algae taking over tank

[coconutman39]

i went on a trip over the weekend and had my fish being taken care of while i was away. when i came back..BAM... the whole back side of my tank is covered in algae!!! i have an albino algae eater...but he might be too small for the huge mass of algae. it is spreading FAST!!! HELLLPPP PPLLEEASSEE

thx

 

[wrs]

i think platys eat algee sometimes. get a CAE, chinese algea eater, but only for a while, just get a few and get ride of them when the algeas gone, they get tired of algea after a while and agressive. make sure theyre youngones though.

 

[coconutman39]

do you think i should get a plelco(sp)?? i hear they get big...but i could sell it when it outgrows tank correct?

 

[wrs]

same w/those, but i think they would work faster though, loaches minght help, theyre expensive though

 

[coconutman39]

i think i can get some more algae eaters...CLEAN UP!!!

thx wrs

 

[wrs]

no problem, just remember if u get CAE or loaches or plecos, they will get big, and CAEs get mean, so ull have 2 get rid of them eventually.

 

[coconutman39]

yea but i think they wont outgrow my tank for a long time if i get like a 1.5" one, i got a 20 gallon as said in my sig

 

[Gringo]

Well I fix algae with formalin (formol). 2 drops per 100 liters of water. Take carbon filter out. Repeat in 4 days if it has not cleared up.

 

[tstenback]

For a tank the size yours is i would recommend otos they stay small (less than 2 inches) and they eat algae non stop. Ihad an outbreak in a 10 gal and bought 3 of these guys (they like to be in groups) and within a week the glass was completely clean. After they run out of algae, which is almost never i feed them algae wafers and other vegetables like cucumber and lettuce. HTH

 

[Teelie]

Siamese Algae Eaters also stay small, keep eating algae and are cool. Chinese eventually stop eating algae and start sucking slime coats off other fish.

 

[wrs]

i forgot about the otos,lol

 

[tstenback]

AFAIK Siamese Algae eaters get fairly large up to 5-6 inches adult size which is still fairly large for this tank. Perhaps i am mistaken but i have 2 that are over 5 inches and another one that is 4+ so they do get much larger than the otos.

 

[cutecotton]

why can't you just wipe off hte algae with a sponge or something?

 

[jumpman]

SAE's will help, but yes they get up to six inches. I have an ancistrus (bristlenose) in each of my tanks, and these only get to three or four inches. With one of these in the tank I never have a spot of algae on the glass (have forgotten where my magnet scraper is!) and they don't touch the plants, perfect! One of mine is in a twenty gallon....

jump

 

[jumpman]

Just one note, they don't touch hair algae or algae on my bogwood, just clean the glass....