alge

[you made me ink]

ok so my tank now has a bunch of alge on the side and usualy my snail takes care of it but i guess it just got to out of hand or somthing and its really hard to get off with the scraper the alge is a very pale green so i was thinking of buying some alge desroyer today at the fish store is this a good idea or is there someting else i could do? any help is appreciated thanks :thud:

 

[aquariumhobyist]

get a pleco itll be all gone in a day.

 

[you made me ink]

its only a ten gallon tank and its at its limit with fish

 

[Marn]

buy one of htose magnetic cleaners .. they work great ..we got one at Walmart and cheap one and it took it right off ..we had one of those long handled brushes and it didnt work ..

good luck

Marn

 

[Bosemani Fan]

I would go with a Small Pleco like a Bristlenose Pleco, they only get about 4 inches and do a great job of cleaning algae. I wouldn't add any chemical, Especially Algae Destroyer, Most Algae chemicals are not good for inverts and would probaly kill them.

ps, What has caused the Algae? Is the tank near a window with alot of light on the tank? How long do you leave your Tank lights on a day?

 

[Holly9937]

its only a ten gallon tank and its at its limit with fish

Try one of the magnetic cleaners or a razor blade.

 

[TPIRman]

A 10-gallon tank is way too small for any pleco. I second the recommendations of a magentic cleaner -- they're called "Mag-Float" and are pretty cheap. The Mag-Float is most effective if you use it right before a water change. This way, you suck up a lot of the algae spores that you just scrubbed off.

 

[Aries]

A 10-gallon tank is way too small for any pleco.

I dissagree - there are many non-common plecos out there that get to a max size of 4" - if that (the bristlenose is a good example). Since they are "bottom dwellers" or scavengers, this would suffice. I do agree that a common pleco which gets to a size of 12"+ would be bad.

However, he stated he was at his fish max - what that is - I dont know. Could he support of pleco and not know it - possibly.

[you made me ink] - what does your current tank consist of??

I would not add anything to "kill" algae - chemical wise. I have not used them, but I am ALWAYS weary of these types of chemicals. IMO, they could do more bad than good.

What about ghost shrimp??? What about Ottos? These are small and will not increase your biomass too much - but again I dont know what current fish are in there.

I dont have a magnetic cleaner - but have played with them at the LFS - seems nice to me.

What has caused the Algae? Is the tank near a window with alot of light on the tank? How long do you leave your Tank lights on a day?

This is the ultimate question - find the source - delete it and then no more algae. Common problems of algae - Extra light (by a window), over feading, skipping water changes etc.

Myself - I just wipe it down during a water change every week. Easy - cheap and best of all, no chemicals.

Good Luck

Aries

 

[you made me ink]

ok lets see my tank which isnt just maxed out but over its limit or will be soon has 1 tiger barb, 1 golden apple snail, 1 colbalt blue cichlid, 2 giant danios, and a columbian shark catfish, the cichlid, danios, and the shark, are goin to be moved into a 60 gallon set-up which i am almost done buying the pieces for all i need is the stand, a little more gravel and some air tubing so i dont plan to keep them in there too much longer and im pretty good with water changes too. the cichlid is only about 2 inches and the shark is about 3-4 inches so they wont be in there long term my tank light stays on about 10 - 12 hours a day and it has two sockets but i only use one cuz its pretty bright the tank is not near a window

 

[sardesign]

I'm no expert, but don't those Columbian Shark Catfish grow to 24" long? If so, you may want to revise the plans for a 60 gallon and go for 180 gallons