Algae Blooms or Green Water

What exactly is algae? What causes it? How do Algae and Green Water relate? First, what is Algae? Algae is an extensive term that combines many different species of algae. Algae is billions of years old and part of the Protista Kingdom; kingdoms include Eukaryote Plantae, Fungi, Animalia, and the Prokaryote kingdoms Bacteria and Archaea. Algae have things in common but no common ancestors making it hard to study. Algae is a eukaryotic organism, meaning the cell's DNA is enclosed by a membrane, whereas in prokaryotic cells, there is no membrane surrounding DNA, and contained in the cytoplasm. Algae can either be unicellular or multicellular. Multicellular algae are more complex, for example, Kelp or Seaweed, whereas algae responsible for green water are unicellular. Unicellular is microscopic and is also known as free-swimming single-celled organisms. Blue-Green Algae is not an algae at all but a unicellular prokaryotic bacterium.

Algae is plant-like, but algae lacks a vascular system, roots, or true leaves; like plants, green algae get their energy via photosynthesis. A process that uses light from the sun, Carbon Dioxide, and water to produce carbohydrates and Oxygen O2. Like plants, algae are immense oxygen producers and vastly important to our atmosphere. Green algae use CO2 plus water H2O and, through photosynthesis, generate carbohydrates or sugar, known as Glucose, for energy; algae is autotrophic due to making its own energy or food source. For green algae, this process happens like plants. Inside algae are what look like stacks of Cytoplast enzymes. Inside these individual enzymes are chlorophyll molecules responsible for absorbing the light. Algae-like plants' color is dependent on the wavelength they absorb, and green algae do not absorb but reflect the green wavelength making algae green.

Algae can come in too many variations to count, categorized based on its looks and replicates. Some are unicellular, or a single organism and colonies are a group of specific numbers of organisms based on the algae. Some of the most significant algae are millions of organisms, and others are small groups. Fibrous algae duplicates and the ends branch to look like leaves.

Phytoplankton is a collective term that is any photogenic unicellular free-floating organism in freshwater or saltwater. Phytoplankton is vastly important to the aquatic ecosystem, starting the food web. Phytoplankton is a food source for numerous smaller fish species that medium fish then feed upon, continuing to larger fish. The food web would not be possible if it were not for these smallest photosynthetic, atrophic filtering organisms. Even though phytoplankton is microscopic, you might not see individual phytoplankton collectively; when you see a green coloration in nature or the aquarium, you have an active phytoplankton bloom in the aquarium ecosystem.

There are several different algae species. When cloudy green water develops in your aquarium, a unicellular, photosynthetic, autotrophic algae is at fault. This free-swimming alga does not attach to surface area and is in the water column taking advantage of the aquarium light and an abundance of nutrients. Algae and plants are great aids when filtering water like plants; however, algae is faster and more efficient at replicating. When you see algae in the aquarium, it is nature's way of trying to balance and achieve homeostasis. Algae is not bad for fish. Algae, at times, is beneficial, acting as a food source that helps filter ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in the aquarium. Algae and live aquarium plants compete for the same essential nutrients like magnesium, phosphate, and iron. One of the challenging aspects of maintaining an aquarium is getting the correct balance of light, fertilizer, food, etc., just right. Many factors affect the balance of life in the fish tank environment. If levels become unbalanced, issues arise. A green algal bloom can appear if too much light promotes photosynthesis and too many nutrients, especially overfeeding.

If you leave your aquarium light on for too many hours, and in the case of green water, having higher levels of phosphate and nitrates can lead to green water. When you overfeed or overfertilize your aquarium plants, you may introduce too much Phosphorus or phosphate into your fish tank. Phosphorus is available in an aquatic environment as organic or inorganic phosphate. Live aquarium plants need Phosphorus to grow and thrive, which works as a limiting factor in growth, and is necessary for DNA. Again, there are numerous minerals required for aquatic plant health, but having too much. Since algae and plants use the same nutrients, algae will quickly absorb the nutrients, especially over slower-growing plants. There are several ways phosphate levels may rise. Overfeeding is a primary factor; however, fish waste, tap water, fish food, and plant fertilizers are just a few ways levels may elevate.

If you have an active algal bloom and the water is green, the first advice you usually get is to turn off the light. Due to the algae being photosynthetic, light is significant to the cycle continuing. Yes, this is good advice. However, when you turn off the light, you should know that the counter-balance to photosynthesis is respiration. Respiration is why your fish sometimes may suffocate during an active algae bloom. Turning off the light if you want to feed the algae is no longer a good idea, but add an air stone. Respiration starts when the lights go off, and algae will do its best to survive—no longer taking in Carbon Dioxide and producing oxygen. Now the algae switches to absorbing oxygen and producing CO2 instead.

When the light shuts off in your fish tank, like the bacteria in the nitrogen cycle, all need oxygen. The microscopic life, good or bad, and all the aquatic life, compete for the amount of oxygen in your aquarium. Why adding an air stone to your fish tank during this time is a good idea for your fish. I do not necessarily recommend chemical aids to beat the algae bloom. You should know your aquarium and routine, doing regular maintenance, not overfeeding, and having a correct schedule for your aquarium will help with your algae bloom.

Combating the algae bloom is not tricky, and the first thing you should do is turn off the light, add oxygen, and add quick-growing live aquatic plants like water-sprit or water wisteria. Water-changing is a must, but this alga is unicellular, quickly replicating, unattached algae. You must identify where the extra nutrients are coming from. Water-changing is a must during this time because once the algae die, the nutrients decrease. The phytoplankton has nowhere to go but to fall to the bottom of the aquarium, only to become food for the heterotrophic bacteria responsible for bacteria blooms.