algae!

[WilliS]

ok guys, im tired of it

i really want my tank to be algae free or only have to be cleaned lightly once a week or so... here is what i have:

80 gallon bowfront tank
fluval 404 canister filter
1 watt per gallon of lighting, (1 of them is an 18,000k bulb)
lights are on for 12 hours per day (im cutting back but see nothing helping)
6 assorted sword plants (been in tank for about 5 days)
5 water whisteria (been in tank for about 5 days)
15 small african cichlids
1 synodontis eu-something or other... (he hids in one of my decorations all night and day... does no good at all.. and even if he did, i have more algae than 20 of them could eat


so thats my tank.. its about 8 feet from a fairly large window...but only the side of the tank gets much light from it.

here is my problem:
1. i thought plants would eat up the nutrients that algae needs to grow, and hence i would have no algae once i had real plants in my tank... but that does not seem to be the case

2. i scrub and scrub... water change 1/2 every week.. still not seeing an improvement in algae...



any suggestions? please help...im new to this stuff... i just want it gone..and to see clean glass again!

**edit**
im up for suggestions for any algae eater that will do the job and can hang tough with 15 african cichlids... but i would like to avoid snails

 

[poppab02]

I have a synodontis Eurepetus and they do nothing to algae. Pleco's are the only thing that will survive with African cichlids that will keep that algae clean. But you have to be careful, I had 3 plecos die before one survived. Make sure you introduce them 2 at a time and at night so that it neutralises some of the aggression. If by some chance both survive then eventually when they get too big you can give away or sell one of the two.

 

[WilliS]

i had a pleco for a while...he did nothing but suck on some of my decorations... never touched the glass really.. and i didnt want a 20" fish in my tank... so i brought him back and got the synodontis...hoping he would do more...but he doesnt..

anything i can physically do to reduce algae?

another question i had was: when should i clean my filter (fluval 404).. my tank just finished cycling...when should i be doing stuff to my filter, and what all should i be doing?

 

[Cafe Jeff]

When Plecs are little, they tend to do well with algae.
As they get older they get piggier and stick to the Zuchini and over priced algae wafers. Also, bushy nosed and some of the other not common plecs won't grow so large.
Strangely enough, I have a golden otto living with my Africans. I have never seen a busier bee.
My Syndontis basically does the same thing and hides upside down under a flower pot on its side, but he is not as bad as my Raphael cat who I only see about once a week, tops. For the amount of bio-load he creates, I could have had a fish that I could actually see! Jeff

 

[WilliS]

so i should try a golden otto and see if he will survive?

also, are there any plants your africans will leave alone? i would like a nice planted tank, but they have been nibbling on my plants...i fear that soon enough ill have nothing but dead stalks in my tank :-\

 

[Cafe Jeff]

I am surprised to at how well the Golden Otto is doing.
In any event, I said he was a busy bee, not a big bee. Jeff