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GLA Quick And Easy Way To Get Rid Of Algae In An Aquarium!
Struggling with algae in your aquarium? Here’s a simple, low-effort hack that works in almost any freshwater tank 🌱
One of the easiest ways to control algae is by adding floating plants. They target two of the biggest causes of algae growth at the exact same time: excess light and excess nutrients.
First, floating plants naturally block and diffuse light. By shading the aquarium, they reduce how much intense light reaches the glass, hardscape, and substrate. Since algae thrives on excess light, limiting light penetration immediately slows its growth. This is especially helpful in low-tech tanks, shrimp tanks, and beginner setups where dialing in lighting can be tricky.
Second, floating plants are extremely fast nutrient consumers. They pull ammonium, nitrate, and phosphate directly from the water column before algae can use them. This starves common soft algae, green dust algae, and even tougher hair algae by removing the fuel they need to spread. Floating plants also absorb trace elements and micronutrients, further tipping the balance in favor of your plants instead of algae.
Duckweed is objectively one of the most effective options due to its rapid growth, but it can be frustrating to manage because of its tiny size. For that reason, Spirodella polyrhiza (giant duckweed) is my top recommendation if you can find it. It offers the same benefits while being much easier to remove and control.
Other great floating plant options include Amazon frogbit, water lettuce, Salvinia, and red root floaters. Azolla would also rank extremely high, but it’s banned in my country—check local regulations before adding it.
As long as you choose larger floating plants, they’re easy to thin out as your aquarium matures and finds balance. That said, many aquarists end up keeping them permanently because of how effective they are at keeping algae under control naturally.
#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #plantedtank #plantedaquarium
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