Marine Aquarium Algae Control: The Ins and Outputs of Algal Introduction, Identification and Management in Captive Seawater Systems

Of all the facets (to put it nicely) of marine aquarium keeping that turn off hobbyists, likely none surpasses dealing with pest algae. Normal maintenance of our systems can be a breeze; not taking much time or physical exercise, given that time in investigation and proper set-up has been accomplished. However, run-away algal problems can be proverbial plagues… not only ugly to even smelly messes, but a root cause of livestock malingering and loss. The purpose of this book is to share with you how to avoid pest algae problems; and if they do occur, how to identify the source/s, the algae themselves and effectively solve (reduce to eliminate) noisome, unwelcome algae from your tanks. Avoiding Algae Problems: From the start, I want to impress upon you that while algae presence to some degree is entirely natural; to be expected in all systems suitable to support aquatic life; and the situations where there is an overabundance of undesirable species biomass is not! To put this another way; DO expect some appreciable algae presence/growth in any/all viable aquatic biological systems; and DO be aware, observant concerning their over-proliferation in your aquariums… pro-active in limiting their over-abundance; for several good reasons: Pest algaes penchant for overgrowing/crowding out other desired life, using up too much of nutrients and minerals you may want/need for other chemosynthetic, photosynthetic life; and importantly; to limit the amount/concentration of metabolites these algae produce that may mal-affect your livestock; sometimes profoundly.