algae drama

[mtdewlover]

I hate algae. I have a ten gallon tank. Green algae took it over and I tore it down to bleach it. I bleached the gravel, tank and ornaments. It was horrible! :sad I would not recomend bleaching. I ended up with a different tank and different gravel. I kept my ornament. I changed the location of the tank b/c of sunlight I thought was causing the algae outbreak. Now I have brown algae! Geez! I have a clown pleco, betta, and three white clouds in this ten gallon tank. The temperature is about 79-could this cause algae?

My clown pleco does not seem to eat this algae. He is a pretty shy little guy. So the big question is...What will eat this brown algae? Also, what would eat green algae if I ever got it again?

Thanks

 

[Archangel]

Otos mights work, but prevention is the best method. Overfeeding is usually the number 1 cause of algea.

 

[Mikael]

I used to have heavy infestations of green non-filamentous algae until I got a Bristlenose catfish. She cleaned up the tank in a few days. These days, all the algae I get are green fuzz algae and purple staghorn (I think) algae. The catfish does not eat these types so I got a pair of SAE's. Both types of filamentous algae are having an extremely hard time establishing in an otherwise favourable environment for them (over stocked tank). They simply get eaten straight away (by the SAE's) as soon as they appear. Actually my goldfish seems to love the staghorn algae which he simply rips off the top of the sponge filter where it is trying (not very successfully) to get established. I would estimate that the SAE's removed 99 per cent of the filamentous fuzz algae within a week and it has stayed that way.

 

[Red Tailed Wonder]

Brown algae only occurs with a shortage of light.