General Care Discussion :: Algae Control??

[TAHNEE]

Anyone ever used Algae Control by Tetra? It says its safe for fish and plants. Doesn't say turtles though.

[marisa]

I have to say I don't use any chemicals to control algae. That said, if it says it's safe for plants and fish, I'd assume it would be OK for turtles. If you don't have a lot of algae in the tank, and it's just on the edges of the basking area, etc., I'd just leave it and give the tank a more natural look.

[mikee]

marisa – I agree about chemicals, but I was algaed into the proverbial corner. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned my tank and all the accessories and could not get rid of it. Finally I was at my wits end, and relented, and bought some algae destroyer. I sterilized my tank, filter, hoses and anything that was connected to the tank. I even cleaned my turtles with table salt and added the chemical to the water. So far I have been lucky and none has returned (YET!) I know of no algae chemical that won’t kill live plants. Also, you will have to not use charcoal in your filter as it will clean the algae chemical out of your water. Add any charcoal after you first water change.

[Rickiew04]

My solution was to buy a pleco. Algae was growing on the bottom of the tank and started taking over the sides. I got tired of scraping it out and frankly didn't have time to do so with college and work. So I bought a pleco, and after about 1 1/2 weeks, it had cleaned my tank spotless. It was amazing!!! Fortunately for me, my turtle, Wilson, didn't bother the pleco. Some people on here have turtles that go after anything you put in the tank, so that could be a problem. But you never know until you try it out.

[RunninWideOpen]

Pleco's solved my algae problem completely. I just have to replace them every couple months because they get eaten.

[Daniel3507]

i have a pleco and a snail and have no algae in the tank

[industrial_girl_2000]

One way I control Algae in Sheba's tank is that when I do a water change, I let the tap water sit in the tank for a while before adding any kinds of water conditioner. I do 100% water changes on her tank every 4 weeks and so far so good....I have very minimal issues with it. Also, her tank is NOT near a window & that helps too.

[VelvetAlley]

I have algae growing pretty think on the submerged parts of Sputnik's basking dock. I wasn't going to worry about it, but my biology teacher had mentioned that blue-green algae can put off toxic by products into the water. Anyone heard similar?

That's why I'm investigating getting algae control, or a pleco. I think Sputz would eat the pleco.

[windowskiller987]

I use tetra pond water clarifier in my tank & it works great. I keep my turtles outside so the water turns green almost instantly if I don't add it in the summer.