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View Full Version : Algae on glass (any good algae eaters)



kaoticice
05-27-2008, 03:34 AM
I'm having a little problems with spot algae's in the my aquarium glass. My lighting is considered to be low. But it's just unavoidable to have these algae in the glass. I know that scrubbing is the most effective method to remove it, but is there any efficient algae eaters out there that may reduce this type of algae?
thank you
Ed

MandyL
05-27-2008, 03:36 AM
Yep, Bristlenose Plecos or Otos for small(ish) tanks. Which tank are you having problems with?

kaoticice
05-27-2008, 03:45 AM
All my tanks have em, even those that don't have aquarium lighting gets it
I don't overfeed my betta's and do regular 30% wc every-week T__T

I thought ottos were good at it, just having doubt it'll work. Oh well.. I'm gonna try and purchase a couple of ottos first for my 10 gallon tank, and see how it goes.

thankx for the advice.

Commodore 64
05-27-2008, 06:05 PM
Nerite Snails.

I have 12 Nerite snails in my 55g tank and I have never had to scrape the glass.

They are brackish water snails but they live fine in fresh water, they just can't breed in it.

Testimonial 1 (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Freshwater-Aquarium-3216/Olive-Nerite-snails.htm)
Mentions Algae Eating (http://www.guitarfish.org/2006/08/30/wonder-snails-the-nerite-snail)
Another glowing testimonial (http://www.boxofwater.net/invertebrates/olive-nerite-snail/)

karbomb
05-27-2008, 06:15 PM
does any sunlight hit the tanks? cos that could be the source of it.

Dave66
05-27-2008, 06:23 PM
All my tanks have em, even those that don't have aquarium lighting gets it
I don't overfeed my betta's and do regular 30% wc every-week T__T

I thought ottos were good at it, just having doubt it'll work. Oh well.. I'm gonna try and purchase a couple of ottos first for my 10 gallon tank, and see how it goes.

thankx for the advice.

Otocinclus don't have the dentation to eat the hard algae spots, so you'd be wasting your time and money buying them. Bristlenose cats have rough scraping plates on their mouth and could handle the spots, however, at five inches, they are far too large for a 10 gallon. And they'd have to be pretty hungry to have a go at those hard spots.
The problem is in your water, not your light, or lack there of. You've either have more than the natural levels of phosphate or high nitrate. Sounds like you have your tanks where they get some direct or indirect sunlight during the day. High phosphate and/or nitrate with any sunlight at all equals algae. Your water is hard enough that you get those hard algae spots as the plant can add Calcium carbonate to it's structure.
Solve your problem in water quality and you'll solve your algae problem. Simple. Fish and snails aren't the answer. Get your water and lighting up to snuff, and you can scrape the spots off the glass with a double-edged razor blade and you will eliminate it for good.

Dave

Drip Loop
05-27-2008, 08:44 PM
Question on this topic. How many ppm phosphate is acceptable? I notice my aquarium has quite a bit of it, and I get green fuzz algae on the glass and filter return. Are water changes the best method to remove the phosphates? I have tested my tap water and it is phosphate free, but whenever I do a water change, I have phosphates in relatively large amounts in no time.

And for some reason, my ottos wont touch the green fuzz algae. I figured that would be their favorite food, but no.. They dont enjoy it.

smaug
05-27-2008, 08:53 PM
Question on this topic. How many ppm phosphate is acceptable? I notice my aquarium has quite a bit of it, and I get green fuzz algae on the glass and filter return. Are water changes the best method to remove the phosphates? I have tested my tap water and it is phosphate free, but whenever I do a water change, I have phosphates in relatively large amounts in no time.

And for some reason, my ottos wont touch the green fuzz algae. I figured that would be their favorite food, but no.. They dont enjoy it.
without plants to use the phosphate the number that you want is less the .5ppm.I have used pura phos lock in the past with very good result to keep phos at bay.It sounds to me like you have it in your water supply which would be normal as it is sometimes added to fight corrosion.
Reply to the original poster:Algae on your glass is not uncommon and will occur even if your water and conditions are perfect.Get a good scraper and use it once a week or so.The bn plec is the way to go for for an algae eater.

digital3
05-27-2008, 09:38 PM
Razor blades work great at scraping the tough algae off. Also, aquarium backgrounds work good at keeping sun out from the back and sides of your aquarium. That's what I had to do for my 10 gallon.

kaoticice
05-28-2008, 05:10 AM
thx for the advice guys, im gonna dig deep down on my water quality problems, coz as far as i know my water quality is OK.

So to say, for my 40 gallon tank (after the GT leaves the tank), what kind of appropriate algae eaters suited for the tank?? school of otos (4), some bristle-nose, snails (I can only get access to mystery snails/apple snails), etc??

Oh and one other thing, I realized that those algae's in the tank glass is actually brown in color not green, can anybody identify this sp?

Thankx for all your helpful advices :19:
Ed