eaters of algae

[chirp]

10 gallon tank.
4 glowlight tetras
5 neon tetras
2 banana plants

and ALGAE!!
and a chinese algae eater who seems more preoccupied with eating one of the glowlights than the algae.

the local aquarium does not sell oto's, and we tried a pleco but it seemed neurotic and died.

we HAVE to get rid of this chinese algae eater before it kills our other fish, but what should we replace it with? i was thinking algae eating shrimp. does anyone else have an idea?

 

[Lupin]

What species was the pleco you tried? Any pleco placed there is a tight fit especially when you have a Chinese Algae Eater in it. CAE's, despite being slow growers, have the potential to reach 10 inches and are very nasty as they mature. It is a good decision however that you plan to get rid of it. What algae problem do you have? Green? Diatoms? Hair algae?

 

[Mgamer20o0]

 

[chirp]

we got the CAE as a replacement when the pleco died...i'm not sure what kind it was...not very good labeling at the store and we're not good at identifying fish unless its really obvious...like, i can tell a guppy from a tetra, type stuff...

the biggest problem is beard algae. at least i think that is what it is. it grows in clumps, on everything. dark colored but still green. wavy in the water. it would look cool if it didn't spread so much...in fact that was our problem...it started on a rock, we thought it looked nice, we decided to keep it, and then the next thing we knew it was on the banana plant tubers and the gravel...not so nice.


growth is another issue with the CAE. it seems many fish stores don't warn you that the fish you are about to buy may not be suitable for a 10g. we had this problem in the beginning with iridescent sharks. thats why we eventually settled for neons...since we knew we could take care of them in a 10g. it's also why im thinking about shrimp. someone rec. the oto to us, but the fish store we use (which is the best one we can find and is an hour away) doesn't carry them because they die to easily and people complain.

we're trying to be responsible fish owners...but store people like to make sales.

 

[chirp]

oh yeah...and we do weekly water changes already (during which we DO use a scrubby to get the algae off the sides of the tank...that algae isn't really a problem though) . our tank is right by a window (we liked the idea of natural light) so we need something to EAT the algae, not timers on lights or anything like that.

 

[Hooked Newbie]

Other than scrubbing, the only real possibility for that size tank would be a BN pleco and that's definitely pushing it. What type / size of filter are you running and how long has the tank been running?

 

[chirp]

actually now that i'm looking at more pics and not just going on what other people have told me-- it looks like brush algae

 

[chirp]

20 g filter...don't remember what brand...we got the tank about 2 years ago...the last addition (CAE) was about 6 months ago. the algae problem surfaced about two months ago.

 

[chirp]

i guess we're more worried about the plants...you can't really scrub the banana tubers and we're afraid the algae will choke it out

 

[Hooked Newbie]

The algae shouldn't pose a threat to the plants. Algae is a symptom of an imbalance somewhere. Too much light, too many nutrients, not enough carbon, etc... If you correct that, it will take care of itself and is a much better option than adding fish IMO.