Algon

[siege]

Has anyone ever heard of this product - http://www.algone.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=28">http://www.algone.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=28</a>

It seems like a great idea... But does it work - and is it as safe - as advertised?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Reef safe is a realitive term. Does it work, nothings works in the long term unless you figure out why you have algae growth and high ammonia and NO2/NO3. Solve those problems and save your money. As far as the clearity of water, there are plenty of products that make clear water but I do not recommend any of then. Again solve your problem. The only one that I have used in the past that made some sort of difference (after adding sand) was Deachem's product but even at that it is pretty much a waste of money, IMHO.

 

[siege]

Well, it's like this...

Our water is very clear, but algal growth, while not explosive, has been steady, esp. since a 3-day power outage where the UPS also failed and killed _either immediately or eventually) about 70% of our inhabitants. Dead inhabitants were removed inasmuch as possible, but it is going to be some time until we are going to be able to get the tank completely cleaned up. We were also originally using treated tap water, but are now the happy owners of a 100gpd 6-stage RO/DI (w/ tank) for about a month now. Things are slowly clearing up, but the RO/DI has rocketed up our pH. Adding sand is not really feasible, as our sand-bed is already a good 6" deep (incl. the 1.25" plenum) and that's in a 50gal. Nitrates and Nitrites are not high, they're not off the scale... they're not ON the scale. Phosphates (from all the earlier tap-water) and decaying matter from die-off is the real problem, I think, and I was just hoping for a way to mediate whats there until the whole mess stabilizes as I gradually introduce new livestock. and creep pH down to a more reasonable level. pH has also been a nightmare, as my water is naturally high right out of the RO/DI, and with the kalkwasser drip we had, the tanks buffering capacity is... vast.

Anyway...</em> There is some algal growth on my corals, and if this product is actually effective and safe for my tank (as algacides are not) then I'd be willingly to give it a go until things stabilize.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Well in that case try a polyfilter to the PO4.

What type of algae are you getting and what is your flow situation like?

 

[FutureInterest]

Algone is not going to do much for your phosphate issues. The algone from my understanding is carbon and nitrite absorbing media mixed up. I suggest adding 250ml of granulated ferric oxide, which will absorb both the phosphates and some silicates. It doesn't matter which brand they all pretty much do the same thing.

 

[siege]

silicates may well be the issue that i hadn't really considered so far. I have run Polyfilters fairly consistently since original setup, as well as bags of PhosGuard, and have gone thru two polyfilters and one large jar of phosguard in the last month, only recently removed when changing filters and attempting to diagnose/addresss pH problems. Silicates, however, I really haven't addressed in any way beyond the normal filtering and water changes, and I am not really familair with their aspect of the reef aquarium's chemistry.