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RE:Algae/bio/bleach/Cladophora
>>Don't do it. On anything porous for that matter. Hard as hell to get it all
>>out afterwards. Use SAE's- they will eat BBA.
>
>They might control it for a while but they will never get all of it and
>it will return. You need to eradicate, not control it.
Well, I had the BBA tank of the decade at one point. Never an issue since.
I think it's been about 6 years or so.....maybe more since then. I have had
tanks(many) that don't have BBA but certainly have been exposed multiple
times. A lower fish load, good stable Kh/Ph/CO2 level and a balanced
nutrient mix hasn't failed me yet.
I only got my first SAE's about 2 years ago from SFBAAPS group buy. So I was
able to handle BBA without them also. It(BBA) didn't return for me anyway.
>I have to diaagree with you on a couple of points, Thomas. First, no
>gravel used in an aquarium should be "porous" as to me that implied
>it's soluable.
Porous and soluble are two different things. I feel that gravel that is
porous is great for plants roots(flourite/turface/profile etc). Sands works
too. Perhaps you mean something else here?
Ignoring that, if you bleach gravel and can't get rid of
>the bleach, simply use sodium thuisulphate (photographers "hypo")
>that you can buy by the pound as a solid. Dump somwe in, it will
>comlpetely neutralize the chlorine simply and instantly.
Yes it can be done but with something that is porous(like wood) but often
there are some "leftovers" and these can cause problems if not neutralized,
but I agree with you that it can be done without too much issue. I just add
a little more dechlorinator and let it sit longer before I put it back in
the tank. I guess I should've been a little clearer on that.
My point is BBA is not some Algae that cannot be controlled completely
by SAE's. Good environmental control(moderate fish loads/good stable Ph etc)
will benefit the plants as well. SAE's will surely take care of the rest.
This environmental control works for all types of algae.
I guess my main issue with bleach is one of principal. I feel that folks
might want to consider balanced biological control method based on
environmental control rather than extermination and sterile technique using
bleach/KMnO4/CuSO4 etc. I did like Neil's ionic copper method, less work:).
Both approaches can work. Plants do better with the environmental method
though. If that's not an option, the sterile method may be the ticket for
you. I've done both methods as I was crazed and plagued by algae for many
years. I had no one to confer with so I tried EVERYTHING
short of spiritual incantations. Neil Frank went down this road also. Bleach
was my friend for some time. Still is for cleaning certain items like tubing
and reactors/disc etc.
Algae is a real pain is one thing that for certain in planted tanks! Green
spot is the one I want to beat someday. I can get rid of it for about 6
months at most typically. The tanks have nothing in the water column, only
in the soil/substrate. This has worked well using flourite,soil, and sand +
RFUG. The RFUG did the worse for the plants growth over all. All did very
well for the algae control, getting to the 6 month stage with no algae on
the glass at all.
Otto cats and snails were the only critters for algae control.
These days I induce algae to grow in my test tanks. It ain't easy sometimes!
At least getting the type you want to grow is not. Maybe I'm sick for doing
this. I wonder sometimes. I have even tried using one type to see if it got
rid of another type of algae. This didn't work with the ones I was trying
out. Maybe it may work on another mix of algae. Since some are harder than
others to get rid of I figured why not get a "cold" to cure "cancer". So far
it's not looking that good.
I just like to have as many methods/weapons to kill algae as I can.
I have an algae ball, Cladophora, (Rataj, pg 49) that I'm keeping as a nice
addition to my tank.
It's very neat but a slow grower. So what happens when you algae gets algae?
What then?
Regards,
Tom Barr