Mollies

[Feline]

Read from another website that black mollies will eat all sorts of algae, including hair/brush/thread algae.

Is that true?

R black mollies the only kind of molly that'll eat algae off?

I'm so excited when reading this coz I've been hunting for a good algae eater for some time. Mollies will suit my tank if they really eat algae!

 

[aquamanis]

Sorry I cant comment on the mollys as I don,t have any. But if you want a genuine hard worker you cant go past a bristlenose or two. I wish I had taken a pic of my tank two days ago. It had brown algae and hair algae growing everywhere. Now it looks like I set it up yesterday! Its so clean, those $4 cats are the best investment I made.

 

[Feline]

oh so bristlenose will eat hair algae too? I thought they only eat green or at most brown algae!

But that'll b another problem of finding them. It's even more dificult to get hold of than siamese algae eaters!

 

[Alien Anna]

The only fish that I am aware of that will eat hair algae is a Siamese Algae Eater. I have one and he's a busy bee clearing my tank. However, they do grow quite large (5") and are schooling fish (I can't find any more SAEs, which is why he's on his own).

Bristlenosed plecs definitely eat algae but won't touch hair algae. Mollies will eat a bit of green or brown algae.

IMHO, if you've got an algae problem you cannot rely on any particular fish or creature to clear it - you have to tackle the root cause, which is often nitrates and phosphates in your tap water.

 

[Feline]

Thanks for the info, Anna.

I tried scrubbing off the hair algae grown on the ornaments but then they'll start to come back a week later. I still don't know why I can't stop them from growing.

The nitrate in the tank is always low, and I've bought Rowa-phos to absorb phosphate. Today I did a test n the phosphate level is at 0.16ppm. Is that high?

 

[Alien Anna]

Thanks for the info, Anna.

I tried scrubbing off the hair algae grown on the ornaments but then they'll start to come back a week later. I still don't know why I can't stop them from growing.

The nitrate in the tank is always low, and I've bought Rowa-phos to absorb phosphate. Today I did a test n the phosphate level is at 0.16ppm. Is that high?

I think your phosphate is a tiny bit high, but it may be that your ammonia, nitrate or phosphate were very high at one time, enabling the hair algae to get established, and now its just high enough to keep the hairy menace from going.

The only cure I know, and its pretty drastic, is to keep your tank in darkness (indirect daylight only) for a week to 10 days. If you have any plents that need light (i.e. other than Java fern or anubias) you'll have to move them temporarily, although they will recover quite well if they're hardy plants.

I discovered this "cure" accidentally when my lights were turned off when I was on holiday. The hair algae has gone and not returned.

 

[Feline]

Oh! I might try using that method then. Thanks!