The Algae buster claim sounds suspicious - even if it worked as claimed, at
least in my case I'd be worse off as the last thing I want is more of the
stuff floating around. At least when its attached its manageable. I can't
figure this kitty litter thing out unless it works by clouding up the water
to the point of reducing photosynthesis. Peroxide or ozone should work
(some companies may call these oxygenators, although this is really a
misnomer - they are oxidizers (like chlorine and bromine). I plan on trying
an ozone generator next year - the problem though is to have enough ozone to
kill the algae, while not so much as to kill vascular plants or harm fish.
This is tricky. I don't think there is any fast fix for string algae. The
combination of reduced solar inputs (via shading and plant cover) and very
low nutrient levels (via low fish loading and high aquatic plant density) is
probably the best "treatment". Contrary to what I have seen often written
here, it is usually phosphorus which triggers algal blooms, not nitrogen, so
anything which would keep phosphorus to a minimum should help. Good luck!

John

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...
John,

What do you think of String Algae Buster claims?

String Algae Buster which works by " forcing the strands of string algae
to
take in excess calcium from the surrounding water. When the algae absorbs
this
calcium, the strands break off, floating to the surface. Once they
separate,
they will either go into the skimmer, or be easily weeded out by hand"

Folks are also experimenting with plain kitty litter on string algae and
Lee is
trying this stuff:

The specs and MSDA are he
A
HREF="http://www.biosafesystems.com/labels/GC-SpecMSDS.pdf"http://www.bio
safesystems.com/labels/GC-SpecMSDS.pdf/A

And photos showing how it works are he
A
HREF="http://www.biosafesystems.com/stringalgae.html"http://www.biosafesy
stems.com/stringalgae.html/A

This stuff works via oxygenation versus the copper that's normally used.
Therefore, it's safe for fish, snails (darn it!) amphibians, etc. You're
not
supposed to sprinkle the granules on leaves of plants you want, but once
they're dissolved in water, they're supposed to be safe for water plants.
What I DON'T know is whether or not it will affect the short stuff on the
sides of the liner . . . I guess I'll find out, huh?

I could not get the pages to open or download on two of our computers so
not
sure about the links.



kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html