Algae -- Are my Labs & Acei Eating It, or...

[Deleted User]

I just noticed algae on limited areas of my tank that has electric yellow labs and yellow tail acei in it. Where the algae is (and is not) almost seems as if these guys have been eating it and it's on surfaces they cannot easily eat from. Could this be the case, or am I just seeing "the start of something ugly" (the algae taking hold and some scrubbing in my future)?

Thanks!

[rangur1]

it's a combination of both. with these fish you will WANT this to occur. what you do is clean the front side of tank so your view is clear and let algae grow on rest of surfaces for fish to pick away at. this is normal in a malawi tank.

[kaybee]

The acei's will algae-graze more than the yellow labs.

[terrapin24h]

we have a tank with the same combo, and neither our labs nor the acei eat algae to any measurable level. We just got a rubberlip pleco for the tank, and he's having a field day. He also has been holding his own against the other fish, chasing them when they annoy him. I have RLs in my 65 and they too have done a great job cleaning up diatoms and any algae.

I just have to remember not to scrape and clean the tank as much.

--chris