Alge issue

[TimT]

Sea Hares are very good at eating macro algaes. They do come with a few inherent risks. They can release a dark red dye into the water if they feel threatened or get squished. I do not know whether the dye is toxic in an aquarium or not. They can be problematic for getting a good specimen that lives more than a week.

Tuxedo urchins are also good algae eaters but not as good as a Sea Hare. They come with the risk of bulldozing corals etc. They are also quite fragile.

Herbivores are a solution to a symptom of a problem which is phosphate/nitrate issues. I like to say that Phosphate is the trigger and Nitrate is the fuel for algae growth. If you can limit one then the algae problem will be greatly reduced.

The easiest and most cost effective way to eliminate Phosphate is with Foz Down. More info on Foz Down can be found on my website here. http://www.oceanfreshaquarium.com/foz-down.html

There are many people on CanReef who are successfully using Foz Down to help with Algae issues.

Foz Down is available in Calgary from Eli @ Fiji Reef Rock and also Wai's Aquarium.

Cheers,
Tim