poll: recommended algae control

[Blinky]

I'll play
In my 65g I use SAEs, red ramshorn snails, a bristlenose and otos for backup, but my first line of defense is balancing light/ferts/CO2 for rapid plant growth (to outcompete the algae).
There are 4 Amano shrimp and an oto in the 14g, a zillion ramshorns in the 10g, and no living critters in the pico. All three are planted. I use Flourish Excel in these tanks to supplement the CO2 and try to keep everything in balance so the plants can outcompete the algae.

 

[Genral72]

I control with a combination of my trusty algae scraper(well actually it is a toothbrush(I stole it e from my brother but I put it back at night so he hasn't noticed)) and proper lighting and chemistry

 

[fish_breeder_05]

farlowella

 

[HYPERASHEL]

snails are great, dont poop, some species look cool, others are great food for puffers, and once there isn't much algie, they dissappear until the algie comes back... they are most effective in my turtle tank where no fish could live

WHAT???? sure they doo (get it it's a funny) OMG do they, i have a tank i use for breeding snails and it get several little tiny poop in a curl like a maccaroni. Everybody poops in your tank.

to answert he question, i take thing out of my main tank and put it in the snail tank and them got to town on whatever needs cleaning. since my 55gal has the clown loach and the BGK i never worry about transferring snails over. as a matter of fact i normally put a bout 5-10 snails a week into the tank intentionally.

for the main tank it's the snails i put in for food as well as my pleco

 

[z71silverado98]

i voted other. i dont do anything really, ive got 3 otos and 1 pleco, never really had an algae prob. i guess im just lucky that my setup doesnt require much effort on that part.

 

[sumthin fishy]

I liked seeing ottocinclus on there, however this is not a good choice for evry tank. Those with large aggressive fish, or water tpes not suited to its needs. therefore, I went with lighting and water chemistry, and a razorblade/algae scrapper for backup.

 

[DirkW]

I guess useful threads never die...

I use a combination of scraping and snails, but the most effective control for me is to grow mangroves in my sump. Well, not actually a sump, but in a tank that shares water with two other tanks. The mangroves suck out nitrates and many other nutrients that all plants need to grow. Once their established, they're hard to kill.