I need an algae eater (OR SOMETHING)

WaterBaby

WaterBaby

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Sep 23, 2002
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The algae in my tank is gross (I'm sorry, I'm a neat freak and don't consider alot of algae growing all over the place beautiful like some of you would). A little is OK...

I'd like to get some kind of algae eater, but don't know if I have the room in my tank. It's kind of overstocked (I think)...

20gallon long: pH 7.6-7.8, no nitrites, ammonia and nitrates about 10-20ppm

1 Red eye tetra
2 Lemon tetras
5 Sissortails
2 Flame Gouramis
4 Cories

I do water changes/vacuum every 2 weeks. I have a few live plants/silks and a cave system for hiding out. I also have a sandy spot for the cories.

Any suggestions, or am I overstocked as it is?
 
you could get a small pleco
ghost shrimp are really cool and eat algea but you better goto a pet store to get them cause if you get them online you can only get them in 100 packs the smallest

i wouldnt even put that many in my 55
 
Originally posted by thecareys
you could get a small pleco
ghost shrimp are really cool and eat algea but you better goto a pet store to get them cause if you get them online you can only get them in 100 packs the smallest

i wouldnt even put that many in my 55
Click to expand...

Going price on Ghost Shrimp is usually 4/$1.00. Even if one of your fish has an appetite for them, it's no big loss. They WILL mow down any alge in your tank and keep your gravel cleaner.
 
Amano shrimp are good algae eaters, as well. With shrimp, you'll need a lot of them (1 for every 2-3 gallons to see any kind of impact). The good news is that they have a negligible impact on your tank's bioload, so tossing a bunch in shouldn't be a problem.
 
yeah besides shrimp are cool looking they make the tank look more natural with diffrent critters and such
 
First off we nee dto know what type of algae it is.All algae eaters eat different kind of algae.

Otos are best at brown
Bristlenose plecos eat soft green and brown algae
amano shirmp eat green and hair algae(althought you need A LOT of them)
SAE eat hair algae and BBA
etc,ect....

So which type do yo uhave?
 
FWIW, my local LFS stores normally carry the shrimp at 12 for 2 bucks...

I'm going to buy a dozen tomorrow just for the heck of it...
 
What is the ideal temp for their survival?

Recently, I had to treat the whole tank because of ich and after two weeks of 87F, I don't see any shrimps in my tank... Not sure if all 4 of them have been eaten or died - I don't see any trace of them...
 
My Community Tank has your standard looking (I guess you'd call it) soft algae and also hair algae (don't know where that came from).

I went looking for any kind of shrimp at alot of local stores, and none have any at this time. The distributors must not have stock at this time, but I'll keep checking.

Like I said before, I would like an oto or plec, but don't know if I'm already overstocked. Am I? But shrimp sound cool too.
 
i would go with oto's.

you may be cutting it close on the overstock issue, but the oto's are tiny. they are very industrious for the size tho and have pretty well controlled the algae in any tank i've kept them in. the problem with oto's is they may not be very hardy at first, you may experience some losses. any that live past a month or so should be good tho. you will also want like 3 or 4 probably because they like to school somewhat.

i don't see shrimp as having much of an impact.......
 
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