I have a red algae problem in my tank 
The water in my area is extremely hard (off the charts out of the tap lol), and while I don't have a phosphate test kit I'm assuming its in high content in the water as well.
Nitrates, last time I checked, were in between 20-50 according to my liquid test kit, I think it was closer to 20 in color personally.
I do 50-60% water changes weekly (just to make sure I'm doing good with nitrate removal) , and though I just did one yesterday my fish were particularly messy this last week for some reason and a lot of waste wasn't removed, so I'll do a small change to try to get more of it up because it was way dirtier then usual this past week
I've been seeing mixed reviews about Easy Balance, but I wonder if it's ok to use to just help control nitrates/phosphates to help alleviate the red algae, and of course still do my weekly water changes. I'm not looking for an excuse not to change water, just to get rid of that stupid algae!! It's ruining my favorite decoration (a sand castle) that i can't just scrub it off of And it's just unsightly.
The light is usually not even on 10 hours a day, probably about 8-9. Only very small, brief amounts of sunlight get in the tank a day as the blinds are drawn, just a brief bit of morning sun.
I got a Siamese algae eater, which I heard will eat the red algae, but so far it isn't (and I'm positive its a siamese vs a chinese algae eater)
If this stuff is a bad idea, is there another way I can keep my nitrates down besides changing huge amounts of water all the time? All of my other readings are great. This is the first time I've ever had a red algae problem
The water in my area is extremely hard (off the charts out of the tap lol), and while I don't have a phosphate test kit I'm assuming its in high content in the water as well. Nitrates, last time I checked, were in between 20-50 according to my liquid test kit, I think it was closer to 20 in color personally.
I do 50-60% water changes weekly (just to make sure I'm doing good with nitrate removal) , and though I just did one yesterday my fish were particularly messy this last week for some reason and a lot of waste wasn't removed, so I'll do a small change to try to get more of it up because it was way dirtier then usual this past week
I've been seeing mixed reviews about Easy Balance, but I wonder if it's ok to use to just help control nitrates/phosphates to help alleviate the red algae, and of course still do my weekly water changes. I'm not looking for an excuse not to change water, just to get rid of that stupid algae!! It's ruining my favorite decoration (a sand castle) that i can't just scrub it off of
And it's just unsightly.The light is usually not even on 10 hours a day, probably about 8-9. Only very small, brief amounts of sunlight get in the tank a day as the blinds are drawn, just a brief bit of morning sun.
I got a Siamese algae eater, which I heard will eat the red algae, but so far it isn't
(and I'm positive its a siamese vs a chinese algae eater)If this stuff is a bad idea, is there another way I can keep my nitrates down besides changing huge amounts of water all the time? All of my other readings are great. This is the first time I've ever had a red algae problem
