Battling algae

[furyclown]

O.K. I've been studying and reading on how to combat this reddish/brown algae bloom I've been having. Got fresh carbon and phosphate sponge in the Fluval. I've just siphoned the junk off the top of the sand. I used a little too big of a hose and got a little too much sand than I wanted.

Can I just rinse off this sand (in tap-water or RO/DI?) and return it to the tank? What do ya'll do?

Thanks in advance,

I WILL conquer it.

 

[Anonymous]

Canister filters are detrius collectors. They harbour so much detrius that if they are not cleaned weekly may cause algae blooms.

 

[tazdevil]

Dont rinse in tap water. Rinse in old tank water when doing a water change to avoid killing bacterial colonies in the sponge. O/W you may get an ammonia/nitrite spike. I agree with anemonebuff, the canister filters are very dependent on cleaning to avoid algae blooms. This doesn't mean they're bad, just require VERY routine maintanence (If your doing a fish only, consider getting a sump w/bioballs, or even LR for natural filtration, also a natural food source for the fish).