otos and algae

[brybot]

I have had my aquarium going with fish in it for a couple of months now. I have been battling all sorts of algae for quite some time. I started out with 3 oto's, but one very recently died. There has been a constant supply of green algae on the walls of the tank, as well as on the leaves of my live plants. There seems to be two types of green algae, a very small light green one, and a fuzzy dark green one. Anyway, the otos dont seem to be keeping up with the algae at all. I sometimes wonder if they are even eating anything at all. Should I get a few more otos or try something else. The tank is 10gal and I currently have 6 x-ray tetras and 2 otos. Thanks

[rich311k]

Try fixing the problem. Is the tank planted? How much light? How long is the light on? Any direct sunlight? What is the stocking? What are you test readings?

[Little Embers]

I agree with rich and would try to get to the bottom of the cause of the algae, particularly if it is a lot.

The problem with Otos is that they only eat certain types of algae...mainly the soft green slimy new algae and diatoms is their favourite. If you have the hard green spot algae or hair algae, they won't touch it.

Do you supplement your Oto's diet with algae wafers and vegies? If not, the one that died may have died from starvation (just one usual cause), they also don't do well in newly establish tanks, but if they survive 3 mths or so, they are usually pretty hardy. If you do, they can often lose interest in the algae, but you still need to supply vegies etc. now and then, depending on how much algae is in the tank.

[Sarkazmo]

My Otos went nuts and stripped the tank of algae... More Otos may be needed but Rich's correct, fix the problem causing the algae. If the one algae is wiry looking then it may be beard algae which ONLY Siamese Algae Eaters will eat it. Buy yeah, answer Rich's questions above and we'll be able to help you out better.

Sark

[brybot]

I answered some of the questions in the original post.

Tank is planted with live plants.
Nitrates: 5-10ppm (recently started adding fertilizers)
No sunlight.
Lights are on 10-12 hours/day. Cant remember what I programmed it for. 26W of fluorescents for 10 gal.
6 x-ray tetras
2 otos


I know they wont eat the hair algae. Good to know about the spot algae. I recently treated the hair algae with H202 which seems to have worked pretty well. I removed most of it once it died.

[rich311k]

Cut the light to 8 hours a day. You should not need a carbon source at that light level but Excel may help things out. Green spot is indicative of low phospahtes so consider adding that as well. I would start with a shorter photo period and see how that goes after a few weeks.

[brybot]

Thanks for the info. I have some phosphate fertilizers but I have no way of testing to know how much to add. My friend gave it to me. He got it from a hydroponics place. I have used the nitrates he gave me, but only because I can test for that. Are phosphate test kits widely available? I use excel, but not on a daily (or even regular basis). Its just whenever I think of it a few times a week.

[rich311k]

Phosphate kits exist but don't waste your money. Add a smidgen, 1/16 tsp after each water change. That should be plenty. Carbon whether CO2 or excel needs to be added in a regular fashion, algae deals with fluctuating levels much better than higher plants. Try adding it every other day. Stability and routine is one of the keys to a happy, thriving aquarium.