tb19

I've had my tank for about 5 months now. I think im starting to see some algea. There are like brown smudges on the sides of the tank...Now i dont know if that's how algea starts out but yeah. How can i control it? I was thinking of using a apple snail

Gunnie

The brown algae sounds like diatoms and is pretty normal for a new tank. I'm not sure if an apple snail will eat it, but otos love it. The apple snail probably will too.

COBettaCouple

The apple snail will get pretty big and put out a lot of waste. A few little otos would be my recommendation, just drop in a slice of zucchini or piece of broccoli for them as needed so they don't starve when theres' no algae to eat.

sirdarksol

Otos! Otos! Otos!
I love my otos. Two keep my 20 gallon tank entirely free of algae. They even pick the individual leaves of the plastic milfoil plants.

COBettaCouple

They are hard little workers! Ours are still in quarantine for another week but i put the decor from Angel's tank in the q tank 1 piece at a time and they quickly cleaned each piece of all algae. They just love to clean that algae.

griffin

how big is your tank?

unless you've got a decent sized tank and want to clean up after a snail, i'd go with the otos. i've had fully stocked (and over stocked :X ) tanks that produce less waste than even just one apple snail. also, most apple snails will eat algae only as a last resort.

COBettaCouple

i think the tank in question is a 15g. probably too small for an apple snail, a mystery snail would fit but otos would be better from the waste production POV.

griffin

what do you mean when you say "mystery snail" as compared to "apple snail?"

i think it'd be big enough for one cana or a few brigs, but that's assuming there's nothing else in it. otos would be a lot better as far as productivity and waste production.

COBettaCouple

they're smaller snails.

tb19

yeah its a 15 gallon...its pretty overstocked and i had assumed that a snail would produce way more less waste than fish...the algae is not big a problem now anyways...so its just starting to produce in the tank

griffin

like most people here, i think if you're looking for future algae control, you should go with otos, esp if you're already over stocked. either that or wait until you actually have algae and then get something.

another alternative is to use a mag-float.

or the obvious one - get more tanks :P

ah ok - so mystery = brig and apple = cana?

FishPirateL337

Chinese and Siamese Algae Eaters are my favorite. They are more active and playful than any plecs I've encountered.
They can be moody and a lil aggressive sometimes, mostly just bumping and pushing out of their mobile territory bubble.
They can get large like most plecs, but seems they tend to grow according to the size of tank and the abundance of food.
Chinese Algae Eaters are rather plain as far as coloring, the Siamese variant, however is absolutely striking, bright red body with
bright yellow accents. Both are long are slender, and IMO, a bit more on the cute side from plecs. Mine like to perch up on
their fins and take watch over all their surroundings. Their like watch dogs with no teeth, but a good bit of bark.
They work just hard enough to leave a lil algae to eat tommorrow. Never had the need to drop a algae tab for em.

sirdarksol

Unfortunately, for many people, Chinese Algae Eaters aren't much of an option. If you have any fish with a broad side (discus, guoramis, etc...), the Algae Eaters will latch on, damaging scales. Further, many of them, when they grow to a certain age, will more or less stop eating algae.
Also, from what I've learned, any fish that stops growing because of the tank size is actually being stunted due to lack of room, oxygen, and an excess of toxins. This is a good way to also limit the fish's lifespan.

tb19

ok so i had two otos for more than a month..about two i think ....one died...then i bought another one....then they both died...so is there another way of controling the brown algae?

jsalemi

Otos are unfortunately quite touchy when it comes to tank conditions. The general principle I've seen in the oto discussions here is that they either die within a month, or go on to long healthy lives. Turned out true in my case -- one oto died within 3 weeks of my adding it to the aquarium, and the other is going on strong, getting fatter from having all the algae to himself.