Algae Contol

[brodweiser13]

I've been veiwing this board for months, and have found excellent advice from everyone that posts - THANKS! Looking for help with algae control. 55gl tank has been up for 3 months. Water parameters are good:
pH - 8.0 (a little low, but I'm working on that)
AMM - 0.0
Trite - 0.0
Trates - 0.0
Phos - 0.0 (phosban reactor works excellent)
I've got 10-15 astrea snails, 20 nassarius snails, and 30 or so crabs (various). The blooms have slowed with the phosban reactor, which has been running for a week, but I still seem to get alot on the glass. It doesn't look like the hair algae most describe here, it almost looks smokey when I clean it off, almost like the diatoms did. Anything else I should do other than wait it out??

 

[pontius]

if it's not hair or slime, I wouldn't worry much. you're going to algae on the glass regardless what you do......water and lights are the natural ingredients for that kind of algae, you just have to clean it off. maybe get a magfloat, they work well.

 

[brodweiser13]

Ok. Thanks. That's what I've been using to clean it with - works great, just doing it each day is getting old. For the lighting, I already adjusted the full spectrum light to 6 hours a day. Should that be less? Should the actinic's be adjusted also??

 

[sigmachris]

The actnics should turn on 1 hour before the main lights and shut off 1 hour after the main lights.
As for the light algae on the glass, there is nothing you can do, its part of the chores that come with the hobby.

 

[brodweiser13]

Cool, thanks. I'll have to change the timer tonight after work - after I clean the glass!!