Author Topic: Algae Eater Recommendation (Read 8375 times) 3 replies

Craigs85 · « **on:** February 13, 2018, 12:12:30 PM »

Hi all,
I've got a small 60 litre tank.

Currently in there are:

Harlequins
Platys
Dwarf Gourami
Japonica Shrimp
2 Otocinclus

The Oto's aren't doing a great job of cleaning the algae from the side of the tank.

Could I/Should I get another Algae eater in there?
If so, what should I get?

Thanks,
Craig

Littlefish · « **Reply #1 on:** February 13, 2018, 12:54:08 PM »

It would be worth looking into what is causing the algae.
Does your tank have live plants? Is there a lot of light? Are the plants slow growing? Do you add fertiliser to the tank? If you can provide as much information as possible, including water parameters, how mature the tank is, and routine maintenance schedule, that would be helpful.
For now you could help the situation by wiping the algae off the tank, and performing water changes, until we can find the cause.
Personally I would start with manual cleaning of algae, but if you are determined to add more fish then increasing the numbers of otocinclus would be a possibility.

Sue · « **Reply #2 on:** February 13, 2018, 01:10:06 PM »

There are no creatures that eat all types of algae, and I can't think of any that eat the spots of algae that grow on glass, if that's what you have. The way I remove that is using those plastic labels that are in plants you buy from the garden centre, or a piece of plastic with a flat edge to scrape it off.

I would be wary about getting too many otos in a 64 litre tank because although they are shoaling fish which should be kept in a group of at least 6, a tank that size won't be able to grow enough of the right kind of algae to feed a shoal of otos.
You could get a nerite snail, as they eat types of algae that otos and shrimps don't eat - but even they won't remove all the green spot algae.

Cod_only_knows · « **Reply #3 on:** February 16, 2018, 08:41:07 PM »

I second Sue's Nerite recommendation. If you're not fussy about which ones you get, there are bargains on eBay - just search neritina. Whilst they won't keep the glass immaculate, they make a huge dent in algae in the tank. Fast growing plants and a balanced nutrient regime will reduce algae, but can be tricky to achieve. The combination of good tank maintenance, amano shrimp and nerite snails should do the trick in a 60l aquarium.

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Algae Eater Recommendation

Algae Eater Recommendation

Author Topic: Algae Eater Recommendation (Read 8375 times) 3 replies

Craigs85

Algae Eater Recommendation

Littlefish

Re: Algae Eater Recommendation

Sue

Re: Algae Eater Recommendation

Cod_only_knows

Re: Algae Eater Recommendation

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