Modern ReefKeeping

Algae control in saltwater aquariums is often a common topic for beginner and experienced aquarists.An aquarium owner must always consider their own situation and the unique factors that contribute to their algae problem before applying techniques to curb algae growth. One of the few things that applies to most algae problems is the reduction of phosphates.

Of course, when beginning your battle to curb excess algae growth0 in your aquarium, you will want to get all the obvious points in check before using chemical media:

• Making sure Nitrates/Ammonia are not excessive in your aquarium
• Not running your aquarium lights too long each day
• Cleaning excessive waste out of your aquarium and filtration hardware

…and so on.

However, you may reach a certain point where you can’t possibly control the level of Nitrates or Ammonia anymore than you currently can, or maybe you just can’t run your lights any lower than you currently do.

In those cases, where you have done everything you can to curb algae growth without specialized media, it’s time to try something different to put you over the top.

This is the point where I recommend setting up a reactor and using RowaPhos.

I ran into this myself with my own 75 gallon aquarium. I had exhausted hours upon hours of time cycling in purified water, disciplining myself to change water more often, cleaning hardware more often, upgrading to better quality lighting, carefully controlling livestock load and very carefully testing and adjusting water parameters.

And I still couldn’t shake the diatoms that had annoyed me for so long.

Until I used RowaPhos, that is. That was the secret ingredient that, in conjunction with all my other efforts, got me over the top.

Why? Simple. It pulls phosphates and silicates out of the water, and does a damn fine job of it. Of the few phosphate removal media that I’ve tried, RowaPhos is the one that made a visual impact on the amount of algae in my aquarium.

What are my RowaPhos usage recommendations?

Use a reactor for sure, don’t put it in media bags. I tried putting it in media bags in a canister filter but it was messy to deal with that way, it seems too fine-grained for certain media bags, or at least the ones I had. Also, it seems to do a better job when used in a fluidized reactor, it just seems to get better water coverage. I’m sure certain non-reactor uses might work, I just had no luck putting media bags of RowaPhos in my particular canister filter.

Flush it. When using a fluidized reactor with RowaPhos, you really should put the media in the reactor first, hook it up to a purified water source and flush the media with about a half to a full gallon of purified water – then put in on your aquarium and start pumping water through it after flushing. Don’t use tap water. Check out the Featured Video.

Don’t let it dry out. When you open a container of RowaPhos, it almost looks like wet, used coffee grounds. It needs to stay that way, it won’t work as good it if dries out.

Be patient. The stuff won’t work overnight. I used it for a couple months before my phosphate levels dropped to where I was happy. I had a very established aquarium though that had never been treated with phosphate removal since it had been set up, maybe 4 years. So I assume that I had a ton of phosphates and silicates down in my substrate that took a while to get out of the aquarium.

Replace the media every month or two. If you are using phosphate removal media for the first time, your phosphate levels may be high. It wouldn’t hurt to change it every month at that point. After you’ve made a large impact on the phosphate levels, you can start to change media less often, maybe every 2 months.

Buy a big container. I ended up paying more in the long run by buying small containers each time. I shoulda bought a big container right off the bat, it would have cost more up front but would have saved money over a year or two. However, when buying a bigger container of RowaPhos, be careful not to let it dry out if it takes several months to use it all.

Once you start using RowaPhos, just stick to it and you should see your nuisance algae start to clear up in a few weeks, maybe even less. Also – don’t neglect your other aquarium maintenance just because you are using RowaPhos. Keep doing what you are doing to keep nitrates and ammonia levels low, and use RowaPhos to curb the excess phosphates and silicates.

Luke Petterson writes about aquarium algae control and more on his web site at aquarist-refuge.com.

Written by Luke P

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