air stone?

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pspiegel

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
82
i was at my lfs today and talking about how i have a major algea problem since my tank is in the window.. i have been trying to come up with ways to cut it down, but i think i am basically stuck with just scrubbing it off.. the problem is, when is scrub it off it accumulates on the surface of the water..

i tried a brine net to skim it off but it doesnt really get it off.. the guy at the LFS said that I should try an airstone, to boost the oxygen exchange, cut down on c02, and it would cut down on algea production/break up the water surface a bit (if i understood what he was saying right, i may have gotten some of the details wrong)....

i figured i would ask here before i did it, any thoughts on whether this is a good or bad idea? it is 14gal bio-cube tank...

thanks!!!
 
Don't do it. Get more surface agitation (oxygen/gas exchange) by pointing your phs to break the surface. Airstones aren't really useful in SW, it can cause problem in the fish. You say your tank is in the window? I have thought about this for a while, how about tinting the glass?
 
Algae is partially caused by the excess light but high levels of po4/no3 and/or excess nutrients are usually a greater problem. (read the Algae control article for more info)

A good current at the surface induced with multiple power heads as roka mentioned is the best way to reduce possible co2 build up. Keeping your tank topless is important as well since glass tops trap co2.

I've gathered from your other posts that you have a 14 gal tank with two young clowns and have been feeding flake mostly.

Flake is notorious for not being eaten and contributing greatly to increasing your po4/no3 levels which algae feed off. Frozen has much smaller quantities of po4 and I'd reduce the amount of feedings to what your two fish can consume within 2-3 minutes to limit excess waste (no3).

Since the tank weight is around 50-70 lbs half empty I'd relocate the tank way from the window when you do your next pwc or at the very least get some curtains.
 
thanks for all the replies! i thought that the powerhead might be a better idea than air stones as I remembered them being a problem in the past.. i just got the two clowns literally two days ago and picked up some frozen food for them yesterday, I had two damsels in there before that I was feeding flake food but I took them back to my LFS sice they were too aggressive for such a small tank..

as far as the cause of the algea, i have a feeling that it is mostly from the window because my nitrates and phosphates are all at the correct levels, when i do feed flake, i wait five minutes and then whatever is still floating around i scoop out and toss that way it doesn't add to the waste in the tank, i also have crabs and snails that seem to like the flake food so they help out with whatever i miss..

the problem is that in the room the tank is, the entire wall is basically one big window, so there isn't too many other choices for locations without sun.. i do have blackout curtains in the window, i just hate to have to leave them closed all day...

how hard is it to tint the glass? i have never really seen it done/looked into it.. it would probably void my warranty on the tank though wouldn't it?
 
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