A temp. algae scrubber?

[Susan Edwards]

I use these thread nets (spools of sewing thread) to cover my wavemakers to protect my anemone. The two in front of my tank pulse but the one in the back is on strong and steady to keep flow in back strong. This is the second time I've seen the algae gather and do this.

Is it acting like an algae scrubber, is it bad, ie causing more nutrient issues in tank. I replace them and wash them in washing machine.. But if it is good, I can leave for a while before replacing. Not sure why conditions back there do this. I'm getting some algae on glass again. After the fluconazle, I had none. I am leaving some as my snails hvae been nearly starving, and of course, the trochus are spitting out babies constantly.

Nitrates run 20-40, phos between 0-2. I'll be testing tomorrow. Had to put a phos remover back in. Was bottoming out then jumped to 2.

 

[oscargrumete61]

Yesterday i got my first anemone bubble tip and same like you i put a mesh bag in my pump but i gonna be there just a coupleof days until this one still in the place is now

 

[reeferfoxx]

Better to have algae on that than the rocks!

But, it's growing there because it's white. If it were black, most likely not.

 

[Susan Edwards]

So, is it a good thing. Should I allow it and change it when it gets thick as it is now? Or should I change the mesh more often so it doesn't collect the algae. It funny as there are 2 others just like this in front of the tank and they don't do this. But they aren't on steady on either.

So can anyone tell me if this does the work of an impromptu algae scrubber? Is it taking nutrients out of my water? Or is it bad to allow it to do this

 

[reeferfoxx]

So, is it a good thing. Should I allow it and change it when it gets thick as it is now? Or should I change the mesh more often so it doesn't collect the algae. It funny as there are 2 others just like this in front of the tank and they don't do this. But they aren't on steady on either.

So can anyone tell me if this does the work of an impromptu algae scrubber? Is it taking nutrients out of my water? Or is it bad to allow it to do this

Well, its slowing down flow in the tank. That allows detritus to settle which would cause nutrients to increase. As a temporary thing, I don't see anything wrong with it. I would clean them out as often as possible. In perspective though, the hair algae is consuming extra phosphates. So, that could be a bonus

 

[garethwood]

yep in theory you have yourself an algae scrubber, as long as you clear it regularly so as not to disturb flow to much then you are removing unwanted nutrients : ) cant be a bad thing in my mind, how much of a pita this will become only time will tell... i did something similar with black mesh and like reeferfox said it wont gather as much algae on it so maybe you might want to think about switching it?

 

[Susan Edwards]

@oscargrumete61 I don't trust anemones not to move even if they've been there awhile. Mine moves a bit under the rock, then comes back out. Sometimes after lights off, it even comes out a bit higher. I've worked too hard, waited too long to be able to support a bta, I can live with mesh over my powerheads Maybe if it doesn't move in six months, I'll consider removing, but the risk to the tank crashing seems high over the price of a bit of mesh. Might switch to black for the 2 in front though. I like what I have though because they stretch, like nylon panty house and fit/conform to size, so no sagging, baggy material

 

[Susan Edwards]

@garethwood thanks. It's in the back, behind rocks, so I can live with it if it is doing the tank good. It's also a bigger wavemaker than my others as I wanted something that would move water from one end of tank to the other. Used to get all kinds of cr** in the back. Dinos went away too when I added it. Since redoing the rocks into more of a wall, the front 2 wavemakers didn't deal with behind rocks. So very cool. Sometimes, the trochus snails climb on and enjoy the feast.