Before I continue, I need to put a disclaimer in here: ** All chemicals are used to at your own risk ** As many of you may know, I have been struggling with an algae in my main display tank that I identified as Staghorn Algae. The professor and I have been dosing this tank with different fertilizing elements to try and balance out the shortfall that we suspected the tank of having. Most algae grows because of a shortage of some macro and / or micro nutrient, and due to the fact that each algae is due to a different shortfall, (or excess), it is easy to identify the shortfall (or excess). This tank has been through 4 day blackouts once a month. I have lowered the light, I have increased the light. And the algae just simply continued. Recently the Professor viewed my tank personally, (and not through photo's), and although it appears to be staghorn algae, he was not 100% convinced. It appears that it is of the Black type of algae family... which many of you may know is a very stubborn family of algae. We then decided that we would simply "nuke" the tank with an algaecide, and get rid of it once and for all. I still believe that the algae was introduced into the tank from a certain plant supplier... which also goes to prove that a QT tank for plants, and not only fish, is also an essential for those guys who are heavy into their plants. * * * I purchased a product called "Pond Clear, by Efekto". When I worked for a hardware store, this product was very new on the market, and was sworn by the agents to be fish friendly. (We even tried it out on our in-store water feature that had goldfish in it!) The packaging insert warns you not to mess the product on any terrestrial plants whilst handling the stuff, but made no mention of aquatic plants. Due to the fact that the product is used for PONDS, I assumed that it would be safe on aquatic plants, but to be on the safe side, I only dosed half the recommended dosage. It was left in the tank for a week, during which time I had a brief conversation with Professor, and with Azurekoi. Pond clear contains the following as it's active ingredients: 2,4-D sodium salt (phenoxy compound) 20.8g/kg Diuron 10.64g/kg Ametryn 6.7g/kg. The professor, as well as Azurekoi had big concerns for my plants due to the fact that the product had 2,4-D in it, which is an extremely strong weed-killer, and would more than likely wipe out my entire plant system (depending on how strong the mixture was). At this point I did a 80% water change and left the tank for 2 weeks. The Plants did take a bit of a knock, and have been displaying signs of struggling. Some of the weaker plants turns brown, however new shoots are growing already. I believe that because I went half dose, that I managed to be kinder on my plants. Pond Clear did kill off 85% of the staghorn algae, as well as the Green Spot algae that develops on the glass. Algae on my rocks subsided, and the water became crystal crystal clear literally overnight. HOWEVER, I would NOT advise this product for anyone who has plants in their tank!! * * *Azurekoi directed me towards a product called "Crystal Algae Go" by Robalon pet enterprises. I contacted Jungle Aquatics to get the product in for me. In the meantime, I actually found the product from another LPS. The product is relatively cheap, (between R60-R70 per 50g bottle, and 1g treats 110litres). If anyone want this product, contact Jungle Aquatics, I know they are trying to get it in. I again treated the tank with this product to try and remove the remainder of the algae. After a week 99% of the staghorn is gone, and the plants are still alive. Last night I did a water change and redosed the tank to try and kill that remaining 1%. If ANY algae is left in the tank, then it could thrive again when the conditions are right. Crystal Algae Go claims on their packaging that their product is plant safe, however they cannot guarantee this on the more sensitive plants. They also claim that it is ONLY plant friendly IF you mix according to the correct dosages. * * * Whilst I am against the use of chemicals in aquariums, there comes a time in an aquarists life where he has 2 choices: Chuck in the hobby from frustration, or go the chemical route. The chemical route is obviously considered a "quick fix" and you would need to get down to the root cause of the problem, however I have come to the realization that sometimes we need to take different measures and go the chemical route. Again, both these products are great, and are actually easily available. Please use them in accordance to the label instructions. Regards
Would this product Crystal Algae Go have any impact on the biological bacteria makeup in my canister ?
@Trevor Pleco ... The short answer is no - have never experienced it to have a negative impact on my filter bacteria... but they are gonna have to work a bit harder after the treatment to get rid of the extra organics in the form of dead algea for a few days...
Personally never lost any pond fish to it - check with Zoom if he lost any... Personally know the manufacturers of the product for over a decade... more dedicated fishkeepers I still have to find...
Correct Azurekoi. My fish seemed perfectly healthy during the course. Water perimeters stayed good during the process. I would assume there would be a build of up dead algae in the tank, so keep an eye on that. If I recall, the product does say it is filter friendly at the right dosage.
Update: Tank (Plants) is starting to recover from the dose of Pond Clear I initially used. There are still small traces of the staghorn algae. I believe the majority of it was probably killed by the pond clear, and the Crystal Algae Go is slowly killing off the rest. I'll do a W/C this week again, and then re-dose with Crystal Algae Go again to keep on killing the algae. Still no signs of ill-effect on the fish, and considering the plants are recovering, I can safely assume that Crystal Algae Go is fine with plants. All parameters are still looking good.
Does Crystal Algae Go = AlgiRid ? I am not able to find the Crystal Algae Go on the mentioned manufactures web site. See it also kill snails - so probably contains something that has Cu in it as a first stab. Later Ferdie
@f-fish No, that's a different product made by same company. The Crystal Algae Go has been fine on my snails. Contact Bryan at Jungle Aquatics, I asked him about 3 weeks ago to try and source the Crystal Algae. I think if enough of us pester him he might get it in. Let's get his attention: @JungleAquatics
Thanks for the further up date, can I just use Crystal Algae Go, rather than a combination of both products including Pond Clear ?
Just spoke to my LFS, they have Crystral Algae clear, presumably this is the pond one and the plant killer, Tetra Algorem (?), Interpet Green Away, but are recommending Seachem Phosguard ? Anyway I will continue the search for Algae Go.
Hi All, I've got a big problem with bba, and some blue-green algae. I finally got hold of some Crystal Algae Go, but it's been nearly 48 hrs since treatment with no results so far : ( Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanx ; ) Oli
Get a SAE or two. Just make sure you getting the true SAE as some LPS will sell you a CAE instead but its not nearly as effective.
Thanx a lot. Will see if I can get hold of some of those ; ) Otherwise I'll just strip the tank and do a cichlid set up - I've been battling for a year now !
