I do not use peroxide the way yoy do - and this is my first tank with an oxydator. All my others have been free from peroxide treatment - and they have been algae free as long as my CUC have been large enough.
Sincerely Lasse
Sincerely Lasse
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How else are a bunch of claims going to be balanced and tested, we post what we have to work with
Algae control is probably the least advanced portion of our hobby, thousands of losses still occur from uncontrolled invasions, good to see actual works where possible. The opening statement of this thread is now in challenge and that’s good for loss control/evolving our science. To be honest, the claim for posting an algae ‘Bible’ called for the counterbalance. Edit that part to state an algae ‘guideline’ and edit out the anti peroxide stuff until peroxide doesn’t provide the sole working example for the whole thread.
According to the ammonia - For the book - it is valid for us but not for fish and especially not saltwater species (they not pee so much – if all) The excretion of ammonium occurs instead via specific cells / channels in the gills of aquatic organisms such as fish. Some people also highlite passive diffusion of NH3 (ammonia gas)
do not make sudden changes. do not use anything that can be described as a fast fix.
Im sure thats one way to go about it and that those are tactics that can work for some people; however, the algae bible cannot budge on that idea of no quick changes/instant gratification as they go against the algae bible's philosophies of reef keeping, patience. If you break any of the algae bible rules, then the whole principle of patience is lost.
The issue with hydrogen peroxide and blackouts, in addition to stressing corals and fish, is that they are hotfixes. While it is true that these can kill the algae, I simply won't use them or recommend them. Patience is more important. As soon as you've done one of those strategies, you've already lost, in my book.
Patience and ideologies aside, I can't recommend these practices to anyone. Most of the people will just pour h2o2 into their tank and not do anything to physically help the bacteria. The real root of the issue is the detritus, or a high bioload as @saltyfilmfolks said. That is what I would want a new hobbyist or a clueless struggling hobbyist to focus on. And for them to understand more about algae and the role it plays in their aquarium. Algae is not an evil tank crashing maniac.
It shifts their focus greatly from them being fooled into thinking that that they can, and should, be trying to eliminate algae, into them knowing that they are to be controlling algae with good practices.
Turning the lights off is solitary confinement for the fish and starving the corals of light. The algae could care less about light.
Bacteria grow too slow to replace the algae that is burned off when using h2o2 or lights off strategies anyways. The algae will just grow back. That is why this practices of patience and the maintenance routines of algae bible will work more effectively. Long term they allow you to potentially keep more fish, and not harm anything in the process.
AND THEN, there is the whole group of people who have no idea ammonia is what is causing their algae. Its mind-blowing how common this misconception is. A new person goes onto the forums and have a bombardment of people asking them what their nitrates/phosphates are, instead of pointing at detritus, bio-load, and ammonia. This post was specifically written so that I can copy and paste the algae bible into every single algae problem question thread that comes up and have new reefers following proper practices instantly, not hotfixes.
Is QT fish in a closed 5 gal solitary confinement? And should we not do this?
The method when facing algae issues is to gradually and overtime:
Remove detritus
Increase surface area for bacteria
Manually remove or brush off algae
Address dead spots and detritus collection areas
Addressing your equipment
Then consider adding herbivores depending on how the algae reacts over the months to your actions.
That is common wisdom, but is any of it true?
I tend to think a lot of it is post hoc reasoning, as there are so many examples of tanks that do all these things and still have algae problems.
Do you have any citations/evidence for the ammonia stuff? I'd love to read them. Thanks!
@jda Well heres what I came up with as I cook my dinner.
People have to start cooking grilled cheese before they make a 5 course meal with beef wellington.
Anyone else getting a passive aggressive/slightly hostile vibe from this thread? Haha
Kinda wondering what you did have for dinner?;Jawdrop
According to my last post I had put my 2 cents in, but I found a penny today.
Some background on me. I am 49. Had tanks since I was 22. I actually started with a crayola gimmick tank. Since then I have always had tanks. I once carried my 55 up 2 flight when I moved in college on my back. That is devotion.
The information in this thread is great, but I also am wondering where Fishstick meant to go at the beginning. I took it as a good read to help the general fish keeper. It had good and bad. But I think it was intended as help for all. To me, it got muddled into a lot of debate in Chemistry and I think the intended message got lost along the way.
Is there any take away all agreed on that was repeated throughout we could focus on to help average joes. I do like the info in the thread and the debate. How many of us would really be able to read this and walk away with a confident of a plan of attack.
Any way, I digress. I am new to posting forums so I hope no one was offended and I made a valid point. If not don’t worry, chances are I will not find another penny Friday. Instead i am going to cook whatever fish sticks made.
try the theory that algae overtaking the bacteria is what causes an outbreak, given no changes to bioload or feeding. Nobody has touched that yet except for @Lasse and it would make a great discussion.
Anyone else getting a passive aggressive/slightly hostile vibe from this thread? Haha
I do not use peroxide the way yoy do - and this is my first tank with an oxydator. All my others have been free from peroxide treatment - and they have been algae free as long as my CUC have been large enough.
Sincerely Lasse