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Fish tanks and algae problems

Discussion in 'Fish and Aquarium - all types' started by Nano, Apr 27, 2006.

  1. Nano

    Nano New Member

    I have an algae problem with my 110 gal tank. Had a plecostumus(sp?) in there that died and am going to get another. Was wondreing if there was any other fish or large snails that I could get to help with the problem, too. I have low aggresion cichlids in the tank. Thank-you.
     
  2. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    What color is the algae?
    What are your readings for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte?
    How often and how large are your water changes?
    How much light is on the tank and how long is it on?
    What fish are in the tank and how big are they?

    Personally, I would not add a pleco simply for algae control. One of the things that causes algae is high nitrAtes. Plecos create a lot of waste and therefore increase the nitrAtes. So if you add a pleco to help control the algae, you're most likely just going to make it worse.

    It's better to figure out what the root cause of the algae is and fix that.

    -Chelle
     
  3. Hai

    Hai New Member

    Nano, your pleco died because there was no small piece of wood for him to play with. You can try Bristlenose Pleco this time. Malaysian Trumpet Snails can clean algae too but beware of overpopulation. Cherry shrimp can pick algae off the glass too. Also put some fast-growing plants like Java Fern to outcompete the algae. The plants are for the algae eaters mentioned above to hide too.
     
  4. pitbullsmiles

    pitbullsmiles New Member

    You might want to try get a Common Pleco, they might get large but they are absoulutly Grrrrrrrreat at cleaning. I had a very dirty fry tank with a poor filter and my Common Pleco cleaned it up in a few minutes. Whatever you do, don't get a Garra Pingi Pingi or Chinese Algae Eater; these guys are extremely aggresive and my Garra Pingi Pingi ate the skin off of my aggresive newt, so you can tell how brave and aggresive the fish are. Make sure you get a kind of fish you know a lot about so you dont end up with dead ones in the tank due to the new fish.
     
  5. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    Actually, as common plecos get older they loose their taste for algae. And one of the primary causes for algae is too much waste in the water so adding another fish is just going to make it worse. There's no such thing as a "cleaner fish" because any fish you have will just add more waste and cause more maintenance.

    Plus suggesting that someone add more fish to their tank when you have absolutely no idea what's already in the tank is really irresponsible. For all you know, the original poster could already have 10 oscars in that 110 gallon tank (about 500 gallons worth of fish) and here you are telling them they should add more fish. You should be more careful when you give advice.

    -Chelle
     
  6. Shineillusion

    Shineillusion New Member

    I'm not making a suggestion as to what, if any, fish to add for algea control. As already mentioned, I don't have a clue what type of fish or how many may be in the tank already.

    But I do want to comment that Chinese Algea Eaters are not necessarily aggressive. I have had mine for about 5 years. He's a good 7 inches long, does a great job of keeping the algea under control, and never bothers my other fish.

    He was a little aggressive when he was smaller, but hasn't bothered any of my fish for the last 4 years. And my other fish are glass cats and dwarf rainbows...not particularly defensive fish, although maybe he can't see the glass cats, lol. But he sure can see the rainbows.
     

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