Easy Life Algexit Product

[Pteronarcys]

I recently switched over to LED lights from Buildmyled.com. I ordered their XB version (extra bright) and their dimmer. The thought was that if I wanted to try a very high light set up, I would have the option to do so and control the % output through the dimmer.

The dimmer ended up being on an almost 3 week backorder. So lights went on at full strength. Around the time that I set up the new lights, I had accidentally introduced some algae into my aquarium through getting plants from pisces. The tank that I got the plants from had spirogyra algae and cladophora. I normally peroxide bath any new plants, but these got introduced through miscommunication with my fiancee (of course I am not going to blame myself).

Needless to say it didn't take long for the algae to become noticeable under such high light. I had to adjust my EI dosing to suit the higher light output, because some of the plants started showing deficiencies. Plants bounced back, but I was also feeding the algae. The strong lights caused my plants to take up more CO2 and this caused fluctuations that resulted in BBA appearing. Arrg! I can see that very high light tanks can be a pain to figure out all the parameters, especially when it is trial and error of using test kits and watching how plants and livestock react to changes. Those few weeks without the dimmer and very high light quickly changed my tank into an algae haven.

I got the dimmer in and have the tank under control and found good levels of all my parameters. But the algae was now a problem. I added a lot of nerites and amano shrimp, but they didn't touch clado or spyro. Having lots of shrimp I didn't want to add harsh chemicals. I have many types of mosses that are sensitive to excel and peroxide, but I tried it anyway. I nearly killed some of my mosses and I did kill off my riccia. booo-urns!

I didn't want to have to tear down my tank and treat all the rocks, plants, tubing etc. in a bucket. I came across a product called AlgExit in my searches that says fish, plant, and invert safe. It has been sold for some time in Europe and I had to google translate many forums to find out about this product. It was looking to be a miracle product for algae... and completely safe for all livestock and bacteria!! I thought I would try it out. I couldn't find it in North America stores and contacted the company. They are just starting to sell it in NA and they gave me their NA contact info. At first they told me I would have to order a minimum of 200 bottles... umm no! They were very nice and helpful and told me they would allow me to order a minimum of 2, 1L bottles from their warehouse in Baltimore.

I got the product in on Monday. For my tank I had to add 30ml to my tank once a week for 3 weeks. After that, it is 15ml once a week each week for prevention. I did some research online and found the active ingredient is Salicylate. This amino acid works by blocking a pathway in algae used to uptake phosphate. Apparently this is a pathway unique to algae but not plants. Depending on the type of algae, it will take a few days to several weeks to kill off the algae. Further research in salicylate, shows that it is derived from willow trees, specifically found in high dosages in new branches. Willow is also where Aspirin comes from. The difference between Salicylate and Salicylic acid is that the acid breaks up into Salicylate when in water by losing a H+ and forming an anion. I also came across information of people who cut new twigs off willow trees and place them in their aquarium and this prevents algae. New branches needed each month. Interesting find.

A day after I put the product into my aquarium, the spirogyra algae have mostly become limp and with a colour change to whitish grey. Cladophora is starting to look paler. No change so far on the BBA. Though the treatment does say 3 weeks for full eradication.

Here are some pics of the dying spiro and clado as well as the BBA. I will post more pics as the weeks go by on how well the product works. The snails are already eating the dying spiro!

[jumpsmasher]

interesting, let me know if there is any ill effects on the shrimps!