Algaefix Marine by API

Has anyone noticed snails dieing after treatment? I used AlgaeFix several years ago and had a snail die off shortly afterward. A few months ago I treated a customer's tank and had anther die off. Since the snails consume the algae that is being killed, could it possibly be killing snails? Both times there were still plenty of food for the snails so I know they didn't die from starvation.

Jack

 

Forgive me if this already has been answered though why are you placing Vodka and Hydrogen Proxoxide in your tank, are you placing them directly on the algae that you want to get rid of? Wouldnt that also hurt the fish?

 

I can't keep Astrea snails alive. There are a few that are still in there, but I haven't been able to figure out why they die. I've had a very small Longspine urchin for about a week now, and just picked up two more. They are eating a lot of the red algae that Steve hates, but I'm not sure if they touched any of the green.

 

Could be a number of things. Tough to narrow down. Light sensitivity is a common sign of stress. However, could also be due to clearer water. Carbon dosing in itself could be stressful. On and in a coral, there is a delicate balance of organisms, some harmful, some symbiotic. Zoox isn't close to being the only symbiotic one. There are many other bacteria, archaea, viruses, etc... which actually help the coral obtain food and fend of pathogens.

Very high levels of organic carbon have been shown to upset this balance, by breaking down the host control mechanism over these various populations. The levels we are talking about, in the literature are much higher than the levels we would expect to obtain by typical carbon dosing. (and too little carbon can also have deleterious effects). However, possibly, in combination with other stressors, carbon becomes an issue. After all stressors definitely compound. So, it's also possible algaefix, may not be directly fatal, but is a stressor and is perhaps it is compounding with other stressors. If you have algae, problems, I imagine that there are other stressors at play on top of these as well, and so on...

 

That's what I'm saying. Although, I didn't have an algae "problem" to begin with. There was a very small amount of algae that I didn't want to spread. I've been carbon dosing for over a year. All of the corals were doing extremely well before the Algaefix, and as soon as the last of them are recovered, I'll be back to where I was.

 

Longspine urchin is Latin name Diadema Setosum?

I have seen those available out here, so thanks for the tip
I do loath that red stringy stuff as it seems impervious to any direct action taken to beat it.

I am certainly more cautious of this product now, despite my own experience being good , in relation to effect on corals LPS in particular
which in all probability means that some of the contributing stressors , where not present in my set up, but one or a combination of many being present in others set ups
may be the difference between positive and negative outcomes from usage

 

Hey Jack

do not recall losing a single snail through treatment
I may have done, as maybe they died behind rocks or at back of tank
but I found no dead snails in any visible areas during treatment
my dosing routine also involved about 5 or 6 doses that where syringed directly into the mass of algae , which would have concentrated the product at those places for a short period, but again, no die off on snails of any notable proportions

Steve

 

Sorry, missed this. The vodka is dosed as a carbon source to reduce nitrates and phosphates. The hydrogen peroxide can be injected directly into the algae in very small doses to dissolve the algae. I used 10ml/day max in a 125.

I think that's the one, Steve. Mine are very small, two about the size of a nickel, one a quarter. The spines are not very long yet. They eat the red algae and the coralline down to the bare rock. When they get too big for the reef, they're going in the fish tanks. They were only $5 and worth a try. No problems so far. I don't care how much coralline they eat.

The top of this rock was mostly red a few days ago.



This bulkhead was solid coralline this morning. It ate a similar amount off of another one and then headed back to the rocks.

 

Thank you barbianj

I shall add a couple of them to my shopping list and see how they perform for me

Steve

 

In the latest issue of Reef Hobbyist Magazine, there is a small mention of Algaefix (a science fair project to win a trip to MACNA). I believe it was around pg.38 of the PDF. No details on what exactly was done though. Apparently, the outcome was positive.

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