If your tank has green water or excessive algae growing on the glass, don’t worry – it’s actually not harmful to your fish, it just doesn’t look very nice.

The most common causes of an algae bloom in your tank are direct sunlight on the tank, or if your tank has a light that is getting left on for more than 8 hours a day.

There’s a few different ways to get rid of algae in your tank. Firstly try reducing light, and also reducing feeding. You can also get special cut-to-size sponge, Phos-Elim to put in your filter (if you have one) which will absorb the excess phosphates in your water, which is what algae needs to grow. Algae blocks are available for both fish tanks and ponds, and are an easy and effective way to fix the problem.

Adding live plants to your tank not only enriches the environment for your fish, the plants will also use up some of the excess nutrients that fuel the algae, which should slow down the rate of algae growth.

If you have a tropical tank, you could also consider adding some algae eating fish such as Bristlenose catfish or Siamese flying fox to help clean it up.

Even if you try all these things, it’s likely you’ll still get a little algae growing here and there. It’s just part of a healthy aquarium.