Algae, Algae and more Algae

[Faith_at_Large]

I have two types of algae in my home tank and a third type in my work tank. At home I have a nice filmy green aglae that coates everything including the glass and my Otos and Platy love it, they are constantly feeding off it and now my glass is virtually clear. But the second type of algae is harder and is forming a carpet over the entire floor of my tank and over my fake plants. The Otos do not appear to be eating it at all and it makes for a semi-hard clump that includes aquarium gravel when I try to physically remove it. I have nearly wrecked my fake plants trying to get the algae off them, and I do not want to chemically remove the algae as I love my Otos and they love the other type of algae (I have sinking algae discs too, but they do not want that yet). Does anything like to eat the other type of algae? My tank is too small for a Pleco.

My work tank has brown algae that just scrapes off the walls easily, but I hear that Otos like that stuff too, so I was considering adding two Otos to that tank as well. The work tank is low-light conditions and the tank lights are only on during work hours - hence the brown variety.

I am also considering adding mystery snails to both tanks, but I know from past experience that they may not like the harder algae either. Does anyone know about how Otos and Mystery Snails get along? I do not want snails eating my Otos.

[Dave66]

Ok, the slime is a kind of cyanobacteria. The fact that Otocinclus are eating it means that its a variety that's palatable to them, as most kinds of cyanobacteria is toxic to fish. The spirolina in those algae disks is actually cyanobacteria. It isn't algae.
The brown algae is diatoms, which is a kind of algae in a shell. You get them when you have either silicates in your water or silicates in your gravel. If you are using sedimentary rocks or mineral-rich petrified wood, there's your silicates.
Otocinclus don't have the dentation to eat the hard algae. Its hard like that over time, and the calciates in harder water seem to make it almost concrete.
When you feed less and do regular weekly partial water changes, the hard algae will slowly disappear. It may take up to a year or more, but proper maintanence and a more appropriate feeding regimen will result in less and less algae.
Algae disks aren't an appropriate food for Otocinclus, and its highly unlikely they'll eat them. Vegtables such as cucumbers and zucchini blanched before feeding is more appropriate. Leafy vegtables like spinach should be smashed so the inside of the leaf is accessable to the fish.
As you've found out, it's easy to culture green algae. That is their natural food. You should look into providing algae-covered stones for them, rotated in and out.

Dave

[Faith_at_Large]

That helps somewhat, but will feeding less and doing more waterchanges also reduce the preferred algae or does that stuff naturally grow faster? And where/how does one get algae covered stones to rotate in and out? Just put in stones for the algae to grow over?

The discs that I have are spirulina based and produced for catfish and other bottom dwellers. There are many different varieties. This type is much smaller than the ones I used to feed my mystery snails. Nevertheless, they didn't want to eat it. I will have to look to see if it also has cyanobacteria.

[Litespeed]

The brown algae is diatoms, which is a kind of algae in a shell. You get them when you have either silicates in your water or silicates in your gravel. If you are using sedimentary rocks or mineral-rich petrified wood, there's your silicates.

We just started out tank less then a month ago. I had been overfeeding for about a week to produce more ammonia and get our tank to cycle. Now that it's cycled I am back to their normal feedings (twice a day).
We are having our 84 gallon tank producing brown algae also. We have some river rock large and small in the tank. How do we get rid of the brown algae other then take the rocks out of the aquarium and wipe them off? Will the algae continue to grow?

[Nick_Pavlovski]

As you've found out, it's easy to culture green algae. That is their natural food. You should look into providing algae-covered stones for them, rotated in and out.

Dave

Damn, now THAT is a nifty, simple, effective idea!!!
You a genius!