Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board  

Go Back   Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board > Regional Forums > Alberta > Edmonton

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #4  
Old 12-13-2005, 04:16 AM
Matt's Avatar
Matt Matt is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 661
Matt is on a distinguished road
Send a message via MSN to Matt
Default

All I know about algae control is in this post. Some of it is likely wrong.

Algae needs three major things to thrive:
Nitrogen (nitrates)
Phosphorus (phosphates)
Light

Control your nitrates by reducing bio-load or feeding (amonia sources) so that your system can process them naturally and by water changes.

Phosphates can be introduced in source water (tap water sometimes has elevated phosphate levels), in foods and meds (some, but not all preparations contain phosphates). They can be controlled by water changes (or water-source changes) and products like phosban or rowaphos, which adsorb or bind the phosphates into unusable forms.

Light is necessary for coral growth, so you don't want to control (limit) that unless things get wildly out of control.

Beneficial algae, like chaeto, is a very hardy competitor for these nutrients and can draw down the levels for unwanted varieties, and then the nitrates can be directly exported by pruning the stuff out.

I spend a bit of time every week with a small siphon with a rigid tip digging out unwanted algae. My wife and I are the best members of our aquarium's cleaning crew. The rest of the critters are comparitively lazy. I do this just to keep ahead of any potential problems.

Snails, some fish (mostly for largish setups) and as mentioned, sea hares can use the algae as food, but food leads to amonia, so unless you've got some auxiliary controls... lather, rinse, repeat.
Reply With Quote
 


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 09:18 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.