Stocking

[djsupreme]

Hey guys,

I've been getting quite a bit of (brownish) algae continually forming on plants, gravel and some on the glass. I've got a panda catfish (called Zoomer) who eats some of it, but I think he's up against it, trying to get rid of it all. So, I'm thinking of getting an Algae Eater, but I'm a wee bit concerned about a) Am I over stocking my aquarium? And B) will the Algae Eater be OK with his fellow comunity tank residents?
I've tried increasing the duration of the light being on (about 12 hrs), the tank is not in direct sunlight either. Is it possible that this is completely normal and I am just being paranoid? Does the growth of such algae tell me anything about my water quality?
Here's the set up
21 gallon tank
2 dwarf gourami (between 2-3 inches each)
1 baby silver shark (about 2.5-3 inches)
1 panda catfish (small, less than 1 inch)
6 neon tetras (all less than 1 inch)
1 cardinal tetra (same)
2 rummy nose tetras (about 1 inch each)
2 glowlites (1 inch each)
2 columbian tetras (1 inch each)
2 silvertips (1 inch each)
1 red claw crab (quite a small chap)

All sizes are my best guess, I've rounded up instead of down.

Any thoughts/comments will be appreciated.

 

[aloaring]

Well I am no expert but i beleive you are pretty much full. Though if you have a good filter and do regualr water changes you should be able to fit one more in. What kind of algae eater are you think of getting as some of them can get pretty big! And just a note I'm pretty sure that silver sharks grow pretty big and should be kept in shoals so i would take him back to the LFS to make room for a nice size algae eater. Have a look here for more info on Sharks:
Silver sharks

 

[Mo99]

Hiya, i'd like to add my experiance to this,
had my tank for quite some time now, always had qreen strand like alge developing over a week, so i clean it every week, recently well over 2 montsh now i have been getting brownish furry alge similar to djsupreme, forming around the corners of the tank , i always thougth it was a place where i hadn't cleaned before so alge was accumilating . what do you think ??

Mo.

 

[clutterydrawer]

I think you're quite full even without the shark but hopefully someone else will add their opinion cos I'm not great with stocking levels. However your tetras and the panda if he is a panda corydoras are shoaling fish and would far prefer to be in a group of about 6 of thei own kind...


Also, increasing the light will increase the algae. You need to decrease it. Do you have any live plants? They can help to discourage algae by using nutrients so there's none left for algae. how long has your tnak been set up?

 

[ger87410]

I take a look at the ADULT size of the fish, then use the 1 inch per gallon rule. I think that works best. I think you are very much overstocked. Also, different algae eaters eat different types of algae. Do some reasearch. There's almost unlimited information out there on the internet.

 

[djsupreme]

Thanks for your comments all who replied.

In response to some of the questions-
Yes, there are 6 live plants in the tank. So, plenty competing with the algae.
The panda IS a cory, he's just on his own I'm afraid. Seems like a happy little chap
This particular tank has been running for about 1 month. I had a smaller tank previous to this which I transferred the fish from. I've obviously added a few since then. ALthough it is a new tank it had 'mature' (if that is the right word) water, and gravel added to it. Also the new filter's media was soaked in the mature tankwaer for a few days then the new filter was added to the old tank and ran for a week before going in the new tank.
I kinda knew I would be over stocked, but was hoping someone would tell me that it would be OK! I do a 20% water change evey week with a gravel vac to keep it clean as possible.
I was under the impression that INCREASING the light would deterr algae growth. I will put it back to 8 hours a day then!

My algae sounds similar to Mo99's, brown furry stuff - anyone got a name for that?

 

[luxum]

Yeh, it is called "diatoms" it's not a true algae. It's normal in a new tank like yours, and will go away on it's own in a few weeks. Your plants should have a summer photoperiod of 10 to 12 hours, 8 would be ok in the winter.

 

[clutterydrawer]

Algae are plants just like any other and as such, they use light to photosynthesise (this is the process by which they ake their food). This means that the more light they get, the faster they'll spread.


Is there any chance you could take the shark and maybe some of the tetras back to the lfs? Because the shark, at 1' adult length, is gonna cause you some problems, and the tetras would be more joyous in a shoal.

*If* you could make more room in your tank by doing this, a good small algae eater is otocinclus affinis. However I've heard conflicting opinions on whether or not they eat brown algae, or just green. Here is a link to some info about it if there's a chance of keeping some:

http/www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/pr...cinclus+affinis

 

[cation]

Yeh, it is called "diatoms" it's not a true algae.

Sorry to be a pain in the butt, but I just finished taking a "Biology of Algae" class, and I can tell you most definitely that diatoms ARE a true alga. Algae comes in many shapes and forms - I was amazed how many throughout the quarter!

 

[luxum]

Yeh, my bad. They are a unicelluar algae.

 

[cation]

Yup, they're crazy too. During one of our labs for the class, we collected diatoms in a nearby lake and then treated them with heat to destroy everything but their silica shells. When you looked under a microscope at them, it was truly amazing.


Just as an example...

I thought they were really cool, and very pretty.

 

[djsupreme]

Thanks for the info folks.

My new plan is to get another tank! Maybe a 10 or 12 gallon. I'll then move some tetras to it, to free up some space in my main tank. Maybe get a siamese fighter for that tank (what is the life expectancy for one of those? The guy at the lfs said it was only a year?).
I'll keep the silver shark (he's my favourite) though, he's quite small at the moment. I'll only give him up when he gets too big.

As for the diatoms, I'll wait a few weeks to see if it clears itself, being a new tank and all.