[wonword]

Hello, ottos do wonders, so do shrimp. But, I have some large fish, and everything always gets eaten. I've tried ottos, SAE's, florida flag fish, shrimp and plecos. The only survivers were the plecos. My ottos schooled nicely too, i miss the little fellers. Anyway, any suggestions? right now im having a black hair algae problem on my java ferns.

 

[rich815]

None of my ottos, SAE's or plecos touch or touched BBA when I get it, or had it, at least in any way that put any kind of dent in it. They simply are not a panacea, and I am not familiar with any fish, large or small, that is, particularly for BBA.

The key to making BBA go away (or at least get it under control so when it does arise it's in such small quantities and infrequent that it's easily dealt with H202 or Excel) is to remove as much as possible and visible and then get to the reason why you're getting it in the first place (usually insufficient (or fluctuating) CO2 either because simply not enough or it's not being dispersed well enough).

I do not think finding an "algae-eater" fish is not going solve your problem. It may not be pretty but you simply must remove all the leaves that are infested, or remove the plants and treat them with a dip or similar to kill the BBA.

 

[wonword]

None of my ottos, SAE's or plecos touch or touched BBA when I get it, or had it, at least in any way that put any kind of dent in it. They simply are not a panacea, and I am not familiar with any fish, large or small, that is, particularly for BBA.

The key to making BBA go away (or at least get it under control so when it does arise it's in such small quantities and infrequent that it's easily dealt with H202 or Excel) is to remove as much as possible and visible and then get to the reason why you're getting it in the first place (usually insufficient (or fluctuating) CO2 either because simply not enough or it's not being dispersed well enough).

I do not think finding an "algae-eater" fish is not going solve your problem. It may not be pretty but you simply must remove all the leaves that are infested, or remove the plants and treat them with a dip or similar to kill the BBA.

Thanks, I will try that for the BBA. But I didnt mean to specifically find fish for only that reason. Ottos always did a good job of keeping new leaves algae free and clean looking. SO any fish that cleans the plants or algae in general is what im after.

 

[JanS]

As for a general algae eating fish, there are a ton of small Pleco's that do a wonderful job, and leave your plants pretty much intact. Some examples would be the peckoltia's, many of the ancistrus species or the rubber nosed plecs. All stay fairly small, and most do a great job at keeping your every day algae at bay.