benefits of algae?

[hlywkar]

just curious what your take is on micro algae, the green kind that likes to spread fast and go on the glass of my aqaurium.

I've got the green kind. that tends to glow long hairs.

is there any benefits to keeping some on my back wall and just letting it grow on its own?

I bumped my lights up to 12 hrs on and off and that seems to be spreading the growth really fast. I had it at 10 before, and it was fairly under control.

Also my rocks are stacked so that cleaning all of the back wall would be a bit of a pain.

So, I was debating on just letting the back wall grow. But not sure if this will help out my tank or make it worse.

What's your take?

 

[Thales]

In general, trying to confine algae to one area doesn't work because many of the species we see in tanks are invasive and fast growers. It can work as a method to uptake nutrients, but you need to export it (remove it) regularly for that to work.

Any of the hair algae seem to be the worst and grow fast and are unsightly. Many get herbivores to deal with it, but it may be the case that it will crash on its own. Is this a newish tank?

 

[hlywkar]

ya. it's a new tank. I think just over 2 months now

 

[Thales]

Ah
I would be harvesting it. It if takes hold, it may become harder to deal with in the future.