Need An Algae Eater

[Luzi]

I currently have 2 chinese algae eaters in a 25L tank. Spot the problem! At least one of these will probably be returned to the store or at least moved out of the tank as they're starting to get aggressive ang grow. This leaves me with a tank full of algae. Can anyone reccomend a coldwater algae eater that would get along with lots of platies? They need to be able to live in 22*C water with a nice current and be pretty good at general survivival

 

[kiriyama]

My apple snail always kept te glass nice and clean

 

[saz326]

Lots of algae is usually a sign that things aren't right with the tank overall. There may be too many nutrients in the water , or not enough nutrients (plants cant survive but algae can).
There may be too much daylight getting in...

What are your water parameters?

 

[kaivalagi]

As mentioned there will be a root cause to the algae problem, prevention is much better than a cure in this case.

Normal culprits are overfeeding which can cause excessive ammonia levels as an example, excessive sunlight, too many hours of "on" time for your lights...

so...
how much do you feed your fish? Do they clear out the food given in a few minutes and is it only fed once/twice a day?
What strength lights do you have in the tank? You probably want < 1-1.5 W/US Gallon of lighting unless you're doing some CO2 injection etc
How long are the lights on for? No more than 7 hours a day is normally advisable
Is you tank near a window where sunlight comes in? If so try to stop that light getting to the tank...

 

[Gilli]

You could get some Bristlenose Pleccos, -they only grow to around 5 inches and they are great algae eaters!

 

[mossy69056]

You could get some Bristlenose Pleccos, -they only grow to around 5 inches and they are great algae eaters!

siamese algae eaters are great also and dont get aggressive

 

[fishnovice]

BEST ALGAE REMOVER - A pair of magnets with scrubbing surfaces. They don't need feeding either, are guaranteed not to fight and wont produce waste!
A 25l tank is far too small for bristlenose and most plecs. Sounds like the tank may be overstocked with a lot of platies plus two algae eaters in it. Maybe excess waste from fish is feeding the algae? Also platy are NOT coldwater fish

 

[Ben M]

hi, i agree that platties aren't coldwater, but is 22c coldwater? still a bit cold though, i would put the temp up to 24c if you have a heater. as said above, you need to find the cause of algae and stop it. the best thing for a tank that size would be either cleaning it manually, or shrimp/ottos. but really, you shouldn't get fish to eat algae, you should buy a fish because you like it.

cheers

 

[kaivalagi]

BEST ALGAE REMOVER - A pair of magnets with scrubbibg surfaces. They don't need feedig either, are guaranteed not to fight and wont produce waste!
A 25l tank is far too small for bristlenose and most plecs. Sounds like the tank may be overstocked with a lot of platies plus two algae eaters in it. Maybe excess waste from fish is feeding the algae? Also platy are NOT coldwater fish

+1

 

[Luzi]

The current algae level is fine, it's not taking over my tank yet. I was just worried about what might happen when the algae eaters left
I've had platies in my coldwater tank for 2 years and they do fine, they've even had a few sets of fry. I know the tank's overcrowded, i'll be moving 3 of the platies or a loach to another tank soon
I have magnetic algae scrubbers but they can't get to the ornaments and plants in the tank. I've spent some time with no algae eater when my pleco died and everything turned green in a week. A lot of people reccomend the siamese algae eaters but i'm notsure where I can get them from. My lfs sells hillstream loaches, would they be any good?

 

[ian]

Hillstream loaches don't eat algae.

 

[mattlee]

25L is too small for most plecs, chinese algae eaters, siamese algae eaters, false siamese algae eaters etc etc etc. if the tank gets covered in algae in a week then there is something wrong somewhere....

is it in direct sunlight at all?

does it have good water flow?

do you overfeed your fish?

all these can cause algae in a tank, its best to illiminate the problem instead of buying fish to clean your tank especialy ones that grow way too big for your tank.....

 

[Katty]

I love olive nerite snails for algae. I have two in my ten gallon (~40l), and they ate clean a tank coated in brown algae in about 4 days. I have not had an algae problem since. They really stay one step ahead of the algae (with regular water changes, etc. of course). The eggs will not hatch/survive in freshwater, but if you have more than one snail and of opposite genders (not that you can really tell which gender they are to begin with) you'll have lots of little white calciferous eggs everywhere. Whether this is good or bad just depends on whether you prefer looking at eggs or algae.
They are tiny and can get into all the little nooks and crannies on decorations, but I do clean the glass myself so they'll keep cleaning the hard to clean decor and plants rather than wasting time on the glass which I can myself. They require no manual feeding as they are growing and thriving on eating up the algae. I have them in tropical temperatures, but I've read they are resilient and do well in cold as well.

In a 25 l you could probably do fine with just one snail and regular water changes, and scraping the algae off the front glass yourself regularly. I don't believe you would get the eggs with just one as they reproduce sexually.

You may have difficulty finding them in stores but several places do mail them.

 

[england]

I find the best thing to remove algae is elbow grease, i have bristlenose plec / had chinese algae eaters and quite a few plecs..nothing has really bothered eating alot of algae, its just a myth which seems to have taken well and is well used by lfs to sell bottom dwellers, esp the common plecs...I have never suffered any type of algae what so ever in my 566 litre, i clean the glass apon average once to twice a year,and then it doesnt really need it, my only tank i suffer stubborn algae on the back wall is the channa tank, but thats basically because the last three-four years ive had fry in there so never wanted to disturb them,,,but a good scrubbing pad<brought esp for the purpose of cleaning the tank will surfice, unless you have the magnetic cleaners

 

[Night61]

i use a mix of otto cats, lovely little fish espeically when you have a few and nerite snails.
the snails are hard to breed when you are trying to breed them so darn near impossible to breed when your not. they are on the smaller side so unlike a mystery will be hard to find, but when they go to town on the algae it will be gone quickly.

they usually run about 3 dollers us around here and are hard to track down in lfs unless you order them, but i highly highly highly recomend these snails for algae control. if you have any questions about the snail please do not hesitate to ask in this topic on the invertibrate section where i tend to hang out the most