Algae everywhere!

[cincy5dad]

Hi everyone,

No matter how much I scrape my freshwater tank, the algae keeps coming back, over and over. Is there a product That would get rid of the algae already in the tank, and then prevent it from coming back? If so, does the filter media have to be removed during treatment?

Thanks,

Andy

[Ordovician]

What does the algae look like?

[cincy5dad]

it's greenish brown.

[Ordovician]

Does it just accumulate on the glass or does it kind of make a blanket over everthing in the tank including the gravel?

[PlecoKeeper]

Get a Pleco :D. But is it little thingy's on the side of the glass or is it justt pure algae?

[cincy5dad]

it's not a blanket, but it seems to be present almost everywhere.
On the glass, on the gravel, on the heater, on the intake pipe.

[Macromatt]

You need to get a fish, or other animal that eats algae. Depending on the species of fish you have in the tank there is several species you can look at.

Otto
Pleco
Siamese Algae Eater
Chinese Algae Eater
Ghost shrimp
Snails
there are also some species of cichlids that eat algae, and a bunch of others that I can't think of at the moment.

Matt

[cincy5dad]

I have a chinese algae eater in there, he doesn't eat any of it

[MrGoodbytes]

As far as I know, chinese algae eaters/loaches are completely useless. My dad has a few and all they do is fight each other, not eat a thread of algae.
I have read of rosy barbs being ravenous algae eaters, eventually resorting to live plants if there's no algae.
Get some medium-sized ones, say 1 for every 25 or 30 gallons, and you should be okay, you just have to be patient.
I finally beat my algae problem, but there's still some left (my shrimp are small eaters).
Best of luck.

[ellehcim]

I bought a common pleco, with in a week he cleaned all the algea in my tank, now mind you, they get quite large so if you have a small tank you will have to make future arrangments for it. The pleco deffinatly earned his keep:D

[djlen]

Get you 2 or 3 Otos and they will do a nice job for you. You might want to post some info about your tank. There are other ways to get rid of algae, but without knowing anything about the tank we are hand-cuffed. Is it planted, how heavily, how large is the tank?
What kind of lighting? Is it near or in front of a window?
Give us something to work with.
Len

[cincy5dad]

It's a 55 gallon tank with no live plants, not near a window, gravel and driftwood, flourescent lighting (not left on).

[djlen]

What is the wattage of your lighting? And what is the length of your light period?
Len