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View Full Version : Overflow cover, to control algae?


zero26
07/05/2010, 06:09 PM
I have seen overflow covers for sale to control algae growth. Does anybody use them?

Frick-n-Frags
07/06/2010, 06:44 AM
i have no slots on my overflow, so the snails take care of it, when i have snails..

with no snails..i have jury rigged a piece of styrofoam to do exactly that..cover it to slow the algae. fortunately i run shallow overflow boxes that are very easy to clean out.

i also just run bulkheads on my algae tub and secondary sump type containers. nothing can clog the 1.5" ID or w/e size it is hoses, so the bulkhead acts as the height limiting overflow when it isnt a DT that needs the water to the top.

teesquare
07/06/2010, 06:50 AM
Have you considered trying to just eliminate the algae problem first? Or is it that the only place you have algae is in the overflow?
I hope this does not sound like I am picking at you - just asking, I have seen both as reasons hobbyists want to cover an overflow.
T

Frick-n-Frags
07/06/2010, 06:56 AM
Have you considered trying to just eliminate the algae problem first? Or is it that the only place you have algae is in the overflow?
I hope this does not sound like I am picking at you - just asking, I have seen both as reasons hobbyists want to cover an overflow.
T

in my case, that is a sweet place to grow algae: awesome burbly flow, right up there in the lights, all the surface crap constantly feeds it...algal shangri-la..:D

teesquare
07/06/2010, 07:01 AM
True.....my suggestion is that if you have a lot of algae growing there, you may want to try lowering the nutient load in the system to the point where it is not such a problem. Carbon dosing - in one of many forms can help greatly.
HTH

T

zero26
07/06/2010, 07:11 AM
I had alot of HA but it is almost all gone. The only algae that grows in the overflow is the red cotton like algae.

jbird69
07/06/2010, 08:07 AM
I use a peice of PVC shower liner. I cut it to shape and lay it over the OF. It blocks 100% of the light.

RokleM
07/06/2010, 08:30 AM
Absolutely it works. The problem with overflows is that typically there is no active cleanup crew at all (crabs, snails, urchins, etc). So while your tank may be spotless with little to no algae, that doesn't mean it won't possibly grow in other areas.

On my DD 200 when I was running it, I found some scrap at a local acrylic shop. I cut them roughly to size and placed them over the overflow to block the light. A cool change is a rapid growth of what eventually would grow there in smaller numbers, filter feeders. The pod population, tons of sponges, featherdusters were just going nuts in there. Calm flow, plenty of food, no predators. Somewhat like a cryptic fuge without the 100% absence of light (slightly light from the room itself).