qsaark;14747 said:
By the way, I have bought Tetra Algae Control. I has Poly[(oxyethylene(dimethylimino)Ethylene(Dimethylimino)Ethylene Dichloride] as its active ingredient. They suggest to use 1ml/12 gallon water. However they are asking not to use in new aquarium (less than 3 monts old) and the one with shrimps etc. Any suggestions? I am considering this because last night, upon a close inspection, I observed green threads in bunches on some plants as well as on my drift wood. Though I have cleaned it manually, It is bound to re-appear. I have also reduce some decor (lava rock) as I though it was interfering with proper water flow.
Well, big long chemical name, but you can tell right away, it's just a strong oxidizer...........
Like peroxide, bleach, permangnate etc........these all kill algae and are dose dependent as well.
Chlorine oxides.........
You will never hear me suggest an algae killer other than perhaps Excel, but it helps plants growth via CO2 decomposition, rather than as a algae control, and since CO2 is a big issue with algae...........this is direct and indirect.
So do not use the Tetra stuff.
You are desperate and that is why such/those products sell.
Instead, focus on CO2, pruning, water changes.
Reduce the light intensity.
Less light= less algae growth, less nutrient demand.
Make sure the CO2 is in good shape the entire lighting cycle(not just one discrete point), by the sounds of the algae, that is the issue here.
If you get desperate, use Excel at 5mls per 10 gal each day.
A 3 day blackout with water changes each day + Excel will kill about any algae and be safe for all plants/shrimp.
But you should alway focus on plant growth.
Not doing that is why folks have algae.
Cleaning well after moving things around etc is also very important, always do large water changes thereafter.
Keep things clean etc and stay on top of things, then it'll be easy once things gte going well.
Algae means you have slacked off on some routine/maintenance etc, so you do some extra work and whip things back into shape.
Algae killers always market themselves as a silver bullet.
There are no silver bullets other than good plant biomass/growth and matching the growth/nutrients with the lighting.
In general, all algae killers also have a fitness penalty against the plants as well as the algae. So plants do not like them either and it hurts their growth......which is why you had algae to begin with. So they do not correct the root problem.
Recall the old adage: correlation does not = causation.
Algae killers and the entire theory relies on that for sales.
Personally, I'd rather work with cause, otherwise you'd become dependent on algae killers and constantly have issues, but clearly I know of no successful plant folks that use algae killers as a routine.
If you need to beat back algae while you correct the issues, you should correct those issues first and foremost.
Then when you prune, clean, do a blackout, add Excel etc, you get the most out of the work. Otherwise you are wasting your time and effort.
Regards,
Tom Barr