Thinking Of Adding New Member

[bunzplayer]

Trying to find a new addition to my tank, or tanks. Trying to find something that will help keep alge off my glass, as well as rocks. Not sure if a pleco or something like that will work or not. I am having trouble trying to keep brown and green alge under control. Any thoughts or suggestions would help.



Seems like I will clean the glass every week now, this is where the brown stuff (alge), grows. The rocks are where the green develops...thought about adding another member to my tanks to maybe eat some of this or something...........

 

[dayzofspeed]

some plecs, also ottos can be quite successful at removing algae although thats just masking the problem, you really need to find out why you are getting the algae in the first place, and stop it

 

[nurglespuss]

Bristlenose, snails, ottos?

 

[bunzplayer]

some plecs, also ottos can be quite successful at removing algae although thats just masking the problem, you really need to find out why you are getting the algae in the first place, and stop it

Not sure what an otto is, curious is its just hard water. Pain in the #16##### to keep up with, as it is in all tanks.

Bristlenose, snails, ottos?

Think a bristlenose would help me...any pics?

 

[minnnt]

I have a tank near a window and it quickly grows algae like its going out of fashion. I removed some rocks that were whitish before they went in, came out green. Placed them in another tank that had some BN in and the female cleaned them perfectly within about 2 minutes. So I thought they would solve my problems. I moved them into the algae tank and they never touched it. Lol. Have a group of about 5 Apple snails in there now and they're doing a better job than the bn's did. Depends on the bn in question, some will clean it all and others (like mine) won't touch it! Trial and error I'm afraid.

 

[bunzplayer]

I have a tank near a window and it quickly grows algae like its going out of fashion. I removed some rocks that were whitish before they went in, came out green. Placed them in another tank that had some BN in and the female cleaned them perfectly within about 2 minutes. So I thought they would solve my problems. I moved them into the algae tank and they never touched it. Lol. Have a group of about 5 Apple snails in there now and they're doing a better job than the bn's did. Depends on the bn in question, some will clean it all and others (like mine) won't touch it! Trial and error I'm afraid.

Don't think the window would be the problem. They are all kept in a small room in a finished basement with only a small window. It does let in some light, not as much as an egress window would. Sounds like maybe trile and error time....maybe see if I can find a bristlenose.....how big do they get, and hopefully other than the alge issues, what else should I feed them. Flakes ok?

 

[jkilby]

I have three golden apple snails that do a good job of the algae on the side glass, the assassins now and then venture up onto the glass, but not really good cleaners, but great for small snail control. For the wood and slate I have a dozen cherry shrimp which are awesome, they just downright demolish the algae and any left over food, but not something you can go for if you have large fish that will see them as food.

 

[StandbySetting]

What's the tank volume? The algae will be a product of ammonia and light, how many hours are your lights on for a day? You could try reducing the photo period and increasing the circulation will help eliminate any ammonia pockets. Treating the root cause is a better alternative than buying a fish purely to clean the tank.

 

[bunzplayer]

What's the tank volume? The algae will be a product of ammonia and light, how many hours are your lights on for a day? You could try reducing the photo period and increasing the circulation will help eliminate any ammonia pockets. Treating the root cause is a better alternative than buying a fish purely to clean the tank.

I have 2 10 gallon tanks that are housing newly released African fry. 1 55 gallon that holds a Peacock Bass, Green Terror, and a Jack Dempsy. A 30 gallon that hold 5 African Cichlids, witch will soon be moving into a 50 gallon breeder tank I just bought. There is hardly any trace of ammonia, due to the frequent water changes....if anything, the ammonia may read .25 at any given time.

 

[StandbySetting]

It doesn't matter whether your test kit reads ammonia or not, it's still there, it must be for your filter to function, it's there in traces, and traces of ammonia are still capable of causing algae problems.

 

[bunzplayer]

It doesn't matter whether your test kit reads ammonia or not, it's still there, it must be for your filter to function, it's there in traces, and traces of ammonia are still capable of causing algae problems.

What can I do when the test is not reading much ammonia? I already do frequent water changes...don't know what else to do.

 

[Tizer]

Just skimming through your thread and you've not mentioned how long your lights are on for? This is a major contributing factor for algae.

 

[StandbySetting]

It doesn't matter whether your test kit reads ammonia or not, it's still there, it must be for your filter to function, it's there in traces, and traces of ammonia are still capable of causing algae problems.

What can I do when the test is not reading much ammonia? I already do frequent water changes...don't know what else to do.

Increasing circulation will reduce the risk of algae, as ammonia is not allowed to stagnate.

Just skimming through your thread and you've not mentioned how long your lights are on for? This is a major contributing factor for algae.

I agree, this would be helpful, try to aim for no more than 8 hours a day.