7 replies to this topic

[Betta132]

My tank needs somebody to eat the algae off the glass. I have a few nerite snails, but they aren't quite cutting it, and I'd prefer to not have the tank swarming with nerites. 

It's a 65g with longear sunfish (including a nesting male) and some blacktail shiners. I've considered catching some ramshorn snails, but the sunnies have eaten all the non-nerite snails that used to be in there. 

I need something that's at least 4" long, in order to be inedible by sunfish, and I'd prefer if it's hardy. I'd also like to be able to catch it myself, and I'd prefer for it to be from Texas or at least somewhere nearby. I can feed nori now and then, or zucchini. The sunfish aren't very interested in either of those, so they shouldn't steal it. I can try pellet food, but one of the sunnies will go after that. I normally just feed the shiners food that's too small for the sunnies to want.

This seemed like the section most likely to include an algae-eater of some sort. Anybody know of one? 

If there aren't any small algae-eater fish, do we have any large snails that are native to the area? 

I know more plants would decrease the amount of algae, but I'm trying to keep the plant levels reasonably low to match the look of these guys' habitat. 

[littlen]

There are some "wild" plecos in TX....

(But H. plecostomus isn't a good eater of algae IMO).

[Michael Wolfe]

Stonerollers are in Texas I think. But if you have that much algae growth, you might need to balance your nutrient in flows.

[Betta132]

I'd rather not have a two-foot-long pleco, even if they are kinda cool. 

 

The algae isn't completely covering the glass. The problem is, the tank has a decent bit of tannins in the water from the leaves and sticks, which lowers the visibility. The algae makes it worse. 

Also, there are six longear sunnies in there, and five of them are growing. They eat a lot, and I doubt they'd appreciate it if I fed them less.

[lilyea]

If you are only worried about visibility and are looking for a simple way to clean the glass without always having to stick your arm in the tank you can pick up an aquarium glass magnet cleaner.  They start about $10 and go up based on size of magnet for thickness of glass.

[gerald]

Use floating plants:  Duckweed, Ricciocarpus, Limnobium, Pistia, etc.  They effectively reduce nutrient levels while leaving the main swimming area open, if you dont like the "jungle" look.

 

BTW the feral "plecos" in FL to TX are mostly Pterygoplichthys species, not Hypostomus.

[littlen]

^ duly noted, thanks for the correction Gerald.


Betta, your sunfish will definitely survive with fewer feedings.  2 or 3 a week would be sufficient if they are already pretty large.  The excess nutrients from uneaten food and extra 'output' by the fish is fueling the algae.

[Cu455]

Dose your tank with hydrogen peroxide at 1ml per every ten gallons. You can even add a little more. For 65 gallons I will add 8 ml a day. Once you are happy with the clarity you can dose once a week for maintenance. This is the 3% hydrogen peroxide you get at the pharmacy.

Edited by Cu455, 07 May 2015 - 02:23 PM.