# Device to kill algae???



## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

There was a thread talking about this thing before. IDK about it.

This is what it looks like in use:


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Carbo plus or similar and then the other stuff is rubbish on the claims. 

I suppose you could dose something like Busan 77, or algaefix slowly and it'd do the same thing.

The algae they claim to fix is not hard to get rid of anyway.
You got poor skills if you cannot keep that type of algae away. 

the other issues, there are many, with the "test", is we know nothing about CO2 between the 2 test tanks, that and other information is curiously ALWAYS absent in such "test". And we all know what a difference the correct CO2 usage can have and make on a planted tank.

I've seen 101, maybe 1001 algae cure alls in the last 30+ years in the hobby. Pretty much none of them ever worked. And most did not last in thr market for long either, with good reason.

I'd say algaefix does the same thing and cost 15X less.
Nothing to plug in, no ugly disc inside the tank etc.

Good general care in the initial stages, water changes, good CO2/dosing etc, those will make a much better difference and help the hobbyist learn what they need. No device or anything in a bottle will side step that issue.

Put your efforts, argument and logic skills to work on that, not a tangential cure all snake oil solution. They are telling you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. Caesar said something to this same effect 2000 years ago, yet folks still fall for the same old trick.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

That gizmo was recommended to me by our good friends from Current-USA:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?p=3986777

I doubt it was of much help to them with their display tank though.

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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

This device is along the same thinking as the Ion-gen that some people use in ponds. I have talked to many people that used the Ion-gen in their ponds and the overwhelming majority of them say it's a waste of money. I don't see this product being much different. I think Tom put it very well, take the time to learn proper care, maintenance, and co2 and forget about an easy fix because there is no such thing.


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

A bit distracting. It looks like there's a smokestack in the tank.


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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

look like an A-bomb went off in the tank lol


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I would actually try this if it wasn't so expensive. Though I agree with Tom that a balanced tank doesn't need any help, my super balanced tank that has not had algae in 5 years just got a bad case of hair algae from buying plants from someone I should have known better.


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## MKNguyenV2 (Jul 26, 2013)

I dunno how I would feel about having that in my tank. If I was super desperate to fix algae I would just get a UV.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

talontsiawd said:


> I would actually try this if it wasn't so expensive. Though I agree with Tom that a balanced tank doesn't need any help, my super balanced tank that has not had algae in 5 years just got a bad case of hair algae from buying plants from someone I should have known better.


Algaefix is still 5-10$ a bottle that would likely last 5-10 years for many of us. 
So, unless it can beat that price for killing the green hair algae, this are manure out of luck. Maybe Koreans will fall for snake oil marketing, the US has not been kind to such hucksters. 

Excel and few other products(peroxide etc) can make similar claims. 

We know a bit about those and they are not 200$.


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## stealthypotatoes (Feb 2, 2013)

Why not invest in a UV sterilizer. Costs around $200. Worth it


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

UV only kills what passes through it and it has to pass UV light within a narrow flow rate for the right exposure time.

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## rwong2k (Dec 24, 2004)

thanks for your insight tom, the guys over at ukpas were testing this product and was wondering about what you would think about this device

here's the thread

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/twinstar-what-is-it.28335/


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

rwong2k said:


> thanks for your insight tom, the guys over at ukpas were testing this product and was wondering about what you would think about this device
> 
> here's the thread
> 
> http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/twinstar-what-is-it.28335/


I checked into it, low levels of O3 dosing is basically what's happening.
Anything that provides disease control etc, anti bacterial properties, and is a gas? You can measure the O2 and the redox and quickly tell.

But as stated, it only works with green algae, has no effect on BBA etc.
Green algae are pretty easily controlled already.


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