Sometimes there just is no substitute for Mother Nature.  You could make an argument that this is one of those times.   While the use of algae scrubbers as a form of filtration certainly is not a new concept in the hobby, it remains a very effective and easy approach to reducing nitrates and phosphates from your marine aquarium.   I thought I would share my approach to building and using an algae scrubber and what I have learned about some algae scrubber basics

Continue reading →

This article is about the nasty marine algae that can plague some people to the point of wanting to get out of the hobby.  The good news here is that once you learn more about what most algae need, you can control them and prevent them from becoming a problem again.  This doesn’t include any information about macro algae.  Having a little bit of agae in you tank is not a bad thing, and (in my opinion) can give your aquarium a more natural look and feel. When the algae gets out of control is when we need to take steps to control it.

There is a common belief that a new tank will go through various stages of different nuisance marine algae  as the tank cycles and then matures over the next 6 months to a year.  In my opinion and experience, that is not completely accurate. Although there will likely be some small swings in some parameters as the tank matures, you don’t have to go through any excessive algae stages by properly planning your set-up and applying some preventative measures from the start.  Some algae here and there is normal, but a lot of it is not. I will share some of my experiences (both the good and the bad) at the end of this article.

Continue reading →