Algae is driving me nuts

[chem geek]

I received a response from Buckman Labs and PolyQuat 60 will be effective at inhibiting all the common forms of algae -- green, yellow/mustard, and black. It may take different levels to inhibit different forms, but we are restricted to the dosages recommended on the bottle so basically I say that if you want to try that, you can see if it works to inhibit yellow/mustard algae in your situation. You could even use less than the recommended amounts if you want to see if the threshold is lower, but I suspect that the threshold is only lower for green algae, not for yellow/mustard. By law, you are supposed to stay within the dosages recommended on the container label, but I think there should be no problem trying less -- the main issue is that using more than the recommended amounts doesn't meet the safety standards that were proven to the government during registration while going lower may not meet the effectiveness standard which we are less concerned with IF a lower level is still effective for our needs.

I would also guess that having the chlorine level at the normal target to inhibit green algae may allow for somewhat less PolyQuat 60 to be needed since the combination could be somewhat additive in terms of prevention of algae, but again that's something for you to try. Carl, for example, keeps his FC level at normal targets, but uses a small amount of PolyQuat 60.

Be sure to let us know how it works out if you try the PolyQuat 60.

Richard