algae

[maigen]

i was wondering what is causing the algae on my fake plants & what i can do to help control it short of ripping it out & cleaning it.

my garden variety pleco is fantastic at keeping the glass & everything else clean....not a spot to be found. but he won't really go after the plants too much. is it because they are the material type?

the algae only seems to be growing on the parts that are up high closer to the light

do i need another type of pleco or perhaps an oto......is the tank getting too much light?

20 gallon...1 pleco...3 calico sunset platys...3 corys...1afd...2 balloon mollies

[dwayne]

What type of light bulb do you have? How long is the light on for? Is the tank in direct sunlight a long portion of the day? How hot is the tank? How often do you feed?

I would imagine that your pleco knows they're fake plants and just doesn't want to deal with them :) I know my pleco never went near any of my fake plants ever. Then as soon as I got real ones he was all over them.

I think the only way to get rid of the algae on the plants would be to take them out and rinse them off w/ some bleach and water. Definately if the tank has too much light, is too hot, and you feed too often, that will all contribute to the algae... i'd venture to guess that since the only part of the plants that's getting algae is up near the light, then that's the culprit... but not 100%. let us know more...

~Tara

[happychem]

Perhaps this may be a useful link? Credit to the sticky in plant forums.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?dept_id=0&siteid=6&acatid=328&aid=714

But to be more precise, we definitely need more info.

[maigen]

- lighting is flouescent & is on for 12 & off for 12
- absolutely no sunlight (the tank is in the basement)
- temp is 78
- feed every couple of days
- 1/3 water change once a week
- bio wheel filtration


awesome link thanks.....looks like my lighting is the issue....on too long. article says 6 to 10 for ornamental tanks. any suggestions as to where i should start in that 6 to 10 range????

[travelinman1969]

Get an oto. Not sure if he'll get along with your plants, but wow, what a worker. See my post on otos. If he's okay with your plants, that's the trick, but get one at a time. They chow!! :D

[happychem]

Otos are diligent little workers, fun to watch and particularly fond of brown algae.

Start with your lights on for 6 hours. You can stagger the timing if you want so that the lights are on when you get up, then again when you return from work. Or however you want to organise it. Get a timer if you don't already have one, they're cheap and an invaluable tool.

You'll probably have to get rid of the pleco. If it is a common pleco, it will get way too big for your tank. And they produce copious quantities of waste.