Tank Cleaners?

[gendall85]

my gravel quickly gets covered in green hairy algae. What are the best fish to tackle this job? My pleco only seems to like cleaning a statue and his rock. Plants get bad too. They are artificial.any advice would be grateful

 

[Kelly-Jo]

A gravel syphon is your best bet.

 

[Man of fish]

SAE will eat any algae I believe. Siamese Algae Eater=SAE

Don't get them confused with CAE Chinese algae eater. Whole different fish,requirements, and personality.

 

[gendall85]

thank you i shall look into them. Are snails any good?

 

[Man of fish]

Not unless you want to be overrun with pests forever.

 

[mike455555]

amano shrimp are great for hair algae. i got a riccia ball covered in the stuff... stuck it in the tank and i bet the riccia's free floating by tomorrow morning (this is a tennis ball size clump +) of basically hair algae

 

[CrazyAirborne]

figuring out what is causing the algae is the best option, how long are ur lights on for? i find that my tanks will get the green algae if the lights are left on too long or its very intense.

 

[gendall85]

for about ten or twelve hours. Is this right? My peco is slacking at the moment. Cleaned everything right up at first. Think he just needs some help!

 

[ZoddyZod]

that is too much and that is almost certainly the cause of your algae.

Do you have any plants?

I would recommend lowering it to 8hrs a day maximum.

Snails - not all snails are 'pests', some wont even breed in a freshwater aquarium.

 

[gendall85]

only have artificial plants. Thinking of getting some.....

 

[ZoddyZod]

then that's another issue. With 12hrs of light and no plants to soak up the nutrients, algae will thrive.

Even if you get some plants, you will still want 8hrs a day for the lighting.

 

[gendall85]

any certain plants easy to keep and best to have? Heard people talking about a night light?

 

[gendall85]

also do you think i am able to get any more fish? I have a 180l tank with 3 small angels 2 gouramis 1 blue ram 1 pleco and 9 platys 6 of which are babies. Hoping to put babies in another tank soon if i can find someone who wants to huge lion head goldfish!

 

[rainbow-a-holic]

SAE will eat any algae I believe. Siamese Algae Eater=SAE

Don't get them confused with CAE Chinese algae eater. Whole different fish,requirements, and personality.

I strongly reccommend that you stay away from CAE's!! They will constantly pester all your fish. I got rid of my two recently and my rainbows are noticables swimming about more since

 

[Man of fish]

That's why I told him he shouldn't get them.