Algae Control - Any Advice?

So my tank will be a couple of months old soon. After some initial bumps in the road, it's now running really well. My bio wheel is cultured, my ammonia levels are consistently zero, and my fish seem happy and healthy. I'm noticing algae growth now. having to clean the glass to prevent build up, and it's growing on the fake plants, real rocks, etc. I have no algae eaters in the tank, although I have room for one (about 3-4 fish inches of capacity left). I have the impression though that these little creatures really don't do much to actually rid your tank of algae. Is there anythink I can treat the water with?

 

Putting about three Otocinclus in there will take care of your algae as will one bristlenose. Chemicals to rid your tank of algae frequently will kill your plants also and are very hard on your fish. I know the packages say they won't but trust me chemicals aren't good for your tank.
Glad everything else is going well.
Carol
ps
How often are you doing water changes? Algae usually means an abundance of nutrients. 25% once a week should take care of that unless you have big fish then it needs to be 50% each week. This larger water change might be an option you want instead of adding fish. Newer tanks are prone to having algae as the beneficial bacteria catches up with the needs of your tank.

 

I have also found that changing more of the water every week seems to keep the algae controlled, however, I am having a bit of a problem with it at the moment. Extra water changes certainly will not hurt your fish.

 

Thanks for the tips. Sounds like chemicals are a bad idea, as I had suspected. I'm changing 25% per week. My fish are not too big, as many of them are still juviniles. I think I'll increase the size of my water changes and see if that works.

 

Hi, I have had no problems with algae until recently. The lighting system is on from 1p.m. to 9 p.m. I changed the time and increased an hour of light. Algae started to appear everywhere. I treated with Tetra algae control and put the lighting time back to where I had it. The fish were fine in two tanks and the algae is gone. I stressed the guppys in the little tank. Had to do an immediate water change. That tank still has a little algae problem but the fish appear to be fine with it. beezie