Hanzo

Been into this plantet tank thing now for a couple of years, and the more I learn about ferts, chemistry and this things, the less need I have for algea eaters. I might be in luck, but when there has been the slightest sign of algea, I have just brought out my test kit, and 10 minutts laters, I know why they arrived and how to stop them. Thanks to this my tank has always been free of algea. I have otto's, Amano shrimps, Ancistrus and SAE's to deal with alge in the tank, but I find that many of the soft tissue plants like Java mose, Rotala Walliichii and the like often end up as some stupid algea eaters lunch

So, now I'm debating if I should just evict most of them or what. The only species of algea eater that I have yet to see make dinner out of my pressious is the otto's. SAE's have already packet the bags, and the Ancistrus I know will be a problem when they get a bit bigger. The Amanos are doing a great jobb in keeping my Rotala Walliichii down as we speak... I feed like crazy, so I doubt that's it.

So, I was wondering how much empassis you places in algea eaters in you tank. Do we really need them once your in controll of your water chemistry? I dont mean never a algea eater again, but maybe someting like a otto and a japonica pr. 10 gallon of water?

budak

For me, I ditched SAEs ages ago. Ottos are good for clearing diatoms though (I shift them from tank to tank when diatoms come out on the glass)..... shrimps are more for cherry-picking detritius from the moss and gravel.... they are vicious to plants like Rotala wallichi though, as you said. I also have flattened hill-stream loaches, which seem to stick on the glass permanently.

Sir_BlackhOle

I think its debatable as to how much help they do give. I like to have at least some ottos in my tanks, but also have farlowella acus, amano shrimp, sae's and bristlenose. I enjoy keeping them but could probably do without.

trenac

I too like to control my algae with balance in nutrients, C02 and lighting. However I keep a variety of algae eaters around just in case and the fact that I just like them.

aquaverde

I've read where at least one aquarist found that SAEs were eating juvenile algae that didn't show up until they were removed. IME I've never been able to control any algae outbreak with any kind of fauna. I consider the algae crew to be there to "spit shine" an already balanced tank.

budak

That might have been me..... in pre-dosing days, BBA emerged with a vengeance within days of removing a fat 4 inch SAE that I bought as a fingerling.

aquaverde

It goes to illustrate the fact that we don't always know what those finny vegetarians are really contributing, positive or negative. I have some holes in my sword that I am really beginning to suspect are due to my Ancistrus.

travis

I agree with the 'spit shine' theory for algae eaters, at least in my tank. I've got a 125G heavily planted tank and, in order for fauna to keep it clean, I would need more algae eaters than my filtration could easily handle when considering the amount of cichlids I also keep. For gentle cleaning I've found that Nerite snails seem to do the best job for me. I haven't ever seen one damage a plant and, just the other day, watched one completely clean some Anubias leaves of fuzz algae, leaving it spotless with no damage whatsoever. I also use Malaysian Trumpet snails to help remove detritus and keep my fairly deep substrate aerated. They haven't been able to sustain any out-of-control levels of reproduction due to my cichlids' fondness for bite-size escargot What do you guys think about inverts for algae control?

aquaverde

Nerites are decent algae eaters and some of the species are very beautiful. The only problem I have with them is they deposit little white eggs everywhere, a real eyesore.

MTS do a great job with detritus, but they are forever, and eventually will end up in every tank you have if you move things around at all from tank to tank. I'm trying to isolate a tank for shrimp only with no MTS, because they eat the eggs.

Hanzo

Are you saying that the MTS eat the shrimp eggs or the other way around? I think the Red-claw shrimp eat the snails, but I doubt thet MTS can eat the eggs as they stay attached to the shrimp?