Algea Problem

[rooroo]

I have a bad algea problem in my brackish tank. It is growing everywhere. It is long and stringy, growing on my plants, glass, sand and driftwood. I have scrubbed it, pulled on it and tried sucking it out but it comes right back in less than a week. I have a regular florescent light on it that is supposed to help the plants grow. I have two GSP's and seven mollies, there are no cleaners in the tank as I have never found anything that can go into a brackish tank except a few snails and the GSP eat those in less than a day. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for any help.....

[Pufferpunk]

How large is the tank? What are your nitrates & phosphates? I had the same algae & the mollies take care of most of it now.

[rooroo]

The tank is 35-40 gal. The nitrates are 5 on the saltwater scale and less than 5 on the fresshwater scale. I do not have a test for phosphate and am not sure if the LFS has that test. My mollies don't even touch the stuff.....

[Sir Pufferfish]

get a bunch of Nerite snails if you can,
you be suprised how good they are at munching algea.
GSP dont touch them,

[rooroo]

Thanks, I guess I will try finding some. That tank sticks out like a sore thumb because all my other tanks are really clean...

[Pufferpunk]

That's weird... ourt of 9 tanks (FW/BW/SW), my BW is the only one w/algae problems too.

[rooroo]

Wow there is someone that has more tanks than I do. I have five (FW/BW/SW)!!!!!

[brackishdude]

Second on the nerites idea. I've bought them both off of ebay and arizona aquatics. Never found them anywhere else. Voracious algae eaters.

The last batch I got had several with living barnacles on their shells. Didn't last long in my low sg tank, though.

My algae problems have always been the worst in the first 1-2 years of the tank's set up, then always sort of burn themselves out.

[mellowvision]

I've heard that brackish tanks are the worst for algae... and have avoided setting one up mostly because I was having a hard time finding algae eaters. Nerite snails sound like a good bet, although in my freshwater tanks, I don't think my snails make any impact on hair algae.

you can also try amano (japonica) shrimp. they are happy in freshwater, but are actually brackish water shrimp, which can only breed in brackish water. you won't be able to actually breed them, since their young need to transition to full salt and then back to freshwater to mature... but they should do just fine in brackish water as adults, and may exhibit breeding behaviour. they are excelent algae eaters, and a lot of fun.

[rooroo]

But wont GSP's eat the shrimp?

[mellowvision]

possibly... but amanos are pretty big, if you get adults, and they're pretty cheap, so it would be easy to find out.

[jflng]

Florida Flag Fish maybe

[rooroo]

Florida Flag Fish maybe

WHAT??

[vampie]

Florida Flagfish, one of the best freshwater algae-eating fish that can also be kept in low-end brackish. Unfortunately, they don't always eat algae. Or play nice.

[rooroo]

I guess I have never heard of them...