Need a solution for algae filled tank

[Eleonora]

Hi All,

My 50L tank is always over run with algae! I have to clean it all thoroughly every week! It's not in direct sunlight, but i think because it's in an office environment it gets lots and lots of (artificial) light. I have to say though that the live plants I have in there love it! I have to chop them back every 2 weeks!.

Solution?

Anyone know of a small algae eater that would live well with an angel fish breeding pair (they had babies 2 weeks ago, but the babies all got sucked up into the filter )?

Should I get snails? I had some Mystery snails, but they kept dying.

 

[Griz]

Ottos would be perfect. Up to 2" and they love algae. Get a few, they like company.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=35094

Are the lights in your office left on more than 12 hours? If they are, maybe try covering it up to reduce the amount of light to 12.

 

[keeper-of-fish]

Have you seen the magnet algae scrubbers get one of those works great...bought mine at wall-mart ....Mine even goes around corners

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Poor angel babies! Yeah I would suggest otos to! They love to munch on algae! They only grow about 2" so they'd be fine!

Yeah and snails will turf up the gravel/sand and chomp on all the plants! I had to buy a few clown loaches to get rid of the snails my tank had! I don't know where they came from!

 

[freddyk]

Of course algae-eating livestock are always nice in a tank, but perhaps we can attack the problem at a different level too.

The excessive algae means there is an excess of nutrients in the tank that your plants are not using up. If you are using any extra fertilizers or liquid plant supplements, try cutting them back. If the tank is heavily stocked, try increasing the frequency of water changes, cutting back on nutrients naturally supplied by the livestock. If the tank is not heavily planted you can use cuttings from the existing ones to increase the number, so that more nutrients are used. Cutting back light may or may not help, depending on just how much your plants need to thrive.