[55gal]

just wondering what peoples opinions are on bottled algae removers. the good and the bad. if they work which ones are safer or better etc. any comments welcome

[NYreefNoob]

you dont want to rely on chemicals to cure problems get more water flow, more clean up crew, are you using a ro-di for water ? how much and how long of light does the tank get ? meaning outside light also

[55gal]

i use a deionizer for water. i have a phosphate sponge in the backpack.
backpack has a venturi skimmer. no microalgae in their yet - this week some time ill setup a refugium in the backpack w/ sand substrate some rock a light and keep the light opposite of the tank.

my media iscourse blue/white with a carbon piece on top of that.

the tank is relatively new about 5 months i was algae free untill last week. the sametime i put the used skimmer on

i do need more crabs but all the stores near me were out of good ones( believe it!) i have a seahare, a sandsifting gobie
once in a while my wife leaves the blinds (blackout) open during the daybut not that often

as of wednesday my water was perfect my ph might of been a little high like 8.5. temp is now about 77-78 all the time.

also the algae is easily dusted off with a turkey baster.

[55gal]

oh yeah

i have a rio 600 power head and a pump at 700 gph with only 3 feet of head.water flow is pretty good. i keep the feeding minimal and direct feed as best i can.i have started with seaweed for blue hippo if this means anything

[daisy]

algae is going to grow if it can - which means, if the flow, light and nutrients are there for it. It will just happen. so if I were you, i would figure out which of the parameters has changed that allows the algae to grow. alternatively, use that turkey baster!!!

The thing about algal growth is that it's part of the system. It depends on what you like to look at - some algae is good, some is not as good, and some is choking. if you can encourage good algae to grow, you'll be discouraging the nusiance algae at the same time most likely.

what did you recently change in the system? I would imagine that whatever you recently changed is what has led to the recent appearance of algae. Get snails and consider your system that much richer and more diverse!

btw, was it green algae?

Best of luck!

[55gal]

it was brown algae. and the only changei can think of is that i bought a used protein skimmer from a buudy of mine i did not wash it out before setting it up. who knows thanks for the info ive been using purple up a little to try to get the purple algae and nothing yet

[ellebelle]

The brown algae is probably diatoms.

You don't need "purple up" to get coraline algae. Just seed your tank from someone else's tank with a little if there wasn't any on your rock. Good water quality and flow will make the coraline grow.

Get some nassarius snails for the sand and some turbos for your rock and glass.

[basiab]

Quote: Originally Posted by 55gal i do need more crabs but all the stores near me were out of good ones( believe it!) i have a seahare, a sandsifting gobie .

There are no good crabs. Make sure you really want it before you buy it. Check around with other peoples experiences for the particular crab.