Hair Algae Eating Fish/Invert?

4077 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Josiah, Mar 10, 2014

pewpewkittah

Discussion Starter · Mar 10, 2014

Hello all!

I have a hair algae problem in my 20 gallon long tank.. I don't really want to start adding a lot of chemicals or anything, I've tried several methods with no change.So I've decided to just find a fish or invert that will eat it.

My current stock is;
6 neon tetra
6 golden white cloud minnows
3 peppered cories
1 male german blue ram

What would be a good fish or invert that would remove hair algae effectively and not overstock my tank?

I have heard that SAE, Mollies, Amano Shrimp and Nerites can fix the problem.. My LFS suggested SAE. I can exchange them when they get to big for my tank, how does this sound?

Also included a picture of the problem... Just encase I didn't identify the algae correctly.

Thanks in advance!!

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Ras

· #2 · Mar 10, 2014

I have heard amanos and cherries will eat it, but I also heard they dont. SAE seem to be the only one that everyone agrees eats hair algae's
so I'd go with that, or maybe experiment with some shrimp
snail's I would take off the list, as far as I know there is no snail that really eats it

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mightymizz

· #3 · Mar 10, 2014

What is SAE?

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Topekoms

· #4 · Mar 10, 2014

Siamese Algae Eater (SAE)

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pewpewkittah

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 10, 2014

mightymizz said:
What is SAE?

Siamese Algae Eater

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Josiah

· #6 · Mar 10, 2014

For me:
Snails ignored it
Siamese Algae Eater (consumed it) done in two days. He loved it.
I got Amano Shrimp later....don't know if they would.

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pewpewkittah

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 10, 2014

Looks like I'll be getting the SAE!

Would you guys recommend a single fish or a few of them?

Thanks so much for the awesome replies! TPT never fails me. :icon_smil

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Josiah

· #8 · Mar 10, 2014

20 gallon is to small for a SAE.

If you get one just get one, be prepared to re home him at some point. Amano shrimp would be what I'd try first.

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hedge_fund

· #9 · Mar 10, 2014

Yeah I'd go with a couple of amanos if it were my tank. They eat a ton of other things that can contribute to the algae such as dead or dying plant leaves or decaying wood. Sometimes they will eat algae if they cannot find any other food source so try not to overfeed your fish. Your driftwood would be cleaned up of various other things growing on it (mold and certain types of algaes). Amanos are really cheap too so it's worth a shot.

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pewpewkittah

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 10, 2014

hedge_fund said:
Yeah I'd go with a couple of amanos if it were my tank. They eat a ton of other things that can contribute to the algae such as dead or dying plant leaves or decaying wood. Sometimes they will eat algae if they cannot find any other food source so try not to overfeed your fish. Your driftwood would be cleaned up of various other things growing on it (mold and certain types of algaes). Amanos are really cheap too so it's worth a shot.

Won't my fish bother the amano shrimp? I've tried adding RCS before and my german blue ram thought that was a very tasty snack...

Josiah said:
20 gallon is to small for a SAE.

If you get one just get one, be prepared to re home him at some point. Amano shrimp would be what I'd try first.

As I stated above, I can simply exchange the SAE once he gets too large for my tank.. my LFS is pretty cool about it.

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randpost

· #11 · Mar 10, 2014

pewpewkittah said:
Won't my fish bother the amano shrimp? I've tried adding RCS before and my german blue ram thought that was a very tasty snack...

As I stated above, I can simply exchange the SAE once he gets too large for my tank.. my LFS is pretty cool about it.

The Amano is or can be 10-??? times the size of an rcs.

picture is an older juvenile RCS with my smallest Amano.

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