Algae Destroyer.....

[Gambit]

HI.....everyone.....

i have been battling green algae since god knows when..........

tried everything........basically my po4 levels are too high......

so i tried using rowaphos and even the phosphate remover from azoo......

but still unsuccessful......in the mean time i just keep my lights on for 4 to 5 hrs and keep changing my rowaphos...........

as rowaphos is pretty costly.......i was thinking of another solution......

basically alage thrives on a couple of things.....light,po4.....etc......

i was thinking of totally blacking out my tank for 3 to 4 days........

use card board and cover the 4 sides so no light get through.......

what you guys think???

advice???

[hippo]

That wouldn't help in long term. Find out the source of algae outbreak. Eg. High bioload due to overfeeding, poor filtration, longer photo period, etc.

Enhance them by:

1. Reduce feeding

2. Upgrade filtration eqpts. (e.g. skimmer, FR, sump/ref)

3. Reduce photo period in the mean time.

Cheers bro.

[linkiat]

Rowaphos works. you dont have to change it too frequently. just make sure you have the right amt for your tank size. also as what hippo says, reduce feeding, photo period slightly.

may want to check type of synthetic salt used (if you are using it) some are known to contain small amts of phosphates and nitrates.

also get an algae blenny, snails (10 or more) to help u out

[Assillian]

What's the source of your top up water? Try not to use tap water.

[bum]

do you run rowaphos in a FR?

for ages, i just used a filter bag.

waste of money, i ran it in a FR,

phospate dropped to 0 in 2 days

a blackout of 3-4 days will not do you any good,

you probably need 2 weeks,

and that will stress your LS.

and lawnmower blennies dun touch hair algae

whats your bioload?

otherwise....

1. Reduce feeding

2. Upgrade filtration eqpts. (e.g. skimmer, FR, sump/ref)

3. Reduce photo period in the mean time.

[Golden Tooth]

Yup. Me recommend that too. Or forever blackout.

[[P]owder Blue]

If say for very serious cases, another alternative that I can think of is to remove all your corals to a temporary tank for 2 weeks. Then black out the main tank with the fishes inside (Just turn on blue light for them - they don't need strong lights anyway). Shift your main lightings to the temporary tank where the corals are for the time being.

The above mentioned is only meant for short term solution. Keeping bioload low, as what the other reefers have mentioned earlier, is still the best way to go.

[dradttg]

I have a similiar experience with my 2 ft tank but my is with Diatom. My phosphate was 1 and nitrate is 10.

This is what I have done and I have seen improvement both PO4 and NO3 are now 0.

1) Water change (20%) every fortnight.

2) Throw in 1/2 litres of Biophos

3) Reduce my photoperiod from 6 to 3 hours.

Hope this helps.

[Gambit]

hi.....

sorry for this late reply....was pretty busy.......

anyway...just to shed some light on my tank.......

i have a 2ft tank..... about 6-8 kg of live rock.....

2 anemones, 3 clown fish.... 1 black sea cake.......

skimmer is a via aqua skimmer rated for 3ft tanks.....

using a canister filter........

my no3 and no2 and nh4 are all at 0

my lights are on about 6hrs now......

however my phosphates hovers around the 3-5 region........

that i think is the main problem......

I dun have a FR.....was thinking of getting one......cause i think thats the only way rowas can be used effectively........ any recommandations for a 2ft tank?? cheaper better lah!! haha

i think i will follow dragttg's advice for now....... maybe but in more rowas......

hmm......

any other advice??

what FR to recommand???

[hippo]

hi.....

sorry for this late reply....was pretty busy.......

anyway...just to shed some light on my tank.......

i have a 2ft tank..... about 6-8 kg of live rock.....

2 anemones, 3 clown fish.... 1 black sea cake.......

skimmer is a via aqua skimmer rated for 3ft tanks.....

using a canister filter........

my no3 and no2 and nh4 are all at 0

my lights are on about 6hrs now......

however my phosphates hovers around the 3-5 region........

that i think is the main problem......

I dun have a FR.....was thinking of getting one......cause i think thats the only way rowas can be used effectively........ any recommandations for a 2ft tank?? cheaper better lah!! haha

i think i will follow dragttg's advice for now....... maybe but in more rowas......

hmm......

any other advice??

what FR to recommand???

FR

[madmac]

hi.....

sorry for this late reply....was pretty busy.......

anyway...just to shed some light on my tank.......

i have a 2ft tank..... about 6-8 kg of live rock.....

2 anemones, 3 clown fish.... 1 black sea cake.......

skimmer is a via aqua skimmer rated for 3ft tanks.....

using a canister filter........

my no3 and no2 and nh4 are all at 0

my lights are on about 6hrs now......

however my phosphates hovers around the 3-5 region........

that i think is the main problem......

I dun have a FR.....was thinking of getting one......cause i think thats the only way rowas can be used effectively........ any recommandations for a 2ft tank?? cheaper better lah!! haha

i think i will follow dragttg's advice for now....... maybe but in more rowas......

hmm......

any other advice??

what FR to recommand???

I did three things to my tank that got rid of hair algae... like you, after months of trying almost everything... 1) utilised a FR, but used phosguard as the media (initially) and 2) siphoning off the top 2 cm of my sand bed(no. 3) and replacing it new sand(no. 1). And 3) "blasting" the live rocks using a power head in another container of sea water, at the same time brushing off the hair algae with a toothbrush.

all done at the around the same time so I don't know which was more effective, probably all.

I'm also using a canister filter, and it is regularly cleaned.

looks like you'll have some work to do... good luck. : )

mm

[FuEl]

If you have high phosphate levels it is best to change at least 50% of your water before using rowaphos or other phosphate absorption media so that you won't saturate the media that soon.

[dradttg]

hi.....

sorry for this late reply....was pretty busy.......

anyway...just to shed some light on my tank.......

i have a 2ft tank..... about 6-8 kg of live rock.....

2 anemones, 3 clown fish.... 1 black sea cake.......

skimmer is a via aqua skimmer rated for 3ft tanks.....

using a canister filter........

my no3 and no2 and nh4 are all at 0

my lights are on about 6hrs now......

however my phosphates hovers around the 3-5 region........

that i think is the main problem......

I dun have a FR.....was thinking of getting one......cause i think thats the only way rowas can be used effectively........ any recommandations for a 2ft tank?? cheaper better lah!! haha

i think i will follow dragttg's advice for now....... maybe but in more rowas......

hmm......

any other advice??

what FR to recommand???

Dont need FR lah.

If you are using canister filter, just use stocking to wrap about 500ml and put it into the canister. I am doing that for my 2 ft.

For my 5 ft, I just throw two stocking bags into the sump. PO4 also 0.

[XPeriment 626]

Funny thing is, people dispute whether UV steriliser is effective against bacteria/parasites, but all seem to agree it will definitely kill algae spores in the water

Of course if you are running a small setup, it might not be worth it to get a good UV, and a lousy one is a waste of money because it confirm useless against parasites.

For me, my UV seems to not only deal with bacteria and parasites but i have less algae problems as well.

[weishun]

the best is to get 10 over or more turbo snails to help you eat up the algae... haha they basically eat non stop. i have about 8 of them in my tank now and my algae is right under control.

[andromeda]

i use this

[weishun]

Yah same... i also use this.

[boxfish]

just wonder is this a "top" snail or turbo snail... SeaLxxx always tell me that is a top snail