whetto

in one of my tanks, a lot of the gravel and one side of my rock accessory is covered in a dark green algae. i've done daily water changes for about a week now, and theres no change. Ive vacuumed the gravel also without success. I want to get some of that Algae Destroyer stuff but the tank has about 10 or so ghost shrimp, and the bottle says not to use it with invertebrates. any suggestions on what to do?

also, in my other tank, i had an albino bristlenose pleco that i bought from a local LFS. for the first two weeks he was here with me, he was happy and productive, always stuck onto a new surface each time i saw him. however, I have not seen him ANYWHERE for about a week now, and today i took out my big cave to clean it and to glue (with aquarium sealant) some stones and plastic plant stems to it to make it more appealing, and he was nowhere in it, on it, or around it. hes not under any rocks i have in the tank, and theres no way he could have gottan into my filter, as he was about and inch and a half long. the tank has one small hole in the back for air lines and the heater cord to slip through, and seeing as the tank has a rainbow shark, 4 tiger barbs, an albino chocolate pleco, and a dojo loach in it, none of which have jumped out, i doubt he did. is there any possible way he could have jumped out, or perhaps died and gotten eaten by the other fish? im really stumped on how he could have just disappeared like that. any suggestions would be very welcome.

bbfeckawitts

You could try a complete "blackout" of your tank for a few days then a 50% water change. You would have to remove the ghost shrimp to use that chemical. Not sure if its "good" for the fish either, I have always strayed away from chemicals. Have no idea about your pleco.

vin

Water changes won't cut down on the algae. Perhaps you need to cut down on the amount of light? Either by reducing the amount if time it is on or making sure it is not in direct sunlight.

As for getting rid of the algae, if you have live plants, don't use any chemicals. I'm not sure what your stocking situation is like, but you could get some otos to help control the algae or a snail or two.....

Tom

All good ideas, but IMO here is the best way to help control algae, you should just get more live plants so the live plants will get the food the algae is getting and will eventually kill the algae, since they all compete for food. This will also make it so you don't have to buy more fish and give your current fish more hiding places. You could also cut down on any plant fertilizer, if you use any. I hope it helps. If you get more plants, can't wait for some pics. And about your BN, I am totally at wits end.
Tom

COBettaCouple

That stuff isn't good for fish - it almost killed all of ours when i tried using it once.. never going the chemical route again. The 3 options to deal with it posted here are all better and safer.

As far as your pleco goes, i think you'll have to take everything out and sift through the gravel to see if you can find him (or parts of him that need removed if he was eaten by the other fish after dying). I'd be stunned for a pleco to have jumped out. If you do all that & still find nothing, I guess he was totally eaten. I hope he's just hiding REALLY good tho.

Butterfly

Algae grows from an excess of nutrients and light. Is it near a window by chance? The water changes will help lower the nutrients and slow the algae down. A complete black out for about three days is a good idea. Do a large water change before and after the black out. As was suggested live plants will also out compete the algae for the extra nutrients.
Is your BN inside the filter? My sons kept cleaning his way up the filter uptake tube and would wind up inside the filter enjoying all the yummy goo in there.
Carol
ps
How are finals going?

bbfeckawitts

Water changes take the excess nutrients out of the water, starving the algae. After a blackout a good big water change is in order to take nutrients and dead algae out.

Brianna

whetto

thanks for all of your helpful suggestions! i dont have live plants in the algae tank, so ive turned the light out. its got background paper on three sides of it (since its a puffer tank and i dont want him swimming up and down the glass, the plants on the background break up his vision), and it sits on a kitchen counter, so hopefully the blackout will work.

as far as the BN goes, i took out the largest piece of scenery in the tank and cleaned it out, no sign of him. i sifted through half the gravel, no sign of him. i turned the filter off and looked down inside of it, no sign of him (it was sort of a last resort, since i have a hang on the back whisper filter, which doesnt really have an intake tube, but small slits all around the base of the filter that are much to small for anything except a fin to fit into). he is nowhere under any of the small river rocks i have, at the base of any plants, or anything. My vacuum tube is also too small to have sucked him up when i was gravle cleaning, so thats out...its one of those things where i am assuming he has passed away, but i would at least like to know what happened to him.

finals so far are going great, hopefully ill be done in May. thanks for asking

Butterfly

Welcome!! some of my employees are in college and are sweating finals right now
Carol

vin

I have live plants and still have algae....Plant's won't consume the left over food....What the plants do use is the nitrites and nitrates from fish waste. Algae are micro-organisms, not plants. They will flourish in excess light and from overfeeding.....

Butterfly

I have live plants and still have algae....Plant's won't consume the left over food....What the plants do use is the nitrites and nitrates from fish waste. Algae are micro-organisms, not plants. They will flourish in excess light and from overfeeding.....
Your exactly right they(plants) don't consume the excess food but they do consume the excess nitrites and nitrates from the excess food rotting in the tank. Slow growing plants like Anubias, JavaFerns etc will have algae on them frequently because they don't grow fast enough to consume a substantial portion of the extra nutrients. More light than they need will cause the algae to flourish also. Fast growing plants (usually stem and floating plants) will use more nutrients and faster and so starve the algae but it is a slow process once it gets established. The large water change, blackout for three days and another large water change is the best way to get rid of algae that I know of.
Carol

Blub

1) Don't worry! Algae can be just as decorative as plants - it makes the tank look much more mature and natural.

2)Plecos have a nasty habit of completely vanishing. He'll porabably come out when he's ready.