Algae control

Tropica's recommendations for algae control are based on the above-mentioned advices on prevention. If you get problems anyway, then try:

1. More algae eaters (REMEMBER, the more, the better and the more different kinds, the better).
2. More frequent change of water (30% every 2. day for a period - especially by green algae).
3. Light control - does the sun shine directly on the aquarium, or is the turn on/off clock defect?
4. Potential black-out (cover the aquarium in black plastic and keep it dark for 2-3 days) - especially by green water.

The picture above shows how efficient the Amano shrimp is when it comes to keeping a plant aquarium free from algae. The aquarium to the left had 3 shrimps, the one in the middle had none, while the one to the right had one shrimp during the start-up. They were all planted in the same way: 3 Anubias barteri var. nana and 3 Eleocharis parvula. The picture has been taken 3 months after the start-up. It is experiments like these that make Tropica recommend 1 Amano shrimp per 5 L water during the start-up of a new plant aquarium. Once a biological balance has been achieved in the aquarium, you can easily settle for fewer shrimps - e.g. 1 per 15 L water. However, if you have many fish that you feed, then we recommend that you maintain the population of 1 Amano shrimp per 5 L water.