Green algae control ?

[jdempsey1980]

I was wondering if anybody has experience with "in filter" biological algae control ? My LFS clerk showed me these packets that go inside the canister filter. She said they are made of all natural ingredients. I have softshell turtles and I'm not sure about using this product.

 

[BBradbury]

Algae Control

I was wondering if anybody has experience with "in filter" biological algae control ? My LFS clerk showed me these packets that go inside the canister filter. She said they are made of all natural ingredients. I have softshell turtles and I'm not sure about using this product.

Hello jdemp...

I'm skeptical of chemicals and prefer natural ways of controlling algae. The best approach is to limit the phosphates that go into the tank. Flaked foods are high phosphate and what isn't eaten dissolves in the water and makes a great environment for all kinds of algae. Nitrates are second to phosphates. So, you want to limit both. Reducing the flaked foods, keeping the water extremely pure with large, frequent water changes and provided you have some kind of filtration system, adding a nitrate reducing medium, like a product from Acurel.

I'd stick to the natural remedies.

B

 

[jdempsey1980]

Thanks for the insight. I do have a few small fish that require flake food because they aren't big enough to consume pellets yet. maybe I can move the fish to another tank. I have my turtles in a 75 gallon tank and the filtration on it is a marine land C530 canister which should be able to handle up to a 125-150 tank. I wasn't planning on the fish surviving this long with two young Softshells. I have a spare breeder I can put them in though. They've kinda grown on me. Also, I do a 50% WC every week. The algae came out of nowhere in 2 days time.

 

[mike gergley]

never had turtles but cutting the time your light is on should help with the algae also some low light plants will help

 

[jdempsey1980]

That's what a friend said, too much light exposure can cause excessive algae. I will cut back my spectrum light time by two hours a day and see if that helps.
Thanks for the suggestions.