# Algae on holey rock



## pretty-nifty (Nov 4, 2009)

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of algae on ornaments, specially holey rock? Also how to prevent it. Thanks.


----------



## KiDD (Aug 20, 2010)

Scrub the rocks...


----------



## Triton99 (Oct 27, 2010)

To clean holly rock, use a large scrub brush under hot water.

To help keep algae off - check tap water and tank water for phosphates, if present use a phosphate sponge in filter. Check nitrates in tank, if above 20 do 50 percent water change daily until below 20. Do 25 percent water changes weekly (minimum) to keep nitrates below 20. You can also add a nitrate sponge to the filter to help but you still need to keep up with the water changes. You may want to also reduce the length of time the light are on.

Hope this helps!


----------



## pretty-nifty (Nov 4, 2009)

Sorry, but where does the phosphates come from? waste?


----------



## Triton99 (Oct 27, 2010)

Yes it can come from that but also small amounts may be in the tap water. Phosphates can also come from food, chemicals, buffers and etc. that you put in your tank. Nitrates and phosphates are usually the nutrients that cause an algae bloom. If you do not have the test kits, you can take a water sample to a good local fish store and have them test the water for free.

If you are not doing regular weekly water changes, my guess would be that your nitrates are way high which is causing the excess algae.

How long has the tank been up and running?


----------



## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Easiest way to clean up your rock is a bleach bath.
10% bleach, water mix will kill off the algae and would keep you from a bunch of scrubbing.
You might still need to scrub some, or not.
You can let the rock Ã¢â‚¬Å"airÃ¢â‚¬Â


----------



## Pali (Dec 22, 2009)

I just rotate the rock if they start to look nasty, so the algea don't get any or much light and it's gone when I turn the rock over again next time.

Not as easy if you have ornaments like a clay castle or something :lol:

You can also use stuff like Algea controll, but IMO it's easyer and better to eleminate algea growth as mentioned above by keeping phosphates around 0 and nitrates down belowe 20. But it's a option to add other chems to the tank and kill off the algea growth that way-

The right pleco could also be a easy choice, they can be a great help as a cleaning crew. Now I don't know the size of your tank, but a Sail fin pleco will keep your tank spotless. Only downside to the sail fin pleco is they grow large, start diggin up the sand and mess up stuff when they get big.

I have a few tanks with Sail fin's and I just return them to the LFS or sell em when they "out grow" my tank, most of the time I just swap em with the LFS. He get a large sail fin and I get a bunch of small once in return, then I do that again some years later. So I have'nt payed for sail fin's in the past 6-8 years.


----------



## pretty-nifty (Nov 4, 2009)

I've had the tank a year to the day. Set it up last year on Halloween night. It's just a 30G. I'm getting a 75G this week and reusing the holey rock there. There is a lot of natural light during the day in the room where the tank is. Do you think that may cause it? I am regular with my changes, once or every other week. They are much bigger now being almost a year old, and it is very crowded (see signature). I have two HOB Biowheel type filters from Marineland, both 150G's. My light died a few months ago and I didn't want to get one until I got a bigger tank.

Don't mean to change the subject but, still have not decided on a light for my 75G. Any suggestions on that as well? Actinic?


----------



## Triton99 (Oct 27, 2010)

Having a bunch of natural daylight does not help. You did not say how much volume you change with the water changes. You said you skip some times on the changes so I would check the nitrate levels. A bunch of natural light and high nitrates = algae.

On the lights, it's a matter of preference (plants, etc). For me I like it bright. I just bought a Nova Extreme T5-HO with one 10k bulb and one 460n (actinic) and really like it. I got it on sale at Dr. Foster and Smith. This light may not help you on the algae.


----------



## pretty-nifty (Nov 4, 2009)

So does the actinic (blue light) lighting help algae growth?

I change 20% water changes.


----------



## Pali (Dec 22, 2009)

Yes the blue and red/yellow spectrum is PAR light (Photosynthetic active radiation)

But I would maybe up the water changes to every week, maybe a little more then 20%. 
I do 30% once a week and have a medium algea growth in most of my tanks, but I also run 2 or 3 tubes on my tanks and they get 14-16 hours light a day.

I have plecos keeping my tanks free of algea, with exception of my tropheus tanks.


----------



## kyoshi (Mar 12, 2010)

use a power washer


----------



## pretty-nifty (Nov 4, 2009)

Talking to other people who have several tanks, it seems like this is just one of the things you deal with. It seems that you will always have some agae at some point or another in various degrees. So you just clean it or rotate it or however you deal with it. And you can minimize it with more regular water changes. I do prefer the look of the actinic bulb. I guess I just have to deal with it.


----------



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

The bleach soak is much better to me when I want to clean things. I have lots of rocks with small holes and I can't imagine the nightmare of trying to get a brush down in those holes. I use cheap quality holey rock with little 1/4 inch holes that fry can duck into. No way , I can ever get into that many small holes the way bleach can. If the algea gets way thick I do have to knock it off after the bleach kills it.

Heh, Buddy. Got any place to hide these?


----------



## pretty-nifty (Nov 4, 2009)

Can I just regular laundry detergent bleach? Did someone say 10:1? Water:Bleach.

Pfunmo, I like that picture. I got a yellow lab that's holding right now too?


----------



## Dego510 (Mar 9, 2009)

KaiserSousay said:


> Easiest way to clean up your rock is a bleach bath.
> 10% bleach, water mix will kill off the algae and would keep you from a bunch of scrubbing.
> You might still need to scrub some, or not.
> You can let the rock Ã¢â‚¬Å"airÃ¢â‚¬Â


----------



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

People must be getting into the Christmas spirit! John hasn't gotten any advise that he will kill his fish. Or maybe it's just that our US elections are past for the time being and we can all calm down for a bit. Either way, I second the bleach bath for killing algae. If you let it get super thick it may need the dead stuff scraped off but it come off much easier dead than alive. By looking at my picture you may guess that I use a different approach. I've learned to ignore it as it will be back at some point anyway. I've tried telling my wife I like tall green grass, too. :?


----------



## pretty-nifty (Nov 4, 2009)

Yeah, I agree. It's actually growing on me (pun intended). I was thinking more of the holey rocks I found at my cousin's friends place out in the boonies. To say the least, they are not white and clean when you find them. I'm thinking of pressure washing them and soaking them in bleach.

I know this thread started that way but now I'm not minding it as much.


----------



## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

*Can I just regular laundry detergent bleach? Did someone say 10:1? Water:Bleach. *

Use the bleach without the "Mountain Fresh Scent" or any other odors.
On the mixture rate, it dosen`t need to be exact.
Close is good enough.
If you are going to pressure wash, think it out first, so you are not shooting rocks under your car or out in the street.
I like to have some color variation on the rocks. 
Not sparklingly, bright white clean.
Looks more natural to me.


----------



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I can't speak for John, but for myself you have to understand that we may have a bit of different view of keeping rocks clean and bright. At one point I might have felt it necessar but over the years I've found they don't stay that way. That's leaves me with doing lots of fuss to clean them or learn to like them "natural". I come down on the natural with less work side!


----------



## dielikemoviestars (Oct 23, 2007)

PfunMo said:


> I can't speak for John, but for myself you have to understand that we may have a bit of different view of keeping rocks clean and bright. At one point I might have felt it necessar but over the years I've found they don't stay that way. That's leaves me with doing lots of fuss to clean them or learn to like them "natural". I come down on the natural with less work side!


+1 
Regardless of how clean I'm able to get them afterward, I would be really wary of using bleach on something I'm going to put in a tank. Or soap. Plus, algae happens. As long as your nitrates/phos/lighting is in check, it won't take over the tank.


----------



## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> I would be really wary of using bleach on something I'm going to put in a tank


Bleaching is perfectly safe, been done by many for years including myself. Just use the dechlor. There's no reason to fear it. But, I'd agree with staying away from soaps.


----------



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

The use of soap and the results was a point brought out in part of the training I had in water treatment. Soaps are sometimes made so that they hang on whatever is being washed. That's good for getting things cleaner but then the downside is that it also doesn't rinse off as well. The training was about how to regulate the amount of bleach we injected into the water but as an aside the discussion came around to how often people may claim their water made them sick without thinking that soap causes a major disruption in the digestion, much like bad water does. I definitely don't recommend putting things in the dishwasher where soap has been used for dishes. Powdered dishwasher soap does leave a residue that can be transfered to the tank. Bleach does not.

Since bleach is already in much of the water supplies in the country, being afraid to use it to clean things just doesn't seem logical.


----------



## Glaneon (Sep 27, 2010)

[b:wy312ha5 said:


> PfunMo[/b]":wy312ha5]Since bleach is already in much of the water supplies in the country, being afraid to use it to clean things just doesn't seem logical.


My wife is allergic to bleach. I've seen her skin after using it.


----------



## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Ok... I am the anti-bleach guy so I just have to respond...

Ahh.. nevermind.. :lol:


----------



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I'm sure there are people allergic to many things but it does bring up a question to me. How does she every wash her hands or do laundry? Seems like taking a shower would be misery for her. While she could do some things at home to avoid the chemicals, how would she ever be able to take a drink outside of home? Must be a really hard thing to deal with. I have a number of allergies and it does really change the way you live sometimes.

Anybody that has some facts to bring up, I don't think we need to look at it as a contest. The whole point is to pass along information but any time we've come around to this discussion in the past it has led to lots of stuff quoted from sources that just don't sound reliable. 
Heloise and Dear Abby recommend vinegar for cleaning but the government scientists recommend bleach so I have to go with the better trained people and all the guys who have used bleach for cleaning fish stuff. Works very well for most people.


----------



## Glaneon (Sep 27, 2010)

There's not bleach (in normal laundry concentration) in everything!
We use normal laundry detergent, just not bleach.

Shampoos & soap don't contain bleach 

Drinking water doesn't have enough chlorine/chloramine to have any effect.

Now, she's a vegetarian and THAT is a challenge!


----------



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Okay. It makes sense that she might have problems with using it for laundry and such. It would be much, much stronger directly out of the jug. I had not heard of anybody being allergic to it. It was always recommended that we use rubber gloves when handling any chemicals but it was pretty much ignored by most of the guys. I wish there were some way to sort the true hazards from the warnings that are just meant to avoid legal problems. Some warnings are so broad that using the product is almost out of the practical realm. The warnings on some silicone caulk can make you wonder if it is even safe to have in the house. When the warning says it may or may not be absorbed through the skin it kind of leaves me wondering. So far it must not be absorbed through my skin as the only way I know to smooth a seam is with a wet finger.


----------



## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

No facts in my case.. Just personal preference. I don't like the stuff so it is hard for me to be objective about it.

To each their own as they say...


----------



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Fine, no problem with that. I've used so much of it over the years it just feels natural. I probably got a little too sensitive about people fussing about chlorine when I was doing water treatment for a community well that served about 90-100 houses. They would bring me stories about water that just made you laugh. Preferences are no big deal at all. It's when people crossed the line into fantasy that it set me off. Sometimes the ones not[/i] doing anything just wanted to make trouble for the people who were volunteering their time.


----------



## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Oh - I am sure that was the case...

Some people just love %^&^&%&&ing with people. Twisted source of entertainment for them. Some people just have to be "right" regardless of how ridiculous they sound.


----------



## limpert (Aug 28, 2007)

A little algae never hurt anybody


----------

