Seachem Pristine will help clean your fish tank and make your aquarium water safe for your aquatic pets. So, can you also use this product to kill algae?
You can find out in this article from Aquarium Blueprints.
Why algae appear in your fish tank
Algae will start to in your aquarium if the tank water is out of balance.
For example, if you leave the lighting for your aquarium turned on for too long and/or expose the tank to direct sunlight, then you may eventually end up with algae.
Excess nutrients, which include ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, will also lead to a breakout as well.
What does Seachem Pristine help with?
Seachem Pristine add specialized bacteria. These colonies act as a cleanup crew for your fish tank as they will consume organic wastes that have built up over time.
How does Seachem Pristine help with removing algae?
As we stated previously, Pristine will reduce the organic waste buildups in your fish tank. As a result, there should be less ammonia, nitrites and nitrates being produced.
With that said, Pristine won’t directly remove these nitrogen compounds. So, if you already have an excess of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, then the algae will most likely remain unless you take further actions.
How to use Seachem Pristine to kill algae
While Seachem Pristine won’t kill off the algae in your fish tank by itself, the solution is still helpful in resolving the issue. To find out how to effectively use the product for this purpose, you can take the following steps:
1. If you have any UV or ozone aquarium equipment running in your fish tank, then you need to turn it off for the next 72 hours.
2. Next, you can dose Seachem Pristine in your tank.
According to the official directions, you need to add 5 mL, which is one full capful, for every 10 gallons or 40 liters of the water volume in your aquarium. Make sure you shake the bottle well before pouring the solution out.
3. Next, you simply let your tank sit for the next 72 hours. This will allow for the newly added bacteria to settle down and start removing wastes.
4. After adding Pristine to your tank and waiting at least 3 days, we recommend that you start doing daily water changes.
You should aim to swap out 20% of the tank water volume at most. We recommend that you avoid doing more as you may end up stressing out your pet fish.
By doing water changes, you should be able to dilute the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates concentration from your tank water.
More ways to remove algae from your tank
To further kill off algae in your aquarium, you can also try doing the following:
1. Add live plants, such as Java Moss, that should outcompete algae in taking up the excess nutrients.
2. Adding certain snail species, such as the Ramshorn Snail, will help clean algae that appear on the glass and other surfaces in your aquarium.
3. Reduce the length of time your tank is exposed to lighting.
4. Feed your fish less so that less organic wastes will be produced.
If you don’t think Seachem Pristine is working as advertised, then you can take a look at this troubleshooting article.
