Before this I tried everything they recommend. No matter what I tried frequent to daily water changes, low-to-no light, remove plants, less food nothing worked. From the front of the 10 gallon tank it was impossible to see the plants and ceramics a third of the way back. I haven't been able to find the algae eater in weeks.
As a last resort, I bought this. The directions indicate 1ml for every 12 gallons. By that reckoning, this is well more than hundred doses for a 10 gallon tank. I don't have anything that can measure 1ml, so I gave it one good squirt and walked away.
It's probably worth noting that the directions also say to take your activated-charcoal filter out. Presumably that's because it will neutralize the stuff. Since I couldn't measure properly and didn't want to poison my fish, I didn't take mine out.
It's crystal-clear in there now. I mean GORGEOUS.
Still no sign of the algae eater... odd.
Boy, was I surprised to read the horror stories in the other reviews. So far, my fish look happy and my plants haven't died. If that changes, I'll come back and say so. Till then, I've got to say it's amazing.
EDIT: Just read one of the other reviews a little more carefully. She said she used three capfuls in her tank.
This bottle is intended to treat 1,200 gallons. Three capfuls is roughly a third of the bottle. Unless her tank is larger than 400 gallons, it's no wonder the fish are dying.
I bought this product many months ago for my 46 gallon tank, where I have an increasing problem with hair algae. I hesitated to use it, partly because of all of the warnings against using chemicals found in all the sites that have to do with aquarium care. But even after doing things such as changing to under gravel fertilizers, upping the frequency of my water changes and adding a carbon dioxide injector to my planted tank, the situation has only gotten worse. So before I tried this treatment, I looked for all of the reviews I could find on the web. As you know, if you're reading this, there aren't many. The ones that were overly glowing I almost immediately dismissed, since I couldn't be sure if they weren't put there by the manufacturer. The overly negative ones, claiming 98% kill of fish, left me afraid to try the stuff. Anyway, last night, I bit the bullet and dosed my tank according to manufacturer's directions.
This morning, about 15 hours after I dosed the tank, all of my fish are alive and well. My plants, on which I have spent a considerable sum of money, appear unchanged. Unfortunately, so does the hair algae! In going back over the reviews, I noticed that those who wrote glowing reviews had green water problems, they weren't dealing with hair algae. Unlike them, I did not awake this morning to find my tank magically rid of hair algae. Nor did I find a plethora of dead snails, which I would have found very welcome.
Will I try this product again? It's a question at the moment. While it doesn't seem to do any harm, I can't be sure if it actually does any good. At least, not when one is dealing with a problem with hair algae. Does it need more time? Do I need to repeat the application? These are questions to which I have no answer at the moment. However, given the scarcity of reviews on this product, I thought I should put my own two cents in.
By the way, for those who don't have the ability to measure milliliters, the directions also tell you that you can use one drop per gallon. I counted drops into a measuring device that I have that gives me milliliters, and the drop system is accurate.
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Check out my picture I posted for proof.
My 20G long that I use to grow out cichids was getting crazy algae. Water change twice a week didn't cut it, LED was on 8 hrs, not strong enough to promote algae growth. So I knew I need to get some algae medicine for my tank. After reading this review and the API one, I found out many people have the same problem about their fish dying using BOTH product. I was iffy but I just had to try.
Read the instruction before using it! It says something like '10mL for every 12G, use once every 3 days, 3 times max. If you want to continue treatment, you must do water change'. Simple enough. When in doubt, underdose it but don't overdose because you don't want your fish to die.
So after I added in the stuff, the water cleared up in front of my eyes. I couldn't believe it! I sat down in front of my tank for half an hour, admiring the crystal clear water (something I haven't done in months).
I hope this review and the picture help you with your buying decision. Shoutouts to my 2 fish websites Monsterfishkeepers and Cichlids.c0m:)
Read Best Reviews of Tetra 77184 Algae Control, 3.38-Ounce, 100-ml Here
Review title really tells you everything you need to know. I have been lucky in my tank maintaining years not to have had much experience with algae. Once a big green bloom hit me, I needed something inexpensive and powerful to help me get rid of the stuff that scrubbing didn't tackle. This product requires only one drop per gallon and with two treatments my problem was eliminated. The treatment loosened up the stuff I wasn't getting clean with a brush alone. Wait a day and brush afterwards and voila, clean tank! As stated in directions, be sure to remove tank filter for six to eight hours after treatment. I did not return filter media until I got the whole problem taken care of.
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I added 10 drops to my 46 gallon tank and within hours all my fish started to die. By the next morning 12 of 15 cichlids had died.
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This is a great little starter aquarium. My son loves it! From the description I thought I needed to buy a pump and tubing for the aerating ornament; however, this was not the case. These items are included in the aquarium. We just had to buy the fish and food. Since it does not have a heater (and cautions against one since it's plastic) you cannot use tropical fish, but goldfish and danios will work. We bought 3 glofish, and they are beautiful.
