Algae question

[Rita]

Ok I have a stupid question... is it possible for algae to kill a plant if left unchecked?

[Alesha]

I know that Black Beard Algae can. I've removed it from leaves quickly & they recover; but I've also let it stay on too long & even when I cleaned it off,  the leaves died. 

[josh world]

Yes algae could kill a pant. It is not very common but it can still happen. Once I had a Anubias  covered with black beard, green spot, and string algae that I thought would never hurt it but over time the algae cut out light and killed the plant. 

[Seized]

If the algae covers the plants enough it can block out the light. Generally that doesnt happen unless you have some major algae problems though. Id recommend some amano shrimp and nerite snails just to be safe. Plus they add such a low bioload there basically a cleaning service.

[josh world]

Algae can also take organic waste from the water and compete with your plants. This could result in your plant's leaves browning and falling off. green water can cut out a lot of light in your tank and you could see browning on the leaves of your plants. Green water can't kill a plant though. duckweed is worse than algae it can cover the top of your tank in just a few days. duckweed is also very hard to get rid of and just one piece could multiply in just one night. it can also survive in extreme conditions like in a bucket for weeks with no light or out of water for days as long as the air around it is humid. like algae, it can suck up nitrates from your tank very fast and also compete with your plants. I made the mistake of introducing duckweed into my guppy tank and it quickly grew and was a hassle to get rid of.