Algae Control In Coldwater Tanks

[FishWishDish]

What's the best way to control algae in a coldwater tank? Will chemicals be bad for a Pleco who eats the algae that survives? Some of the bottles in the store say they are cancerous. . .I'm thinking that can't be good; at best it might be benign. Does anyone know?

Thanks!

 

[FishWishDish]

Anyone?

 

[aquila]

Same as a tropical tank - keep nitrates low with low fish stocking densities and frequent water changes. Only have the light on when necessary, say for 6-8 hours in the evening when you are home and actually have time to watch the fish. Chemical algae removers do far more harm than good, and adding plecos is a no-no as they will just contribute more waste to the tank and increase nitrates overall (never mind that most are only suitable for higher temperatures, and many grow very large).

 

[Waterbox]

I have heard some of those large snails do a good job, the mystery snails and what not. You could also try some ghost shrimp. They are really cheap so you could get a bunch. I would definitely quarantine them first htough

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If you have goldfish, then you options with algae eating fish will be rather limited, mostly because of temperature reasons and because goldfish will eat any fish they can catch and can swallow whole. Shrimp will probably get eaten while large snails might get harassed (i've heard of goldfish trying to nibble snails antennae/feelers) and small algae eaters like oto's are tropical fish and could get eaten, while pleco's like common plecos can live in sub-tropical temps, they only make good algae eaters as juveniles and grow very large etc.

Your best bet of controlling the algae is to ID what sort of algae you have, since there are many types of algae which can be caused by different things, and to do a nitrate test as high levels of nitrates can fuel algae blooms (but can be lowered and controlled by more regular water changes etc), and then deal with the root cause of the algae from there onwards .

 

[paw-paw]

what about garras? They are opurtunistic feeders but as far as I know they do eat algae...and they are subtropical too...