Most of us have herbivores in our systems that help keep the nuisance algae at bay ... with varying degrees of success. But sometimes it seems like the same algae grazers will devour one person's GHA but not touch another's. Usually we just say "bad, luck! you must have a very picky fish/snail/urchin." But what if the herbivore's picky palate isn't always to blame?
There are a few instances I've read where people made a change and the herbivores suddenly got much more interested in eating the algae, like accounts of dipping a rock in H2O2 made herbivores go wild for the damaged algae. Over some periods in my tank, my herbivores have been very active, and other times not really. As wild speculation, I wonder if either the nutrients that I've been running lately (0.1 PO4, hard zero NO3, low water changes, no trace additions) or my sometimes usage of algaefix has made my hair algae to be very un-tasty lately. Makes me wonder if I can spice it up a little
Anyway, my current system not really the point - tell me about anything you did in your tank that you think made your herbivores suddenly like your algae a lot more.... or a lot less.
There are a few instances I've read where people made a change and the herbivores suddenly got much more interested in eating the algae, like accounts of dipping a rock in H2O2 made herbivores go wild for the damaged algae. Over some periods in my tank, my herbivores have been very active, and other times not really. As wild speculation, I wonder if either the nutrients that I've been running lately (0.1 PO4, hard zero NO3, low water changes, no trace additions) or my sometimes usage of algaefix has made my hair algae to be very un-tasty lately. Makes me wonder if I can spice it up a little
Anyway, my current system not really the point - tell me about anything you did in your tank that you think made your herbivores suddenly like your algae a lot more.... or a lot less.
