Re: red algae & UV light sterilization

• To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
• Subject: Re: red algae & UV light sterilization
• From: Stephen.Pushak at saudan_HAC.COM
• Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 11:16:00 PST
• Cc: wizard at daemon_apana.org.au
• In-Reply-To: <199610272039.PAA17171 at looney_actwin.com>; from "Aquatic-Plants-Owner at ActWin_com" at Oct 27, 96 3:39 pm

> From: TROY HIXON <wizard at daemon_apana.org.au>
> >
> >Hi this is my first post an i was just wondering... The red algae that grows 
> >in fresh water seems to be a pretty common problem and i was wondering... Is 
> >it possible to kill it with UV light sterilization or ould this process have 
> >detrimental effects to the growing of a planed tank?? 

UV won't kill red algae since it only kills spores or other small
organism which are circulated through the sterilizer. I wouldn't apply
strong doses of UV light into an aquarium. Control ph to about 6.8 with
CO2, use SAEs and Platys or follow the 5% bleach procedure outlined in
the FAQ. IMHO it is pointless to bleach plants unless the aquarium has been
fully treated to begin with. Algae readily spreads to other plants once
it has colonized a tank. Filament algaes can be introduced into a clean
tank along with water from new fish, on snails or on plants that appear
to be clean. You can prevent this by using a quarantine tank for
new fish/snails and by using the bleach disinfectant procedure on all
new plants. Proper pH can greatly help an existing tank with brush
algae as can the use of SAEs.

Steve P.  in drizzly Vancouver (where it rains for weeks sometimes)

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