Using bacteria to reduce algae

[samuel88]

Hi everyone, does anyone here have any experience with dosing bacteria to keep algae down?

a few years ago I had a tank with alot of algae but when i dosed some bacteria the algae suddenly disappeared, but i'm not sure if it was just a fluke so looking for some confirmation.

[tuajia]

Depends what you mean by algae. What type? Cyano?

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[christan1959]

Using bacteria to combat algae can be done. But it's a very slow process. Like taking Chinese medicine.

Sometimes, you can overdose, and end up with more algae before things get better. Meanwhile, some corals may perish.

Best method is still to manually remove and make large water change. And also black out tank for 2-3 days, and switch lights back for 30mins per day for 3 days and then increase by 30mins every 3 days until u hit 8-hour photoperiod. Go extra-light on feeding. Use  carbon and GFO. 

During this period, u can load up on light-hungry corals. But not fish.

Introduce a sea hare.

For slime algae, Chemiclean is the miracle cure. It works like a charm, and it does not harm even the most sensitive coral or nitrifying bacteria.

[Komerider]

One other trick is to make only the front of the tank viewable and oyama the sides. This way maintenance is just on one panel. And rocks can be leaned on the sides n still look neat.

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[Komerider]

I gave up on maintaining the sides of the tank.

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[Nick Liu]

One other trick is to make only the front of the tank viewable and oyama the sides. This way maintenance is just on one panel. And rocks can be leaned on the sides n still look neat.

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My experience on leaning rocks on e side of e glass was bad. I feel like algae tends to build on more. So I avoid any rocks near glass. :/


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[Komerider]

My experience on leaning rocks on e side of e glass was bad. I feel like algae tends to build on more. So I avoid any rocks near glass. :/


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As in totally heck care the sides of the glass let algae grow out. Cos its blacked out. Like in the pic below. So I just need to maintain the front side. Much easier. Nothing to see from the sides anyway. Another bonus is it blocks sun light.




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[Komerider]

Another tip is to plaster black the top of the tank's glass jutting out horizontally above the water surface This stops ur aquarium light from hitting the front top panel of the glass and prevent algae growth there. No corals growing at that angle so its perfect also.

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