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Re: Algae story (fairy tale???)



Wim Hanssens wrote about problems with black brush algae.

Wim, Siamese Algae Eaters (SAE), Crossocheilus siamensis, are very
effective at eating and controlling black brush algae. They are quite
capable of controlling a bad infestation (if given time and not overfed)

There is an effective prevention method by using the Krombholz bleach
treatment. Not everybody has the patience to use this method and often a
single re-infection is enough to convince them to dismiss it. I always
use this method when setting up a new tank. I may not be able to keep
out every type of algae but I can certainly prevent the worst kinds of
thread algae from getting in. If you get some of the cottony, green
thread or hair algae, not even SAEs will help you.

In my experience, an "out of balance" tank will grow the stuff faster
but finding "balance" will not make the stuff disappear on its own.
Platys (in my experience) will not keep it in check.

As Olga said, sporadic bleach treatments will not remove the sources of
the algae. Its possible to setup a tank without the algae if you treat
all the aquarium equipment and plants before hand. It only takes a
single infected plant to introduce the algae however and at that point,
you have to rely on the SAEs to keep the stuff in control. If you don't
have SAEs yet, its possible to keep the stuff from taking over by
keeping the phosphate and iron levels low and by cleaning affected
leaves out regularly but this tends to be too much work in the long
term. There is no "magic bullet" for algae treatment.

Get one (or preferably several) SAEs and let them go hungry for a week
and see if they don't clean it up. Sometimes we APD old timers get tired
of dispensing this advice since it has been repeated so many times in
the past.

Moral: if your question isn't being answered, it could be for several
reasons. One reason is that the answer may already be in the Krib FAQ or
in the APD archives.
 
Steve Pushak                              Vancouver, BC, CANADA 

Visit "Steve's Aquatic Page"      http://home.infinet.net/teban/
 for LOTS of pics, tips and links for aquatic gardening!!!