AlgaeFix Marine to control Hair Algae

[HighlandReefer]

to humans, do you think we need to avoid hands in water when using this product?

The EPA considers this product safe and you should follow the safety guideline stated on the above label. The precautions apply to the concentrated product in the original bottle. So according to these directions you should where gloves and protection when handling the concentrate in the bottle. I don't see much of a problem personally, once the product is diluted into tank water.

 

[HighlandReefer]

well a cleaner just kicked the bucket but the others are still fine. he was old and not as healthy as the others...prolly the push over the edge.

Your guess would be as good as mine as to why that old shrimp kicked the bucket. Certainly shrimp are sensitive to heavy metals which were elevated during your mag. increase. It is possibly that is why he kicked the bucket.

 

[stevedola]

i raised mag over a year ago. its been 1350 for well over 9mths. im not complaining just simply conveying my experience. If I lose my pr of fires Ill be complaining though

 

[HighlandReefer]

Personally, I would not take the risk with any expensive coral, shrimp or other marine organisms and use AF. I would follow my Dad's advice, "Never gamble more than you can afford to loose." :lol:

 

[thebanker]

In my experience: In higher concentrations, AF will adversely affect coral.

Of course, i had a brain fart and dosed 5x the recommended amount. However, all my surviving corals are very sensitive to AF Marine now.

 

[HighlandReefer]

A 5x dose would push the levels of the active ingredient closer to what it is used for as a biocide sterilant (which if I recall correctly is around 10X).

 

[stevedola]

Personally, I would not take the risk with any expensive coral, shrimp or other marine organisms and use AF. I would follow my Dad's advice, "Never gamble more than you can afford to loose." :lol:

so only use if you have nothing of worth to lose. pardon me but who here has nothing to lose? everyone has something slightly expensive...thats a part of the hobby.

 

[iamwrasseman]

i have had mag at 1500 for a few months and used the AF for approx. eight doses and all HA is gone and there was one different type of algae that was much more resilient but it has been beat .i must add that i also installed a good quality RO/DI unit and that took a month but put the kabosh on all the algae . IMO i think all along it was my first RO unit as i tested the TDS and it was quite high (16) then i installed the new unit TDS(00) and it took a few water changes but then the po4 suddenly dropped .in retrospect the AF never hurt any of my fish or corals and it did in fact demolish the hair algae .there was a different type that was resilient but then the low po4 took care of the rest .also i do have many cleaner and blood shrimp along with hundreds of snails and crabs and didn't lose any except the usual amount to my wrasses .

 

[redfishsc]

Cliff,

Am I correct in what I read that AF is not doing much against siphonous algaes like bryopsis and derbesia?

Is anyone trying it for these?

 

[HighlandReefer]

redfishsc,

AF does not seem to work well with bryopsis or derbesia. Several hobbyists have tried it against byopsis and did not achieve control. I have a derbesia (siphoning algae) and did not achieve good control after dosing AF for quite an extended period of time.

I thought you had tried the mag elevation method?

 

[HighlandReefer]

so only use if you have nothing of worth to lose. pardon me but who here has nothing to lose? everyone has something slightly expensive...thats a part of the hobby.

I hear what you are saying. Hobbyists take risks when they dose carbon sources, use high pH alk supplements, Add additional micro-nutrients, start to run GAC............etc. :lol:

FWIW, the risk for loosing coral, shrimp, crabs or other occupants while dosing AF, doesn't seem to be any worse. I have seen more hobbyists loose coral and tank occupants from the above then while dosing AF.

I don't have any shrimp or crabs in my system. I do have snails. I dosed AF for quite an extended period of time (several months at the 3 day interval) without losing coral or snails. It did kill my chaeto after extended dosing. I would not recommend that hobbyists do this though, as there seems to be more negative results from prolonged dosing of AF.

Still, if you have occupants that you have a great attachment too, I would take precautions and remove them from your tank while you dose AF. Most advanced hobbyists have a quarantine tank that can be used for the purpose and if you don't have one I would highly recommend one.

 

[HighlandReefer]

stevedola,

AlgaeFix does not work on all species of algae. If you have a good quality pic (prefereably some focused close-ups) it may help to determine what algae type you have.

 

[HighlandReefer]

I think hobbyists should be aware about the heavy metal concentrations in tanks regarding shrimp & other invertebrates. From what I have read, the heavy metal concentrations found in average tanks normally approach the levels that can kill shrimp (invertebrates). The salt mix concentrations are very high. Some hobbyists unknowing supplement heavy metals in various mixes they add. Food will add heavy metals. Mag & calcium supplements will add more. Kalk & calcium reactors add more yet. One of the newer salt mixes has listed much higher than most salt mix levels of copper. IMHO, shrimp & other similar invertebrates may die due to excessive heavy metals concentrations in their tanks and have no idea this is the reason. FWIW, AlgaeFix could be easily wrongly blamed for the deaths.

 

[pugbreath13]

Is there an identification website somewhere for algae? I have a type that grows in small mounds that is dark green in color. I tried Algaefix over a year ago but it did not work. The algae died off but it is back now in the same spots.

 

[HighlandReefer]

There are various websites that help ID algae. The best one can hope for IMHO, is to differential various macroalgae from microalgae. Identifying algae will take the use of a microscope along with lots of knowledge regarding algae and IDing procedures. I have several mycology text books which help, but you also need the various stages that algae take (ie. spore stages) to begin to properly ID the algae. IMHO most algae have not been properly IDed at this point and the algae we have can come from most places in the world.

If AlgaeFix controlled your algae once before, then most likely it did not completely eradicate it from your tank. It only takes a few cells to repopulate over a short period of time. In this case, I would re-treat using AF at the three day interval until your pest is controlled. Perhaps continue dosing weekly for a while and then watch for signs of a comeback.

 

[HighlandReefer]

Pug, I would be interested in any pics you can provide.

 

[pugbreath13]

My camera will not take close-ups very well. I just went home on lunch and pulled some out and looked at it under a magnifying glass. It grows to be about a half inch long and some strands have forks in them. There also looks to be small black seeds on some of the strands. This is only visible using the 10x magnifying glass. The Algaefix did not work last time. This algae died 6 months after I stopped dosing it. I do not know what made it die. It just started withering one day and breaking apart. I have some regular hair algae that I was going to use the Algaefix on but I had the issue a few days ago with adding too much GAC that you helped me with. I do wish I could get a picture and looking at several websites I have not seen anything that directly resembles it.

 

[HighlandReefer]

Your description fits too many algae types. If AlgaeFix did not work, I assume you achieved control due to better husbandry practices. I would work on this algae using better husbandry practices. It could be one of the siphoning algae, which have very large cells extending into branches of the algae. So one cell may comprise several branches you are seeing. The only way you will be able to see this would be under a microscope. Derbesia is one of these algae and is fairly common.

FWIW, many macroalgae are siphoning algae (Bryopsis & Kelp) and this is one reason why they are so difficult to control.

 

[HighlandReefer]

A picture of Despersia-marinea which seems to be a common pest in reef tanks:

From my experience, AlgaeFix does not work on the derbesia.

 

[pugbreath13]

You are the man! It looks just like the Derbesia pics on web. So, I should be able to control this by just improving my water quality? Thanks again!