Causes
A sudden surge in algae growth, usually triggered by excess nutrients (from overfeeding or fish waste) combined with sunlight and warm temperatures.
When It’s Dangerous
The bloom itself is rarely the emergency. The crash after it is. When a large bloom dies off at once, decomposition can strip oxygen from the water overnight, which is a more common cause of fish loss than the algae itself.
Related: Eutrophication, Dissolved Oxygen
