8 replies to this topic

[doubleatraining]

I have started putting the bedroom 29g together. Husband agreed as long as the lights were off at night and there wasn't any/much noise from a filter.

 

I am setting it up in the Walstad method and added 1" of organic potting soil and 1" of fine black sand.

 

It will be heavily planted and I've started a massive moss wall for the entire back wall.

 

Stock will include:

 

Ramshorn snails for cleaning crew

Pygmy Sunfish

Leptolucania ommata

 

 

I'm debating if I want to put in a few H. Formosa as well.

 

 

Is there another algae eater I can consider? I like my snails but wonder if they will do a good enough job on their own.

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[Matt DeLaVega]

Shrimp? Dwarf crayfish? Flagfish? Sorry, best I've got.

[JasonL]

Bristlenose pleco for a tank that size.  Other plecos get too big.   I’ve got one and he doesn’t have any noticeable impact on my live plants including hornwort, java fern, Val,  anubias sp and others.   I’ve tried lots of other things for algae control and nothing worked as well as this fish.

 

Non native I know but I made this one exception for my tank and have no regrets.

[UncleWillie]

I have only been keeping H. formosa for a little over a year, but I was actually blown away by the amount of algae they eat.  I moved 5 into my 10 gallon tank that had an explosion of algae growth when I first set it up.  Even without feeding for about 4 days (out on vacation) their bellies grew big and the substrate was covered with tiny bright green fish poops.  I know they won't be scraping surfaces for algae like a snail, pleco, or oto, but maybe they can help.

[doubleatraining]

I have only been keeping H. formosa for a little over a year, but I was actually blown away by the amount of algae they eat.  I moved 5 into my 10 gallon tank that had an explosion of algae growth when I first set it up.  Even without feeding for about 4 days (out on vacation) their bellies grew big and the substrate was covered with tiny bright green fish poops.  I know they won't be scraping surfaces for algae like a snail, pleco, or oto, but maybe they can help.

Thats good to know. I've got some in a 5.5g in my office. Time to starve those guys a few days and see if they help the shrimp and snails eat the hair algea explosion I've had. LOL

 

Bristlenose pleco for a tank that size.  Other plecos get too big.   I’ve got one and he doesn’t have any noticeable impact on my live plants including hornwort, java fern, Val,  anubias sp and others.   I’ve tried lots of other things for algae control and nothing worked as well as this fish.

 

Non native I know but I made this one exception for my tank and have no regrets.

I think I'll go with the bristlenose pleco since I think it will clean the surfaces and maybe eat any hair algea that pops up.

[Michael Wolfe]

I would go with more plants and more snails.  In a Walstad setup, I might also go with a little less light.  I have not had a bad algae explosion in my Walstad tank except when I had some plants die back... then the algae took over.  Another idea would be to go with some blackwater extract and leaf litter (you can buy from tannin aquatics or make your own with boiled oak leaves).  The fish you are talking about live in those conditions anyway and some tannins in the water (and the lower pH) seem to keep algae down as well.

[doubleatraining]

I would go with more plants and more snails.  In a Walstad setup, I might also go with a little less light.  I have not had a bad algae explosion in my Walstad tank except when I had some plants die back... then the algae took over.  Another idea would be to go with some blackwater extract and leaf litter (you can buy from tannin aquatics or make your own with boiled oak leaves).  The fish you are talking about live in those conditions anyway and some tannins in the water (and the lower pH) seem to keep algae down as well.

I'll get them some leaves for extra tanins. I have some Almond leaves for my betta. I don't normally have a lot of algae issues but my 5.5 is HEAVILY planted and is popping up algae like crazy. Grrrr. I think I'm going to drop an Amano shrimp in the 5.5 and let them tackle it all.

[doubleatraining]

All the researching for this 29g has me finding OTHER fish I might "need" in this tank.

 

Stocking thoughts so far:

 

Option 1:

 

Pair of Bluespotted Sunfish

School of Rainbow Shiner

 

Option 2:

 

School of Rainbow Shiner

Bluefin Killifish and/or Leptolucania ommata

[Robert Lamb]

Rainbow shiners can be pretty nippy so probably not the best idea to keep them with leptolucania or enneacanthus. Although I've never kept any of those together and if it was thickly planted they might do fine