Good algae eater for java moss????

[TRD]

I want the best algae eater for java moss. Any good Snails, Shrimps and/or ETC. I would also like to know if the Oto would be better or the SAE?

[Wahter]

Is your moss covered with algae? I've had good luck with the "Amano" shrimp; Caridina japonica/ Caridina multidentata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caridina_japonica).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caridina_japonica

Hope that helps,


Walter

[TRD]

yep ill definitely buy some of those, are they costly?

[plant.one]

yep ill definitely buy some of those, are they costly?


amano shrimp are typically around $3 each. Cherry shrimp are going to be around 4-6 each, depending on the vendor.

[bs6749]

amano shrimp are typically around $3 each. Cherry shrimp are going to be around 4-6 each, depending on the vendor.


Amanos are great algae eaters and do go for around that price but I don't know of anyone that sells RCS for that much...maybe a LFS that is charging way too much. I sell juvie RCS for about $1 each ranging from 1/4"-1/2" for the most part. Let me know if you want some.

[plant.one]

Amanos are great algae eaters and do go for around that price but I don't know of anyone that sells RCS for that much...maybe a LFS that is charging way too much. I sell juvie RCS for about $1 each ranging from 1/4"-1/2" for the most part. Let me know if you want some.

Let me start out by saying that i support hobbies to hobbiest trading, swaps, selling, etc etc etc... thats said.....

Please dont judge a LFS's livestock pricing based on what YOU - a hobbiest - can sell breeding stock for out of your home aquariums. Its not fair to people reading your posts or to any LFS to be judged on that standard. Their pricing is based on having to pay rent, untilies & payroll for that extremely helpful (hopefully) employee who bags up your fish and answers your questions that you need help with. These factors constitute 60-70% (or sometimes more!) of the retail prices you will see. Please note that i haven't even mentioned the cost of purchasing said animal and paying to have it overnight shipped to their door until this point. Some of us even spend some of that $$ to sponsor great places for information gathering like the simply discus forums site.

i'm sure you'll also note that i never said anything about size of the animals - i was just going by what i have seen as retail rates for the species.

*puts his soapbox away*

PS - please try to keep your selling to the trading forums or pm's.

[bs6749]

I realize there HAS to be markup for the LFS to make money, but come on! $6 for a RCS? Nobody in their right mind would pay that for a RCS. Maybe a CRS of B-A grade quality, but not an R-C-S. I support my LFS too, but when they want ridiculously high prices I go elsewhere. They wanted over $850 for a 125 gallon setup so I called a local "mini-chain" store and they said they could do it for $600 which included everything and was the same brand as the other LFS.

The only way I'd ever pay "high prices" at my LFS would be if it was a rare specimen or something I couldn't get myself. $6 for a RCS??? LOL! Try www.aquabid.com

[plant.one]

I realize there HAS to be markup for the LFS to make money, but come on! $6 for a RCS? Nobody in their right mind would pay that for a RCS. Maybe a CRS of B-A grade quality, but not an R-C-S. I support my LFS too, but when they want ridiculously high prices I go elsewhere. They wanted over $850 for a 125 gallon setup so I called a local "mini-chain" store and they said they could do it for $600 which included everything and was the same brand as the other LFS.

apples to oranges. i know i cant know the full circumstances, but i'd say it was a safe bet that if you have a line item detail of what you were being quoted (which VERY few stores do) for the entire equipment package that it was two different equipment sets with the same brand AQUARIUM - not the rest of the package. Somethign i'm very familiar with being an aquarium retailer - everyone has better rates on aquarium "setups", but not on the same caliber of equipment i sell.

You're also discussing a full chain vs an independant retailer. This would be like comparing prices at walmart or meijers to the local country grocery store.


$6 for a RCS??? LOL! Try www.aquabid.com

again, you're comparing home hobbiests (read as breeder) and/or garage/basement business to a full retail operation. Very FEW retail stores will waste their time trying to compete for sales with any web site - no less a hobby auction site.

Feel free to shop wherever you want, i'm in no way trying to tell you how to run you life and do what YOU feel necessary to survive.

If you'd like to learn a little more about aquarium retail, please feel free to pm me so this thread can get back to being about algae eaters.

[Wahter]

IME, the smaller "mom and pop shops" are at a real disadvantage when it comes down to price. This isn't just the aquarium industry, but others as well. They don't sell as much volume nor have the variety that the super stores have, so their costs from the distributors are often higher than the super stores; how much higher? That varies on products. Also they don't have the traffic that the larger superstores have, so how are they going to cover their fixed costs; employee salaries, electricity, water, etc... I told an owner of a local shop that I am always amazed that they stay in business - how many $2.00 neon tetras do they have to sell in a day to cover their daily electric bill? The only ways that I know of is to work some costs into their prices (of course) and by working in services; setups, etc... or good advice to keep you as a customer, etc...

One of the local shops in this area is located away from the major roads; I think they do that on purpose - they let the Petcos and Petsmarts have the beginners with the kids who pound on the tanks, etc... the people in this store specialize in Marine and African cichlid setups/ installation and maintenance. Of course, the fish are priced higher than what you can find at a superstore too. Another local store will quarantine there new fish for a few days before selling them.

Just my opinion based one what I've learned from asking around.


Walter

[Apistomaster]

As both an experienced Discus and shrimp keeper/breeder I can recommend the Amano Shrimp as a good algae eater for the algae that tends to clog up the mosses and as an all purpose scavenger, I have had good luck keeping the common feeder/ghost/glass shrimp with discus. Both are large and quick enough to avoid being eaten by Discus and they add an interesting bit of life to most any planted tank.

I consider Cherry Shrimp to be a good supplemental diet item for large Discus. If the Discus don't get them, my wet/dry filter overflow will. They are just too small and defenseless to really hold their own in a discus tank. I sure there is an exception to this but as a rule, they are just too small.