Winning the war on Greenwater Algae
For about 4 months, I fought a war against greenwater algae in our big aquarium, home of our pet oscars. If you don’t know what an oscar is, they are the most cantankerous, petulant, opinionated tropical fish ever created and they make great pets. They are members of the cichlid family, and are extremely smart, even trainable.
My oscar, Galadrial, showing her friendlier side
But this article is not about oscars. It’s about their unwanted tankmate: greenwater algae. This algae was so thick I couldn’t even see the fish! They would swim in and out of the green gloom. There are those who will tell you that greenwater algae is good for your fish, and indeed, it may be. But it doesn’t look very good in your living room, and I wanted to be able to see the oscars! So I determined to rid my tank of the ugly, smelly stuff.
This looks a lot like my tank did. Try to imagine 120 gallons of this algae soup in your living room!
photo © Charles Yu, from an FAQ article on algae by George Booth