How to Control Algae in a FOWLR
- Thread starter WLachnit
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ComforablyNumb
New member
zzs
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WLachnit
Active member
Urchins sound like a good idea.
cougareyes
New member
My blueline and clown triggers would crunch up anything I tried to put in their tank. At to my surprise a tuxedo urchin has now been living unscathed, and doing a great job.
ReefKeeper64
Wanna be a reefkeeper
A low dose of Choroquine Phosphate will kill off your algae amazingly well. I've used it in a fowlr and it took a month for the CP to "stop" killing the algae but the glass was nice and clean during that time.
The trick is to go slow and phase it in over a one month period. Know that it will also kill off worms, inverts, or snails so you have to read up on your own to understand it well. Copepods will survive. CP will also treat ick, velvet and brook at a regular dose.
I bought my first CP for $15 from a coral seller on ebay but you can also buy New Life Spectrum Powder Ick-Shield, which also contains the same effective ingredient. That is what I am using now.
Consider dosing way under the norm at 1/8 tsp per 80 gal and wait a week to see the impact. That works out to just 5ml/gal. A week later, add another dose and track what you are putting in. You will begin to see algae die off at some point.
A regular dose is 40ml/gal which works out to 1 tsp per 80 gal. Your sand will absorb and later leach CP back over time (a few weeks) so you have to do a maintenance dose to stay on top of your algae but it is relatively low maintenance. CP is forgiving on your fish and can be dosed at up to 80ml/gal. You know what you have in your tank and can judge if this is an option for you or not. Happy reading.
The trick is to go slow and phase it in over a one month period. Know that it will also kill off worms, inverts, or snails so you have to read up on your own to understand it well. Copepods will survive. CP will also treat ick, velvet and brook at a regular dose.
I bought my first CP for $15 from a coral seller on ebay but you can also buy New Life Spectrum Powder Ick-Shield, which also contains the same effective ingredient. That is what I am using now.
Consider dosing way under the norm at 1/8 tsp per 80 gal and wait a week to see the impact. That works out to just 5ml/gal. A week later, add another dose and track what you are putting in. You will begin to see algae die off at some point.
A regular dose is 40ml/gal which works out to 1 tsp per 80 gal. Your sand will absorb and later leach CP back over time (a few weeks) so you have to do a maintenance dose to stay on top of your algae but it is relatively low maintenance. CP is forgiving on your fish and can be dosed at up to 80ml/gal. You know what you have in your tank and can judge if this is an option for you or not. Happy reading.
Mollies do fine in salt water, eat algae and are prolific livebearers. They effectively turn algae into feeders for your carnivores to naturally hunt and eat.
Sounds Fishy
New member
If you can,lower your bio load,and increase filtration,that will help..Having good circulation and running UV will help lessen algae.Introducing bio pellets and/or GFO helps too.I do all of that plus regular water changes,and have a CUC including an urchin...but I still get a bit of algae growth on my LR(minimal).If I lowered the light intensity,as well,it would be algae free...
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Old School Method: elbow grease
Old School Method: elbow grease
I have a 150 gal fish only tank. No refugium or algae turf scrubber.
The only way I keep algae in check is by regular cleaning of the glass about every two weeks and stirring up the gravel.
I also have artificial corals which I remove from the tank and soak in chlorinated hot water every 6 to 8 weeks followed by a thorough rinsing with a de-chlorinator and then air dried.
I'm afraid to dose any anti-algae additives. It seems these additives are mostly targeted for freshwater aquaria. And, I'm not a fan of using clean up crews as they are unaesthetic to me.
So it's a manually chore for me. Old school style.
I have also found that keeping nitrates, silicates and phosphates at low levels has a limited effect on algae growth. It seems that it doesn't take much for algae to grow. Things like GFO or a UV light have had little to no impact for me towards meaningful elimination of algae.
I'm considering carbon dosing to further reduce nitrates and phosphates, but I'm slowly talking myself out of this because I suspect it will have minimal impact too. And, it's another piece of equipment to maintain and fail.
Sorry, no silver bullet offered by me here.
Jeff
Old School Method: elbow grease
I have a 150 gal fish only tank. No refugium or algae turf scrubber.
The only way I keep algae in check is by regular cleaning of the glass about every two weeks and stirring up the gravel.
I also have artificial corals which I remove from the tank and soak in chlorinated hot water every 6 to 8 weeks followed by a thorough rinsing with a de-chlorinator and then air dried.
I'm afraid to dose any anti-algae additives. It seems these additives are mostly targeted for freshwater aquaria. And, I'm not a fan of using clean up crews as they are unaesthetic to me.
So it's a manually chore for me. Old school style.
I have also found that keeping nitrates, silicates and phosphates at low levels has a limited effect on algae growth. It seems that it doesn't take much for algae to grow. Things like GFO or a UV light have had little to no impact for me towards meaningful elimination of algae.
I'm considering carbon dosing to further reduce nitrates and phosphates, but I'm slowly talking myself out of this because I suspect it will have minimal impact too. And, it's another piece of equipment to maintain and fail.
Sorry, no silver bullet offered by me here.
Jeff
Chaeto in a fuge works. Mexican Turbo snails work too - they learn how to hunker down when something comes near them. Either can die if the N and P get too high.
Carbon dosing can be quite effective since you don't have to worry about getting the N and P too low. You do have to worry about, however, going too fast and using up all of the oxygen. I used sugar on my FO to keep N near 1 and P near .1 so that coralline would grow and the snails would stay alive. I just added some amount (I forget) with a spoon into the sump every night and the skimmer took care of the rest.
You will need to keep up on your water changes in any case.
Carbon dosing can be quite effective since you don't have to worry about getting the N and P too low. You do have to worry about, however, going too fast and using up all of the oxygen. I used sugar on my FO to keep N near 1 and P near .1 so that coralline would grow and the snails would stay alive. I just added some amount (I forget) with a spoon into the sump every night and the skimmer took care of the rest.
You will need to keep up on your water changes in any case.
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