Pelco or otto ?

[gabloo]

I got 55g tank and 75 g tank and having issue with brown algae for awhile now. Its hard for me to reach in there and wipe everything down since some of them grow at the button. So, i am thinking of getting pelco or otto to take care of that problem. I have one otto in 55g tank but either he is eating just discus food or he can't handle all the alge by himself. So what do u guys suggest? If u vote for pelco, which pelco work well with discus? I don't want my pelco to attack my discus.

Thanks

[Skip]

do more water changes and cut back on the amount of LIGHT duration

ps.. my ottos went to town in my shrimp tank on the green algae.. not sure about the brown.. my bristlenose seems to stay from that stuff

[JustinKScott]

I agree with WarL; the only effective solution I've found to combat algae is nutrient control.

Brown algae is from too much nutrient and not enough light. So combating with less light won't help you. In fact, some suggest INCREASING your photo period, ie leave the light on longer. I don't suggest it though, as too much light & you'll be fighting green algae instead of brown.


I suggest you stop giving it anything to feed on.

It'll feed on: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphates. Make sure ammo/nitrite:0ppm, nitrate: <5ppm, phosphate: <.5ppm.

Are you using any phosphate(discus) buffers?

[LKSDiscus]

I use the albino bushy nose pleco and have about two to that size tank and rarely have any problems with too much algae. The other thing that I use to help is the magnetic window cleaner to help with the algae on the window I do this a couple times a week. I put a piece of blue filter pad split in half and the size of the attachment on the piece that goes inside for better coverage. I rarely have algae build up on the window and what I don't get the Pecos's do. I also do water changes every week more if I see a problem.

[walt3]

brush nose plecos actually removed my new tank brown diatoms at the start. they work pretty well as do the ottos. you need to make sure you have enough to handle the job as well as not to many that they dont have enough to eat. its a balance. plus most important is nutrient control as was mentioned. light is key! i had 390 watts of compact flourescent over my 75 before i knew it was bad!:( crazy algae growth! now im down to 130 watts and all is calm.:) in my defense i was coming from a reef tank which had 650 watts and still was not enough for some corals. water movement helps with algae too. the plecos look cooler i think but my otto seems to be always working too. i think its about correct stock load with good water quality.

[TURQ64]

since there are a few threads running by the author, more routine wc's should cure the fish and the algae problems...5 decades of this under my belt, and never any algae issues with constant wc's...no pleco's or whatever, just wc's

[Skip]

i found that awhile back.. i was lazy on wc in my big tank.. and it had brown algae all over.. then i upped the wc and it kind of went away.. hmmm.. go figure..

[ZX10R]

I had problems with brown algae in one of my tanks and I tried a brushy nose pleco he wouldn't touch the brown algae. Then I added two blue phantom plecos and they went to town on that brown alge they did a great job.

[MKD]

Agree with WC and absolute no Oto, 'cause i saw them attached my discus and took them out right away. I still have some ABN long finned and short finned plecos in there to clean my DW.


Do you have any DW?

[jlcoop277]

I have Bristle nose and they seem to do a good job, ive stayed away from Oto's bc i've heard they like slime coat. However my BN arent really doing anything to keep my green algae down. but my amano sure are fat.

[gabloo]

Sorry for my late reply guys, So are u guys saying that brown algae are from lack of light?

[walt3]

brown are usually low or bad spectrun light. green algae is alot of light. high nutrient load could cause either i guess too. :(