need glass cleaning tips

[AudraM]

I get algae on the glass of my tank below the gravel. I really don't have anywhere in my house that I can put the tank where sun won't shine on it at some point during the day which is why the algae problem. I move the gravel to clean the glass for the most part, but I have one section where my plants come right up to the glass. My pleco is useless as an algae eater, even my bogwood is turning green, not that he can reach most of this anyhow. The gravel is also turning green. Any suggestions?

[12 Volt Man]

best suggestion is to put curtains over the window that allows the sunlight in.

its an uphill battle, but I do like bristlenose pleco's for algae control.

[DAVIDFBT]

I've heard that MTS eat algea under the gravel and between the glass.

[small-fish]

try and get a Siamese algae eater, i have one and he cleans up a lot of my algae especially on my plants

[wataugachicken]

the algae below the gravel isn't hurting anything. don't worry about it. or lower the gravel level so you can't see as much build up.

basic algae solutions:

reduce light - if you can't do curtains, is there a background on the tank? how long are the tank lights on every day?
reduce feeding (nutrients for algae)
increase maintenance/water changes to remove excess nutrients - how often do you do water changes and how much?
do you have live plants? what kinds? do you add any fertilizers or carbon supplements? if you have lighting for plants but algae is taking over then you need to give the plants a boost so they can outcompete the algae.

might as well get rid of the common pleco, sooner rather than later. it's not going to clean much algae (as you've discovered), it is going to poop a lot and contribute to waste buildup, and it gets far too large for your tank. any algae he does eat just gets converted to waste, which in turn feeds all that hard-to-reach algae more and more.

even though bristlenose plecos will eat some algae, they will eat what they want to eat. that may not be everything that you want them to take care of, and you will still have to feed them appropriate foods in addition to what they graze on.

between the bn pleco, SAE's, and shrimp you already have, there's no fish you can add that will help any more than the crew you already have.

[saram521]

I wouldn't count on a fish to take care of your algae problem if there's a lot of it. Sunlight may be a big cause of your algae, but there may be other factors, such as your nitrate level, how lightly your tank may be planted, etc that might be contributing to your algae issue. What kind of pleco do you have? Not all plecos are good at eating large amounts of algae.

[AudraM]

I have hundreds of MTS, 2 SAE, and the pleco is a bushy nose. :silly: :) The place the tank is now gets light in the am from windows at the top of a wall in my 2 story living room that is only about 18" square and in the pm from my french door to the backyard and that's really the least amount of sun possible in my house. I'm working on the curtain for the french door, but never gonna happen for the small window 20' off the ground. :grinno:

[J double R]

get yourself one of those nice razor glass scrapers on a long handle made for the aquarium. this will easily reach down below the level of the gravel.

[AudraM]

Thanks J, sounds like a plan. I know it's not a big deal, I just want a nice purdy tank :)