Can otos clean algae off of glass?
- Thread starter tks4d2
- Start date
That is what they do. But unless your tank is well established they probably won't get enough to eat.And it depends on what kind of algae you have. I supplement my otos with algae wafers, bottom feeder pellets, zuchinni, and even snail jello. I guess they can starve pretty easily without the right nutrition. I even saw one of them eating algae off of one of my snails the other day and I couldn't grab my camera fast enough. LOL
Otos can. What size tank is this? A nice bristlenose pleco might fit the bill even better than otos.
You might want to consider snails as an aid to clean the tank. The best method is to do the old-fashioned way of scrubbing it out. You also might want to figure out what is causing it.
The hard spot algae is too difficult for many "algae eating" fish including otos. They may be able to eat the newest growth but a scrubber, scraper or even a razor blade is needed for the stuck tight kind. If you can't easily rub the algae off with your finger, chances are the otos can't eat it.
:iagree: No fish will eat the hard spot algae, it needs to be scraped off manually. If bristlenose plecos and otos could rasp hard enough to get the green spot algae, they'd shred your plants....which does not happen. They really don't rasp like some other plecos, they suck.
Lupin
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- Sep 21, 2006
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Nerite snails tend to do their job quite efficiently but you need to make sure your pH is no lower than 7.0. Acidic water can erode their shells. Nerites eat solely the algae. A few people I know and including myself tried to supplement the nerites with other foods such as veggies and snail jello but I don't think I've ever noticed them eat those at all except algae. My horned nerites (Clithon corona) practically wiped off all the BBA, diatoms and green algae which the diffusas (formerly Pomacea bridgesii) failed as these ones are not efficient algae eaters. I try to culture soft green algae for both the nerites and diffusas. You can do it in a similar fashion by overdosing a tub of water and white rocks with fishfoods, use tank water loaded with nitrates and put the tub under high lighting or better yet, direct sunlight. In a few days, you'll have plenty of algae. Alternately use the algae-coated rocks to feed your pets soyou won't run out of algae supply quickly.
