Slightly Complex Algae Problem

[challdog]

Hi guys,

I've got a 100 L crayfish tank, with fairly good lighting, and perfect water.
i've got the beginning stages of green hair algae, spot algae and generic slime algae, which i KNOW aren't going to slow down any time soon.

Here's the complexity:

The simplest answer, i know, is to add plants. my other tanks are planted, and 100% algae free.
BUT
its a crayfish... so i cant put plants in there at all.
seriously, i once put a 1foot high vallis plant in there, with 12 stems... he ate the lot in less than 5 hours.
And being a crustacean, any chemicals are out of the question.

I've got inhabitants to tackle it: pleco, three types of snail. This has been successful in removing ALL of the original brown algae, and SOME of the slime-algae, but the rest still continues to grow and increase.

Any suggestions guys?
I really dont want his tank to look shoddy, as he's my Creme d' le Creme!  

 

Thanks,
Iain

 

[techen]

I never saw clayfish as a fish friendly thing. Seen them cut fish in half and eat them. Also tanks a tiny bit on the small size for a pleco anyway?
 
For the algae, Get more snails. They'll slowly work on it and scrap off any algae on the glass. The only things you can do.

 

[Chad]

Crayfish are messy eaters so they require more frequent water changes and detritus siphoning. Without plants to compete for the nutrients the algae gets free reign. Showing low phosphates and nitrates doesn't actually mean they aren't present, they are just being consumed by the algae so a reduction can help. Crayfish are unique in that they can be trained to take food from the hand. This can help (don't get pinched) to make sure you don't overfeed. It's also fun. It might take a little while but it's worth the time.
 
You are also in a good position in that crayfish tend to like it dark so you can shut the lights down for a month and it won't care at all.
 
As for snails...well...I've kept crayfish and at least mine found the snails to be quite tasty.

 

[levahe]

Do you clean your tank often? Removing as much dirt weekly by gravel vacuuming and using a net as you can will help greatly. Also what Filter do you have? And do you clean it often?. Large weekly water changes will help too.
The main thing is to not have lights that are too bright or on for too long as well.

 

[challdog]

thanks for the help guys,
With a bit more digging, i think the only way is just to scrape... a lot... frequently.
but it seems to work okay for now.
Iain

 

[challdog]

small update, for anyone who's interested.
The tank now contains a cleanup crew consisting of:
3 amano shrimp (these guys are anti algae machines!!!)
1 zebra nerite (also amazing at carving through film algae)
Small re-homed bristlenose. (really like the brown algae)
...
Only a few days after putting them in, and i can see an almost 'faked' clearance of algae. it's literally like someone's sneaking into my room and scraping my tank with tiny tools!


Highly advise the team above!