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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 30, 2009 20:22:46 GMT -5
i have brown algae on all my tanks except for the babie tank.
im wondering what kind of pleco should i look into that will stay small and still be inexpensive and regularly found. all the zebra plecos ive looked into seem to be expensive and rare to find in my area. i think only plecs available in the area are the common ones that get way to large and i dont want to trade them in and replace them all the time its just too cruel for the fish and ive never had good luck with fishing out big plecos they can be pretty fiesty and dont do well netting either.
does anyone on here have any small species of plecos for sale or know anywhere that sells small species of plecos? a link would be fantastic!
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Post by eve on Mar 30, 2009 20:32:42 GMT -5
bristlenose plecos or otocinclus would be perfect
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Post by murdock6701 on Mar 30, 2009 20:33:32 GMT -5
brown algae is fairly common in "newly established" tanks - adding salt and frequent small water changes help, but mostly it's a "wait it out" deal, sometimes lasting for 2-3 months - rinsing the decor and scrubbing down the glass helps as well as vacuuming the gravel and increasing aeration - bristlenose plecos are small......but from my experience, cleaning is more helpful in getting rid of it than a pleco
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 30, 2009 20:49:16 GMT -5
thanks ive been vacuming the gravel each time i do water changes and if its really bad i use a sponge scrubber on the glass but it seems to just come back worse each time. ill try scrubbing the glass down twice as much as i do water changes see if that will help. thanks again!
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Post by kagome on Mar 31, 2009 1:20:02 GMT -5
You might also want to consider a clown pleco if you can find one in your area. I got mine as a juvie for $10.
I always get the brown algae when I start a new tank. I just scrub it off each water change and eventually it goes away. If you can introduce some green algae into your tank it will out compete the brown stuff and then your pleco will have something to eat. They really can't eat the brown stuff, so if you got a pleco right now you would need to feed it catfish wafers or, ironically enough, algae waters. Carl has a great article about algae, you should check it out. There's a section about brown algae.
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Post by Carl on Mar 31, 2009 10:44:00 GMT -5
Kagome and John have given you good feedback/information about Brown Algae. As they noted, I would recommend this article from Aquarium answers: Aquarium Answers; Algae (including brown algae)A few thoughts: *Nerite snails and Oto Cats can help as well. *As noted, this is a common problem with new tanks, and often patience is all that is required *Lighting (or lack there of proper light Kelvin/PAR) is often a major cause in established aquariums. *Silicates in the water also plays a role Carl
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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Mar 31, 2009 12:13:05 GMT -5
I had it in my Red Cherry Shrimp tank when I first set it up...I'm not sure if the shrimp ate it...or it went away on its own...I have that green algae in there now because the lights get left on almost 24/7 ..."nightlight" for my son.
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Post by bikeguy33 on Mar 31, 2009 19:32:16 GMT -5
carl is riht about the nerite snails...i used to get small amounts of the brown algae....bought my nerite......havent seen any since.
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