Recommened an algae eater?

[VulcanNinja]

Ok as I've posted before, I just had an outbreak of the brown diatom algae. Hopefully this means my cycle is almost complete, as I was an uninformed beginner and nobody at any LFS told me about cycling until I had a bunch of fish in there. Anyway, I'm thinking about getting an algae eater, BUT I have some concerns:

1 - I can't get anything that needs to be in groups. Preferably 1 small fish or at the most 2.

2 - If the algae goes away, it needs to live on other foods

Otos were recommended, but I think they should be kept in groups, and I simply don't have the room in my tank.

Look at my sig for the fish I have. Any suggestions? Maybe a different kind of shrimp??

 

[clutterydrawer]

I beleive amano shrimp eat algae? I'm not sure if they eat brown algae though. otos are good but yes they need to be kept in groups of three, that's 6" of fish. Might work I dunno. However if it's brown algae it will quite possibly jsut go away by itself.

 

[Bol]

Personally, I've never seen otos show any social behavior among themselves. They rarely acknowledge each others' presence. /shrug.

 

[The-Wolf]

Personally, I've never seen otos show any social behavior among themselves. They rarely acknowledge each others' presence. /shrug.

same here I have two and they seem to dislike eachother.

 

[tstenback]

HAve to agree on the social thing here as well. I have 5 in one tank and they may stop by to say "hey" from time to time but mostly they are in separate areas of the tank and that is both during lights on and lights off times. Mine dont seem to mind each other but also dont care if they are alone.

 

[skipper]

yep

I have a bit of algae in my tank so I bought 2 Otos at the weekend and to be honest they just go about their business and rarely seem to notice each other. Being real small though (an inch at most) they get picked on a bit by the other fish!

S

 

[tstenback]

yep

I have a bit of algae in my tank so I bought 2 Otos at the weekend and to be honest they just go about their business and rarely seem to notice each other. Being real small though (an inch at most) they get picked on a bit by the other fish!

S

Skipper

I have found that a few broadleaf plants and/or a few hiding places like stacked rocks etc gives the little guys a place to get away from clear view. I also found that when they were stuck on the glass all the time they did get the odd snip from the curious. HTH

 

[skipper]

Yep I have a few broad leaved plants in the tank now (swords??), which offers some protection for them, and rocks/ bogwood.

I have a couple of zebra loaches in the tank as well - which were always timid and hiding... however now they're really active and interested in the Oto's... Typical!

The Oto's seems to be settling in fine though - am just keeping and eye on them during the early days.

Cheers

S

 

[Cheese Specialist]

My otos are always together and I would never keep a single one. 2 would not overstock your tank though IMO.

 

[heresmike]

Going along with the majority on this one... my ottos hardly ever hang out together, and I would have no qualms about keeping just one in a tank.

 

[jvis0606]

Hey I was reading your post and am too cycling... does the brown algae really mean it is almost over? I noticed some building up in my tank as well! That would be great, my poor fish have been so stressed with the cycling process... !

 

[yhbae]

I have tried otos, amano shrimps and bristlenose plecos. To my experience, bristlenoses do the best job at cleaning overall by a good margin...

 

[VulcanNinja]

According to another website, I read this: "This type of algae outbreak typically occurs when a tank is just completing or has finished the nitrogen cycling process"

http/saltaquarium.about.com/cs/algaecontrol/a/aa091100.htm

so......I HOPE it is corect.

 

[Leslie]

A Bristlenose would be my choice. They are the bomb !!

 

[yhbae]

According to another website, I read this: "This type of algae outbreak typically occurs when a tank is just completing or has finished the nitrogen cycling process"

http/saltaquarium.about.com/cs/algaecontrol/a/aa091100.htm

so......I HOPE it is corect.

Not sure about theory, but just about all my tanks have shown the brown algae (diatom?) when the cycling was just about over. I do usually take that as a sign that the tank is now "safe"...