Cleaners needed!!!!

[knewby]

My tank is being infested with algae!!! What should i do?? I heard that cleaner shrimp are the best. Where could i find some???

[April]

I think the shrimp may become dinner for discus.
id say turn the lights out.....and do bigger wc;s for awhile.
and perhaps add a bushynose pleccy . is it in direct sunlight?

[Abercrombie6202]

You would have to quarantine any new plants, fish, or invertebrates. But i have amano shrimp with my discus and they have not been eatin, yet. Also Bristle nose/Bushy nose Plecos will work very well

[Debbie]

It probably depends on the individual fish because I have had discus eat amano shrimp before. Maybe depends on the age of the fish because I put them in with adults and if I remember correctly Adam's fish are juveniles.

[knewby]

What about siamese algae eaters? I've heard they work very well.

[Debbie]

They do if the algae is filamentous. They won't clean the glass though.

[knewby]

I'm thinking of getting 3 siamese algae eaters and a bristlenose. I'll also increase my water changes. Bristlenose don't get huge. Do they?? Please give me some info on that. If im doing anything wrong please give me some suggestions.

[Carol_Roberts]

Is it green = algae, brown = diatoms, or dark blue/green = cyano bacteria?

Turning off the lights works for algae and diatoms. Erythromycin works for cyano bacteria. White paper towels and elbow grease work on all three ;D

[susankay1]

Here's a picture of my Siamese algae eater...lol. Sorry couldn't resist ;D

[Debbie]

:D Seems to be doing a good job, I don't see any algae!

[drew22to375]

My tank is being infested with algae!!! What should i do?? I heard that cleaner shrimp are the best. Where could i find some???


You don't want cleaner shrimp those are salt water Shrimp. Unless you are referring to another kind for FW.

[Mykiss]

Susankay, that looks like an excellent siamese ...hmm...cat fish? Lol
Yup, to algae there!

As for the algae problem, well, Carol's right, what type of algae is it?
In the past I have had problems with algae water and algae growing on the tank. Is it just your water i.e green water, or is it just on the walls of your tank? If it is the water, then lots of water changes and keep an eye on your nitrate levels. Also, what April said, less light and possbily cut down on the level of feeding cause usually when there are a lot of nutrients in the water, algae will begin to thrive. If it is on your walls of your tank, then water chanes and lower the amount of light, but also you can add in an algae eater. However, just watch out for which types you add in. I have noticed uin the past that a chinese algae eater will do a good job but only if there is A LOT of hiding places. If it is a BB tank, I noticed that they get frughtened year easily and can some times scare and harass your discus. I usually go with a pleco and only use him till he cleans the algae off and no longer. Those algae eaters always need food, so when the algae is gone, they will start harassing the discus. Hope that helps. cheers
PT

[Debbie]

I wouldn't recommend Chinese algae eaters in a discus tank, they end up harassing almost any fish when they get older, but Siamese algae eaters won't harass discus.

[jules]

Susan:
That is one big algae eater and yes he is doing a very good job-(he also cleaned you out of all your fish ;))

Mine insists on jumping on top of the 20 gallon even though he has planted a foot or two in the tank a couple of times.

[ronrca]

Knewby,
Tell us more about your tank? Do you have plants? Gravel bottom? Lighting?

Id first suggest giving the tank a good cleaning using a scrubber, wiping down all the sides, wiping down all equipment, even taking out the equipment and washing/cleaning them thoroughly. Trying getting rid of as much algae mechanically as possible. Lowering light intensities and duration will also help. Keeping nitrates and phosphates low. Watching have much food is leftover on the bottom.

Then Id go and get some algae eating fish like otos, sae's!

If you have live plants, even the stratigy is a little different. ;)

BTW- I love the pic of the cat fish! LOL! Though it would seem that it has out grown its tank space! ;D

[roger]

I would probably recommend looking for the albino dwarf bristle nose plecos for your tank. Probably even the non-albino version would work fine. They get about 3" in length and are very much an algae eating fish, they will also snack on leftover food to an extent.

I have seen regular bushy plecos in with discus as well but thats a bigger fish, probably the 6" range for full size adults.

Something that may be true is that if you start your discus out with the dwarf plecos as they are growing up they tend to not bother them when they reach adult size. As a general rule adult discus will eat or pick on other fish if they are small enough. My wilds ate my oto cats so thats something else to keep in mind.

[susankay1]

Yes Ron, I noticed that it's time for a bigger tank for her too...lol.

Jules, I have 6 different varieties of these "cat fish" and they all enjoy the fish. My big black and white was laying on top of the 125 gallon tank the other morning when I got up, nearly gave me a heart attack!!! He jumped down before I got to my camera.