Looking for a good Algae cleaner for my tank

[mesapod]

My dad's 24g hexagon tank has a good build up of algae there are no fish currently in it so he wants to know what would be a good algae eater or fish that eats algae to put in his tank.

[jones57742]

Msp:

Are the algae mainly on the walls are "they on everything" in the tank.

If the algae is mainly on the walls then a used credit card is an implement which will remove them.

If the algae are on "everything" in the tanks then I can recommend Siamese Algae Eaters (I saw three of them at my local PetSmart yesterday) from personal experience.

Three additional items:

1) Has this tank been cycled?
If not please cycle it before adding fish.

2) Can you provide the history of the tank.
Something is "wrong here".
Without nutrients the algae should not exist.

3) Should you decide to purchase SAE's then please purchase three.
They are not happy campers without several but 3 is all that the 24g "can stand".

TR

[specialname76]

oto- Petsmart sells, they stay 1.5 in long, i got 2 they are busy bodies.

[FishHead]

Otos and snails are great algae cleaners..

[Damon]

You first need to determine what type of algae you are battling. Then determine why you have it. Algae eaters do not fix the problem but rather the result. Solve the problem. Algae eaters do not all eat all types of algae. SAE's for diatoms is futile. Otos for bba is also futile.

[mesapod]

Well the algae is lightly covering the wall of the tank so you can still see inside. Yes the tank is cycled my dad had mollies in there for almost a year then they died(of old age probably). The last one died about 1.5 weeks ago. The algae is lightly covering the gavel but only is some spots. The algae is light green and on a few spots on the tank it is brown. The ph is 7.3 ammonia is 0.0ppm nitrite is 0.0ppm and nitrate is 0.25ppm.

[Fishfirst]

I would choose otos, mainly because 3 siamese algae eaters (flying fox Crossocheilus siamensis Jones is refering to probably, or chinese algae eaters Gyrinocheilos aymonieri (common names are worthless for this type of thing) ) would get pretty big for that size tank... also being that there haven't been fish in there for a week and a half means a lot of your bacteria has died. Add slowly and you will have no troubles. However, major algae problems are a result of nutrient levels and light levels being out of wack. I would strongly suggest doing some small water changes this week and next week to get back on track.

[jones57742]

Msp:

Thanks for your detailed response.

The mollies did not die in one year due to old age: something was wrong with the aquarium.

I presume that you anticipate adding additional fish soon and that the filtration equipment is functioning.

IMHO and if it were my tank I would
1) Rinse (in tank water) and/or replace the mechanical filtration media;
2) Rinse the biological filtration media in tank water;
3) Put 1 TBLSPN of flakes into the tank;
4) Perform 25% WC's for two weeks;
4) Scrape the algae off the walls with a used credit card and
5) Add just a few fish.

IMHO this will get you "up and going".
Please post when the 5 items cited above are completed and we can "get into what happens next".

TR

[Platyface]

I have a couple Otos. They're great.

[mesapod]

ok i have done 2 water changes and scraped the algae off the tank i think im going to get 3 otos.

[Jpak777]

Hmmm....you scraped the algae off? Where are the Otos going to get their food?

lol

Granted I don't know if the algae was good or bad for the tank, but you need to feed your Otos until the algae builds up again. I feed my Otos a slice of zucchini that's been rubberbanded (is this a word?) to a stone.

THEY LOVE IT.

Otos are mostly vegeterains. Check this site out:

http://www.otocinclus.com/

Good info on Otos.

cheer!

[mesapod]

So i was supposed to keep the algae on? ok well it is a little on the gravel so should be okay and it might build up again.

Oh and thank you Jpak the site was very helpful.

[fishbguy]

It's okay if you scraped the algae off. They'll be fine as long as you don't boil your gravel, which you NEVER want to do anyway. There's enough gravel on your plants and gravel to sustain them. They'll also eat flakes, algae tablets, squash, zuchini, etc.

[Jpak777]

Originally Posted by mesapod

So i was supposed to keep the algae on? ok well it is a little on the gravel so should be okay and it might build up again.

Oh and thank you Jpak the site was very helpful.

No problemo.
Otos are very cool, especially when they're just lazily doing nothing attached to the wall with a full stomach.

It looks like a fat spider-man underwater.

[Damon]

Again, noone has addressed the issues of this tank.

1. Why did the mollies die?
2. Why are you getting algae blooms?

Some algae in a tank is expected but too much means an imbalance.

Fix the problem, not the result.....................

BTW Otos are almost useless for green spot algae. Its just too hard for them to scrape off tank walls.

[mesapod]

i checked up on green spot algae and that is definatly not in my tank anyways i found my old algae cleaner and the algae comes off very easily.

ill try to take a pic with my dads digital camera never done it before though.

[Ice Prince]

Originally Posted by fishbguy

There's enough gravel on your plants and gravel to sustain them.

lol

You should really find out why you are getting the algae. otos will only remove the algae not fix it.

[mesapod]

Originally Posted by Ice Prince

You should really find out why you are getting the algae. otos will only remove the algae not fix it.

I figured out my problem it was my dads old blinds they let too much sunlight in. i fixed them and put darker curtains which wont stop the sun completely but will slow it down so the otos will have enough to eat and i wont have too many algae blooms.