[pewpewkittah]

Hello-

Currently have a well established 20 gallon long tank; its been set up for around 6 months now. Stocked with plenty of plants.

I've recently had an algae outbreak(long, green hairlike) and I think I need a smaller algae eating fish... I have tried limiting the light to my tank, dosing excel, and even adding a few red cherry shrimp.. only to be gobbled up by my GBR. :icon_sad:

I was just curious if I could fit an algae eater into my tank. Currently its stocked with;

6 golden white cloud minnows
6 neon tetras
3 peppered corys
1 german blue ram

My filter is a Marineland Penguin 150. Like I said, I don't really want to overstock my tank and cause dangerous spikes.. What species of algae eater could I fit into my tank to control the problem? :help:

Thanks in advance!

 

[cjskier]

Fish wont eat hair algae. Only thing I know that will are amano shrimp. Otherwise a combo of siamese algae eater, otto cats, amano shrimp and nerite snails are almost unbeatable. Combined with cory's for leftover cleanup your golden on clean up crew.

 

[Morgan_9300]

Otocinclus are the best for algea. They don't eat your plants at all and eat all kinds on algea. Also they are relatively cheap at the pet store.

 

[cjskier]

To add, you'll need to address why your getting algae in the first place. Lower your lighting, lower your nitrogen levels, raise your co2 or carbon levels.

 

[Ras]

flourish excel
killed all my hair and spot algae plus increased growth speed of my plants

 

[garfieldnfish]

Otos will not eat hair algae. Siamese Algae eaters do but they like company of their own kind and 2 or 3 of them would overstock your tank. The Florida flag fish is also rumored to eat it but I never had any so I don't know for sure.

 

[Chulios66]

I would go with netrites if otos don't work.

 

[alaskajeff]

I have had several planted tanks. The best Algae eating combination has been Siamese Algae eaters and Bushy Nose plecos. For your tank I would get 3 smaller Siamese Algae eaters and 2 small or one large Bush Nose.

 

[JJVanier]

Could you post a pic of the tank? Algae growth is causes by too much light, or too much nutrients, or a combination of both. Things like excel will help the issue(maybe even considering daily overdosing of excel - there should be info on the forums about it) but it won't fix the root issue. Either the light needs to be higher from the surface of the water, OR you need fast growing plants to out compete the algae for nutrients.



Are you dosing ferts of any kind?

 

[mattjm20]

I have 2 SAE's and I like them, but I've seen them in tanks with crazy hair algae that they did not touch. I don't have hair algae myself, but my lighting is pretty under control, so I don't think it's because they prevent it.

Btw - I also have a BN pleco who has proven to be pretty plant friendly. I think he messed up a bit of Xmas moss but is otherwise gentle with the plants and it CONSTANTLY eating since I got him a month ago.

 

[garfieldnfish]

A 20 gal long is not large enough for one grown up BN and they do not eat hair algae anyway. SAEs get too large. You could add a couple of same sex mollys and some nerites without overstocking your tank. They eat algae but I am not sure how effective they are on the green stringy kind. This kind actually is capable of killing your floating plants in time, sort of like vines on trees. I hate this type of algae the most. I had it severely damage some elodia and I had to remove all the plants from the tank and manually remove most of the algae. Luckily my elodia was just floating in the tank and the only plant in there so I removed it swished it in water several times and removed as much of the green algae as possible by hand. It did help and after that the shrimp in the tank were able to remove the rest. It is gone right now but it is not the same as black hair/beard algae. I have that in some other tanks and actually if you let that grow it turns to looking pretty if it forms a mat on driftwood. I have come to accept that algae as part of the flora in some of my tanks and I am much happier now. But I totally understand that you want to get rid of the green stringy type. It is a nasty one.
BTW the best algae eater is the rubberlip pleco and he is hardly ever mentioned. I too also almost forgot about him. While he will not eat hair algae, he will get rid of other algae (hard green spot algae on glad walls and décor) and generally will keep your tank clean without overstocking it. They only get be 4" and do not need company of their own kind, making it the perfect algae eater for tanks 15 gal to 30 gal. They only need a hiding space like cave or decoration they can hide in during the day and they will do a hell of a job all their life long. My favorite algae eater and you can usually find them at Petsmart or Petco or Petland for just a few $. They are normally the L187B spotted rubberlip but any of the family will do and a 20 gal along with the fish you have would be perfect. They also do not need real driftwood in the tank like a BN would for digestion. If you are set on getting an algae eater I would recommend him and 2 mollys or 3 nerite snails and see what happens.

 

[pewpewkittah]

Thanks for the quick and informative replies everyone!!

I really don't mind the green or brown algae, gives my tank character.

But the hair algae, seems to be starving my moss and preventing growth. I've had it in my tank for over 2 months and I have barely seen any growth.

Currently have 2 CFL 6500k daylights over my tank, I believe 23W each.. and dose Flourish once per week for ferts.
Have tried limiting light times to 6-7 hours per day for a week. I have even attempted doing 4 hours on, 4 off and 4 on again; like someone has suggested on another post.

Been overdosing with Excel for 1 1/2 weeks with no change.

So basically my only choice for algae control is Nerites? How about a golden Oto? I have heard they don't get too large..

I've included some pictures of the tank, including a close up of my problem...