How to Clean Algae Naturally From a Water Tank

Algae is a dark colored substance that grows along the walls and bottom floor of an aquarium or water tank. The formation of algae is inevitable in any home aquarium; however, it 's easily to control if you take a few minutes every month to perform a few simple cleaning steps. Try to avoid controlling algae with chemicals; in most cases algae can be dealt with quite naturally by scrubbing the inner walls and floor of an aquarium or water tank with a few specialty tools.

Things You'll Need

  • Wet rags
  • Six-foot plastic hose
  • Sink
  • 3 buckets of water
  • Algae scraper
  • Razor blade
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Instructions

    • 1

      Remove any aquatic life from the water tank and secure them in a location necessary for their survival during the cleaning period.

    • 2

      Drain all the water from the tank. If the tank is too large for you to manually dump out the water, you can siphon the water out using a six foot plastic hose. Place one end of the hose in the water tank and suck on the opposite end until water starts to flow out of the hose, and place the hose into a bucket. The end you're sucking air out of should be lower than the end in the water tank in order to ensure a consistent water flow.

    • 3

      Remove the rocks, sand, gravel, coral reef and any other materials from the water tank and place them in a water bucket.

    • 4

      Scrub the sides of the aquarium, the plant life and the aquatic decorations with an algae scraper. This will break up the rough algae particles that built up inside the aquarium. Do not use a household cleaning pads because they typically contain trace amounts of chemicals that are harmful to aquatic life.

    • 5

      Scrub the bottom of the water tank and all four walls of the water tank with a clean wet rag. If there's a large accumulation of algae you may need several different rags to wipe down the tank. Do not use any cloth material that could leave behind materials or chemicals that could be potentially harmful to your aquatic life or water filters.

    • 6

      Use a razor blade to remove the tough algae build-up on the aquarium walls and flooring. Hold the razor blade at a 45 degree angle and apply pressure to achieve the best results.

    • 7

      Let the inside of water tank dry off for about an hour and give it once final wipe down.

    • 8

      Clean the gravel and rocks gently with the algae scraper and place them back into the bottom of the water tank and refill it with water. Let the water settle for about 10 minutes and then put the aquatic life back into the water tank.