Algae...all Over My 10 Gallon Tank.

[tamara]

I have a pleco in the tank, he does nothing so i'm going to transfer him to my other ten gallon tank
btw, he's a brsitlenose, NOTHING to worry about, yes he grows to about 4/5" but not to big.
and i was wondering what type of fish i could get to get the algae off,
it's just like a green fuzz on the back+side of the tank and all over the rocks.
i have only guppies in both tanks aswell, so it's just 15guppies+bristlenose pleco divided into two tanks
and one is crystal clear. the other with the pleco is algae grown.

 

[iairj84]

Otto's work GREAT if the algae isn't on the glass, they will eat some off of the grass but will love to eat it off of decorations and plants. I would reduce feedings, the pleco's regardless of size are extremely messy as far as poop goes and that isn't probably helping your algae situation. Otto's stay small and you could probably get 2 if you wanted. They aren't agressive at all either.

 

[wendywc]

No need to move the bristlenose, just add a few otos if you have the room. Plus I would do some cleaning... scrape the algae off the glass and take out the rocks and scrub them with a wire brush.

 

[tamara]

Alright, well i was going to transfer the pleco to my new tank, because it doesn't need any cleaning at all
So if he's useless then he might as well go somewhere were he isn't really needed and can just chill there,
and then i could get a few good algea eaters [it is all over the back&side wall..starting on the front wall, and just on a half dozen of my larger rocks]

 

[tamara]

Well i bought 3 peppered cory catfish and i put them in my other tank for now, and soon as i finish cleaning out my other tank..which now the filter won't go back on i'm going to put them in that tank...

 

[01edmn]

i dont think cory will eat mutch algae

 

[n3ont3tra]

1. You have too high of a bioload. Now that you've moved the plec, the algae will probably go down a little, but you'll still have some.
2. Adding more fish (the cories) doesn't help any either, part of the problem is the excess of nutrients that algea love, adding a lot of fish just helps the algae, even adding some algae eating fish.
3. What type of lighting do you have, how often do you do water changes, and how much? Treat the cause, not the effect.

 

[iairj84]

The cories are pretty productive at going through the gravel or sand (preferably for cories) and eating a lot of the little bits and pieces your other fish miss, but at the same time they're adding to your bio-load which was mentioned before. The cories won't touch your algae either

 

[loachman]

I think the problem is stemming from an overstocking.

How often are water changes, feedings, and what's the light duration and wattage? Is it near a window with direct sunlight? Knowing that should help in figuring out how to best fix it.

I wouldn't add any additional fish to what you have. Chances are that it could just compound your problem.

 

[tamara]

Well, i do water changes about every week [10-30%, depending on what the water clarity is]
and for some reason the old tank seems as though it's cycling again for some reason, so i have all my fish in the new tank [which still hasn't cycled--or even begun to cycle so there is still no ammonia/nitrites]
so they're all in there, and since my old tank seems to be cycling
i just cleaned everything out...
but now there's bits of old food/poo on the ground, almost like a thick dust....how do i get that off [nothing is in the tank]
i've tried leaving two filters on for over 24 hours and it's not doing anything to get rid of the smaller pieces =[

 

[Matty P]

Use a gravel siphon/vacum to clean the gravel.

Matt