phosphate control

[r6mason]

I cannot take this damn brown alage anymore. I was wandering if anyone has used any type of phosphate eliminater. If so what was the name of it and how long did it take to work.


My tank is as follows:

Amonia 0.0
Nitrites 0.0
Nitrites 0.0

TIA
Mason

 

[flanque]

Phosphguard is a good one in Australia. There should be several brands. See you LFS.

 

[r6mason]

yeah I have heard that tunze quickphos 910 is suppost to work within a week but you can only get it in Australia. The LFS has the seachem phosphate/silicate control but I do not know how well it works because it is only $8.99 and the tunze is like $48. I would like to get the stuff that works the quickest ya know.

 

[seaham358]

How old is your tank? You could still have diatom algae which is part of a new tank cycle.
You did not post your phosphate readings did you test for them?
What type of water are you using.

 

[r6mason]

my tank is about month and a half old. I do not have a phosphate test. I used tap water to fill it up but using bottled water to do water changes. If it is part of the new tank set up how long will it take to go away?

 

[jackdp]

It could take months for your new tank's algae cycles to complete. Take into account that you filled it with tap water which could've been high in nitrates and/or phosphates and it could take even longer. As long as you're limiting the introduction of any new nutrients eventually the algae should die off. Are you testing for phosphates? Do you have any type of cleaner crew in there to eat algae?

 

[seaham358]

Could be several months.... Bottled water? What kind? Most drinking water from what I have read is just as bad if not worse then tap water for a aquarium use.
If you dont have a test kit for PO4 then you can not be sure that is the problem.
So don't waste your money on PO4 removal until your sure that is the problem.

 

[Skyrmir]

In the mean time you could try an apple/mystery snail. My snail decimated the brown algea in the fry tank. It's not a solution, but it gets the problem under control so it's easier to solve. Now it's just a war between the anacharis and the algea, the anacharis is winning.

 

[flame82]

i will say that i have a friend that used the new phos buster and the phos is zero all the time. however i have heard that this may leave behind some silicates with this process. i am going to give the phos buster a whirl with my tank i started out with tap water and know i want to switch to ro/di. and with as high as levels i have water changes would most likely take a year or more to remove it. live aquaira or premium aquaitcs has this and i at least for me it is cheaper to buy at premium aquaitcs with the discount from AA
good luck