Algae Destroyer

[sic0198]

I got some stuff from walmart called Algae Destroyer or was it algae rid, it's from a company called Jungle. It's in tablet form. You throw it in, it fizzes like alka seltzer. It must be potent, on the label it says not to use in aquariums with live plants or Inverts. (no doubt it has some copper in it. Anyway does it work?

 

[Dan81192]

I got some stuff from walmart called Algae Destroyer or was it algae rid, it's from a company called Jungle. It's in tablet form. You throw it in, it fizzes like alka seltzer. It must be potent, on the label it says not to use in aquariums with live plants or Inverts. (no doubt it has some copper in it. Anyway does it work?

Only one way to find out.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Just get lots of shrimps and destroy it that way.

 

[Corleone]

I'd be pretty careful with it, for risk of it wiping out your biofilter as well. I had a disaster after using jungle's fungus treatment.

You're better off scraping off excess and getting something that will eat algae to get the remainder. A magnetic scraper is probably cheaper than the algae remover and lasts forever. You can wash fake plants or rocks in tank water.

As for algae eaters, my otos made very short work of the algae in my tank. They scoured every surface clean of it in about 12 hours, but its been hard to get them to eat anything else since the algae ran out.

 

[Aussie_Dog]

As for algae eaters, my otos made very short work of the algae in my tank. They scoured every surface clean of it in about 12 hours, but its been hard to get them to eat anything else since the algae ran out.

I read an Otto review where the owner set out some rocks in a bucket in the sun and let algae build up, then she'd put the rocks in the tank and the Ottos could feast. I'm trying that right now, but with clay pots.

 

[xcharmanderx421]

As for algae eaters, my otos made very short work of the algae in my tank. They scoured every surface clean of it in about 12 hours, but its been hard to get them to eat anything else since the algae ran out.

I read an Otto review where the owner set out some rocks in a bucket in the sun and let algae build up, then she'd put the rocks in the tank and the Ottos could feast. I'm trying that right now, but with clay pots.

are ottos that good? sometimes i hear they don't really do their job, especially when they also add to the bioload.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

If you have a concern with bio load you should try shrimps....

 

[Corleone]

Otos can be finicky about food. I did my homework ahead of time, and from what I read, if they're not touching the algae already in the tank, they probably won't take anything else you offer, which means they won't add much to the bioload for as long as they survive. My problem with them was never getting them to eat the algae, it's getting them to eat anything else when they're done.

Didn't really think of shrimp, but they're definitely negligible bioload - Shrimper made a post the other day that you can count 8 ghost shrimp similar as 1 inch of fish for the inch-per-gallon rule, and he seems to be a shrimp authority in the invertebrate forum. An apple snail might help, too - you can have one and not worry about snails overrunning your tank.

Bioload is equal to food intake, though (what goes in one end comes out the other), so enough shrimp to equal the algae eating capacity of otos will also equal the bioload.