How do I get rid of it?

R

RobertA

AC Members
Oct 31, 2005
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I've noticed that the glass walls of my 20gal aquarium are being covered more and more by some type of brown algea. Yesterday I went to my lfs wanting to buy a pleco to eat all the algea, but instead I decided to buy a Chinese Algea Eater since the pleco would have grown much too big for my small tank. The problem is, my newly acquired Chinese Algea Eater doesn't seem to like all the algea on the glass and seems to prefer sucking on my driftwood (which has some green algea) instead.

So, does anyone know what I could do to get rid of this algea, which woudn't consist in scraping it off? (I also have snails but they don't seem to do much either...)
 
get a alge sponge from an LFS, unless you want to drain the tank and begin with freshwater and scrub your tanks
 
Otos seem to like the brown algae. They do a good job in my tanks of keeping it controlled. They also only get to be about 1.5"-2" in length so the size shouldn't be a problem. You should be able to do a quick search and find some topics about them.
 
NorthStar said:
get a alge sponge from an LFS, unless you want to drain the tank and begin with freshwater and scrub your tanks
Click to expand...

What if I got an Oto Cat, I just read about them and they seem to be good algea eaters?
 
otos are fun little fish to have and do a terriffic job with algae... it seems the little guys are never done eating! they don't eat every kind of algae though (nothing does, as far as i know).

i would take back the CAE... he is only going to develop less of a taste for algae and more of a taste for your other fish as he gets older. my lfs had two CAEs in a tank with a bunch of dwarf gourami (10-20)... EVERY gourami had an open wound from being sucked on.

another option would be a small variety of pleco... some of them only grow to be 4-6" (clown, rubbernose, zebra, bristlenose)
 
I had the same problem. How long has your tank been running? Brown algae on the sides of the tank is normal for about 1-2 months after the tank is set up. Also, lighting can make a difference...I didn't have a light for my tank and I was cleaning algae off the sides all the time. Now that I have a light; the algae has subsided considerably.
 
I avoid Chinese Algea Eaters. You should definitely get rid of him and go with the Ottos. CAEs do go after the other fish and wound them, if not kill them.
 
SIAMESE algea eaters took care of my brown algea, and they are hardier then Oto's. I like them because they move around as well.
 
I agree with taking the Chinese Algae Eater back - mine has done an amazing job keeping my tank algae free including on the glass, but I have noticed the little bit of brown algae on my fake plants he doesn't touch. I haven't had any problems with him attacking fish yet...but he is very aggressive and will butt anyone who is in his way right out of the area...I may have to get rid of him if he gets any more aggressive. The idea above about scrubbing the tank with an algae sponge is very helpful also...I did that and took out all of my ornamental objects and cleaned them and that got rid of my algae problem.
 
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