Regular Member justkeepswimming Posted September 1, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted September 1, 2008 i was thinking about switching my gravel to all marbles... but was wondering after looking at pics of marble based tanks, how people keep the darned ALGAE off them! i only have a few marbles above my gravel, and they always turn ugly brown from the algae and its a real hassle to clean em off... is there an easier way to clean the algae off that i am unaware of? i love the look of marble based tanks, but am not sure if i am willing to go through that extra work to keep it looking nice and algae free! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted September 1, 2008 Admin Share Posted September 1, 2008 Well my tank is mostly barebottom but I do have about 30 flat Marbles laying on the bottom. Since my tank doesnt have a big Bio load to it and alot of filtration I dont get very much algae on them...One in awhile i will get alittle on them but the dojo will nit pick on them keeping them clean 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member claire_uk Posted September 1, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted September 1, 2008 I have big pebbles in my bare bottom and they get algae on them afer about 3 weeks, so I have to take them out and clean them, it is annoying. I was at my LFS today and they had 3 big blue glass stones that looked so pretty but I know will look ugly after a few weeks. Keeping nitrates at a minimum will help keep algae down, and knowing your phosphate level can also help as that contributes to algae population. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member justkeepswimming Posted September 1, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 1, 2008 unfortunately, i cannot get a dojo since i only have a 10 gallon! =[ BUT, i CAN get more filtration =] but nitrates you say? so if i do more frequent water changes to keep the nitrates down, the algae will stay at a minimum? and how do you keep track of phosphate levels? does algae grow more with higher levels of phosphate or lower? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member claire_uk Posted September 1, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted September 1, 2008 Yes lowering nitrates will help. High phospahtes will mean more algae. Phosphates come from many sources, including the breaking down of waste, tap water, uneaten food, food, plant decay, ph buffers. above 1.0 mg/l algae will start to grow, at 2-3 mg/l algae growth is likely to get too much. Ideally levels should be below 0.5 mg/l. Water changes, phosphate absorbers and good tank cleaning will help reduce the phosphate levels. There are test kits for phosphates as far as I can remember. Nitrates as low as 10ppm ca contribute to algae growth. Hope this helps some. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member justkeepswimming Posted September 2, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 2, 2008 thanks for the info claire! so basically, i need to keep my tank VERY clean of waste and i need very good filtration, and the algae will go down? that sounds easy enough! ive been meaning to get a better filter anyway.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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