Filter Help

[Drayven]

Ok AquariumAdvicers I come to you once again for some... aquarium advice... On my 50 gallon breeder tank I have been using AquaClear 70 filters and overall I really enjoy them. They are nice and quiet and fairly easy to use. However I have a problem in this tank that is making the AC70s die sooner then they should. The issue is that this tank has a pretty bad algae problem. I've tried a number of things to fix it including black outs, more frequent water changes, less feeding and everything else I can think of aside from Excel dosing because i"m afraid of harming my RCS population or some of the scaleless fish in there. Instead of continuing to bang my head against the wall trying to fix it I've just sort of learned to deal with it. I've gotten the green algae to grow in specific spots and it's become quite the hang out for the shrimp and the sword tails really seem to enjoy nibbling on it. The problem however is that given the nature of the algae it tends to clog up the intake on my filter. Once or twice a week if I'm not careful it'll cut off the water supply completely. What happens is this creates a vacuum situation where the filter is trying to run but can't get water and the impeller wears out pretty fast and the motor as well. I think I'm on my third filter in a little over 2 years.

So what I'm wondering is if there is a better type of filter I could be using to get a bit more life out of the filters. Would an internal filter work better under these circumstances? Maybe an external canister? All of my experience so far is with HoB styles so any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Drayven]

BTW I should add that the types of algae I'm dealing with appear to be Cladophora algae and Black Brush. I'm getting some SAEs to help cut down on the brush. This tank does have a few live plants so it's got daylight bulbs on it.

 

[skiweeangel]

What are your water readings? How long did you try the black out for? When our tank was infront of a window ( there was no other place for it) we had a much harder time with algae. Have you tried lots of frequent PWC? That seems to help a lot. I have some moss balls in one of my tanks, they use up a lot of nutrients and so for i have not had a problem with algae there. But good fast growing plants do the same thing I think.

As for canister vs HoB I have two dif 55gal one with canister one with hob. I love the canister and I'm Impartial to the HoB. Canisters may seem daunting at first but you get the hang of them fast and can customize them to your liking. Experience is key with them.