I'm an old-time reefer, with a 52g that uses only alk and cal added by hand: I don't like putting chemical fixes in my tank and I'm grimly resistent to whiz-bang miracles-in-a-bottle.
But a stubborn upsurgence in film algae, grape caulerpa and a spot of cyano has persuaded me I have underlying problems, like maybe bound-up phosphate, probably a legacy of the great rabbitfish debacle, when I ended up feeding the creature macro because I couldn't catch him [was bound out of town] and he was out of food and taking after my corals....
Anyway, not to diverge...I was pretty sure I had phosphates bound somewhere. I bought Phosban. I tried it. I got some bad effects I tended to blame on the Phosban, like decline of a perfectly healthy plate coral [which survived.] So I pulled it.
The green plague grew worse. Much worse. Scrape the glass and a film is back in an hour. I found things to eat it, but they weren't keeping up. A 4 inch wide hungry urchin wasn't keeping up with the rate that stuff was growing in a 52g.
Well, I went back to the Phosban, put some in a nylon sock, bought for that purpose, rinsed as per instructions, and dropped it onto my return pump where it would circulate well.
Immediately the 7th head of my hammer started sliming off something awful and other things didn't look happy, either. At this point I was so desperate about the algae, and thinking, well, maybe that one head is just too close to the inflow and it's doomed anyway, I left it in.
By morning, it looked as if the hammer sliming was all about dividing into an 8th head, and what had looked unhappy last night was perked up and poufed.
Fish were acting more like themselves. Polyps were extending. Feeding tentacles were out.
3rd day now, and things are even better: algae I scrape off the glass does not return in an hour, nor even in a day. I can see my fish again. There's a light at the end of this tunnel.
I had great misgivings, but I think this product is as advertised, and I'll be a constant user and advocate. I know there are other good ones, Rowaphos and the sheets, and by whatever name, if algae is your bane, this may be a fix.
But a stubborn upsurgence in film algae, grape caulerpa and a spot of cyano has persuaded me I have underlying problems, like maybe bound-up phosphate, probably a legacy of the great rabbitfish debacle, when I ended up feeding the creature macro because I couldn't catch him [was bound out of town] and he was out of food and taking after my corals....
Anyway, not to diverge...I was pretty sure I had phosphates bound somewhere. I bought Phosban. I tried it. I got some bad effects I tended to blame on the Phosban, like decline of a perfectly healthy plate coral [which survived.] So I pulled it.
The green plague grew worse. Much worse. Scrape the glass and a film is back in an hour. I found things to eat it, but they weren't keeping up. A 4 inch wide hungry urchin wasn't keeping up with the rate that stuff was growing in a 52g.
Well, I went back to the Phosban, put some in a nylon sock, bought for that purpose, rinsed as per instructions, and dropped it onto my return pump where it would circulate well.
Immediately the 7th head of my hammer started sliming off something awful and other things didn't look happy, either. At this point I was so desperate about the algae, and thinking, well, maybe that one head is just too close to the inflow and it's doomed anyway, I left it in.
By morning, it looked as if the hammer sliming was all about dividing into an 8th head, and what had looked unhappy last night was perked up and poufed.
Fish were acting more like themselves. Polyps were extending. Feeding tentacles were out.
3rd day now, and things are even better: algae I scrape off the glass does not return in an hour, nor even in a day. I can see my fish again. There's a light at the end of this tunnel.
I had great misgivings, but I think this product is as advertised, and I'll be a constant user and advocate. I know there are other good ones, Rowaphos and the sheets, and by whatever name, if algae is your bane, this may be a fix.
