Hey Tango, here is what I think you should do...try to find some old/dead LR to replace the lava. It isn't natural anyhow, but I don't think it leaches phos or iron in any special quantities. IMO the maracyn thing is a little over board...and besides only cyanobacteria will be affected. Describe your algae.
Maybe this will help - it is an exerpt from an article I wrote a couple of months back. It is not in complete form, and some things have been omitted for the sake of brevity...I hope it helps...PM me if you need the entire list of 23 algae-inhibiting techniques and information.
Algae Control
There are a number of contributing factors that make algae one of the most formidable challenges in modern aquarium keeping. But lets start with a brief description of the enemy…pest algaes are usually unicellular (very small) little basic plants that thrive in the presence of Light, Nitrates, Phosphates and Carbon dioxide. Secondary contributing elements are Iron, Silicon and Iodine among others. They can overgrow rocks and make viewing an aquarium as pleasurable as looking at a transparent bucket of dirt. Their weaknesses lie in the 4 main contributing factors described above, as well as the fact that many things like to eat them.
The below methods focus on manipulating nutrient import vs. export ratios.
1)Do a water change – If you haven’t been doing water changes, algae causing compounds may be accumulating in your water. If you have been especially lazy, it may take a couple of changes over a week or two to get back to a healthy levels of pollutants.
2)Up and Out Clean – when you are cleaning the glass in your aquarium, clean from the bottom up and ‘slop’ the hand held scrubber into a waiting bucket of fresh water to rinse it out. This gets the waste matter out of your system, so that it can’t be broken down into nutrients that feed more algae. This is especially important if your current is low and you don’t run a protein skimmer.
3)Circulation – Any place in your tank where waste material settles is a prime algae growing engine. In these areas nutrients and CO2 accumulate and are released that cause algae growth.
4)Cleanup crew – These are my recommendations for the ideal cleanup crew. The number of these organisms should be individually tailored to suit your tanks needs. Keep in mind that if you are feeding these critters they will not be as inclined to eat your algae – Therefore don’t let your food hit the ground.
i)Blue-legged hermit crabs
ii)Scarlet hermit crabs
iii)Algae eating snails (I prefer Turbo, Cerith snails)
5)Source water – Reverse Osmosis/ Deionized water helps because it doesn’t contain contaminants that encourage algae. But if you are using tap water get it checked for Phosphates, Nitrates, Silicates (if poss.) and overall Total Dissolved Solids (TDS).
6)Clean Floss/Foam – the more often you clean these during an algae outbreak the better. When sitting in your filter they are not doing much good. Water is being pressured through a block of foam that is full of rotting matter. The real filtering occurs when you take the foam/floss out and clean it under the tap.
7)Limit nutrient input – Don’t overfeed and use the techniques described above in the nutrition section. One piece of krill can foul up a 50 gallon tank if left to rot. Feed slowly, let each piece be eaten before adding another.
8)Turkey baster – using a turkey baster to blow off collected waste on rocks and gravel is a very simple, effective way to clean. This mimics wave action breaking on the surface of the rock and taking away rotting sediment. Clean your sponge/floss filter out after.
10)Herbivorous fish – there are many species of fish that eat algae. My favourites are Kole’s tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus) and the Jeweled Rockskipper (Salarias fasciatus). Look into other fish in the books listed below - certain fish match certain algaes.
12) High KH, pH – In my personal experience that keeping the pH, KH high encourages less algae growth – pH 8.4, KH 10 dKH.
13)Dose Kalkwasser – this precipitates out phosphates and helps keep pH high.
14)Maintain temperature low (75 degrees) – If you are a beginner or are having real issues, this allows you to keep a better handle on the situation. The metabolic speed of everything in your tank is tied into temperature...your fishes appetite, waste production, Algae growth etc.
Make temperature adjustments slowly.
16) Protein Skimming – while protein skimming will not eliminate algae in an improperly maintained aquarium, it is capable of eliminating tons of waste before it breaks down.
23) READ, READ, READ – Read every book in the Recommended reading section and then apply that knowledge. Algae will jump out of your tank and run at the very sight of you.
Cheers
Stephen
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