STL
Active Member
Hello all. I've been doing battle with a severe hair algae out break for some time now. I'd gotten temporary relief with 3 days of darkness, but it would always come back - clearly there's a nutrient problem. I'm running an oversized skimmer, PhosGuard and carbon in a reactor, bio pellets, and even converted my refugium into an algae scrubber.
Last spring I did a trial of Nualgi as it promised to help with such situations. I did see some improvement, but it wasn't a magic bullet.
This Fall, Anil at Nualgi contacted me to see if I'd be interested in a trial they were doing of combining Nualgi with some other products. Given the depressing mess the algae was making in my tank and the things I'd tried with limited results, I said yes.
With the most recent combo, I'm finally making substantial headway in my algae problem. I've been doing weekly doses of Nualgi followed by MicrobeLift Aquarium Balance or TLC Smart Start bacteria. I leave my skimmer off for 24 hours following the dose to allow the bacteria to grow and colonize. With the latest dosage we've honed in on, the tank glass stays clean and hair algae growth slows to a crawl or stops entirely. I'm finally seeing less algae every week instead of more.
My tank has many fish, including tangs. There are numerous inverts, including a cleaner shrimp, lots of hermit crabs, snails of several varieties, and a conch. For corals, there is a very large finger leather that is home to an egg laying pair of clownfish. Additionally, there are numerous SPS and LPS corals, including some very colorful montipora. Throughout the whole trial, none of these creatures showed any signs of distress and one of my montiporas actually came back from the dead. I'm actually seeing some significant coral growth and improved coloration now too.
TL;DR - Nualgi + bacteria works quite well for nutrient reduction.
Last spring I did a trial of Nualgi as it promised to help with such situations. I did see some improvement, but it wasn't a magic bullet.
This Fall, Anil at Nualgi contacted me to see if I'd be interested in a trial they were doing of combining Nualgi with some other products. Given the depressing mess the algae was making in my tank and the things I'd tried with limited results, I said yes.
With the most recent combo, I'm finally making substantial headway in my algae problem. I've been doing weekly doses of Nualgi followed by MicrobeLift Aquarium Balance or TLC Smart Start bacteria. I leave my skimmer off for 24 hours following the dose to allow the bacteria to grow and colonize. With the latest dosage we've honed in on, the tank glass stays clean and hair algae growth slows to a crawl or stops entirely. I'm finally seeing less algae every week instead of more.
My tank has many fish, including tangs. There are numerous inverts, including a cleaner shrimp, lots of hermit crabs, snails of several varieties, and a conch. For corals, there is a very large finger leather that is home to an egg laying pair of clownfish. Additionally, there are numerous SPS and LPS corals, including some very colorful montipora. Throughout the whole trial, none of these creatures showed any signs of distress and one of my montiporas actually came back from the dead. I'm actually seeing some significant coral growth and improved coloration now too.
TL;DR - Nualgi + bacteria works quite well for nutrient reduction.
