Can A Molly Help Tackle The Algae?

[novice_learner]

Brackish water seems to encourgae algae. Can Mollies tackle the algae problem as they love feeding on them.

 

[smudger72]

I have 3 mollies in my 55g tank. They help a lot with Algae.
They don't stop the algae on the glass but they do shift a lot off any ornaments and plants.

 

[nmonks]

Mollies, Limia, Florida flagfish, nerites, Amano shrimps, cherry shrimps, Malayan livebearing snails, violet gobies and lots of others eat algae and are suitable for brackish water tanks (though some to lower salinities than others).

As ever though it depends on what you're trying to achieve in your brackish tank. At low salinities (SG 1.003) suitable for mollies, gobies, glassfish and so on, then plants will be a hundred times better at controlling algae than algae eaters on their own. Make sure you have strong lighting, and then choose plants that grow rapidly. Amazing as it seems, this system works brilliantly well.

At higher salinities for monos, scats, etc. then forget about algae control. It's natural and part of the habitat. Wipe the algae from the glass, and otherwise let the algae do its thing. If you have blue-green algae, then that does tend to suggest your tank has deeper problems than algae! Otherwise green algae and red algae, as well as diatoms, are harmless and normal. Exploit them: buy big rocks from the garden centre, and let the algae cover them. They look amazing this way, and far better than any fake ornaments or plastic plants when combined with big, high salinity brackish water fish.

Cheers, Neale