algae can quickly cover every surface in the aquarium, like the glass, filter, substrate, and decorations, if left to get out of control.

The biggest problem with green spot algae is that it can quickly appear on plant leaves and spread to the rest of the plant as well as to other plants.

Green spot algae can be difficult to Remove from a planted fish tank because it needs to be scraped off with a sharp edge.

The best way to treat green spot algae is usually by first treating the aquarium water. Low phosphate levels are usually the number one cause of green spot algae growth.

Do any Fish eat Green Spot Algae?

Otocinclus catfish tend to be one of the best algae eaters. The otocinclus catfish, or the oto catfish is another peaceful fish that's Known for its algae-eating habits. They're quite small, reaching only 2 inches in length, and do well in small community tanks. These are so talented at removing brown algae and new algae growths from tanks.