Oscars Vs Algae...

[scozzman]

Hi all...

I have just moved my two 12cm oscars into a 6 foot tank. ( They were in a foor foot ).

Two weeks later i was shocked when i came back from working away to find that the tank is covered in brown algae.

The lights were hardly on and the misses has been feeding those frozen blood worms - only a couple cubes a day.

So my question is why?

A friend said to put in some algae eater fish. What algae eating fish could i put in that wont get eaten??? Can i use snails?

I have white sand which looks great but i am having trouble cleaning the left over food which lays at the bottom - mayby this is my trouble.

Any info much appreciated and im sorry for the 20 questions...

Cheers.

 

[KingofthePisces]

common plecostomus catfish they grow huge

 

[scozzman]

common plecostomus catfish they grow huge

Will they also help with my algae problem?

 

[idlefingers]

I have white sand which looks great but i am having trouble cleaning the left over food which lays at the bottom - mayby this is my trouble.

That sounds like the problem to me. The extra food will be creating loads of nutrients for the algae to grow. Cut down how much you feed so that they get as much as they'll eat in 2-3mins with nothing left in the tank afterwards.

 

[Maximus]

Brown "algae" is usally not an algae at all, but something called diatoms.

They are caused by a lack of light, so put the lights on a wait it out

 

[scozzman]

Thanks for your replies...

What is the best way to clean the sand???
Every time i try to vacuum it up i end up sucking it all up,

Can i get white gravel - if it exists?!!

Cheers