Algae issue - need help

[portia]

This may be one of those problems for which there is no solution, but here goes.

I have a 20 gallon tall tank, well-established, with peaceful smaller species of fish, or so they should be: zebra danios, black tetras, a swordtail, rio tetras, one upside-down catfish.

I have a major algae problem. I have a scraper, but it really upsets the fish when I scrape. One dwarf gourami battered himself to death because he was so freaked out.

I have tried algae eaters, two chinese, at different points in time. They were doing a great job of controlling the algae until something ate each of them. I tried a snail-it was a good-sized orange one (I don't remember the type). Something ate it and left the shell.

I am guessing it's the upside-down cat only because he's big and fat and the others don't seem big enough, but I've never actually seen any of the fish bother any of the others-they just disappear.

I can't get a large type of algae eater because of my tank size. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Homedog98]

How long do you have the lights on? Try turning them off and get (someone correct me if this is too small) a BRISTLE NOSE pleco. If you get the real thing you'll have a big problem. They eat a ton if algae and stay relatively small, and are very docile around other fish. Plus they are large enough not to get picked on by the upside-down catfish.

 

[El_diablo]

Possibly too much sunlight??? Is your tank close to a window? A few years ago I had a similar problem so I bought some blinds for my window to minimise the direct sunlight?

 

[portia]

How long do you have the lights on? Try turning them off and get (someone correct me if this is too small) a BRISTLE NOSE pleco. If you get the real thing you'll have a big problem. They eat a ton if algae and stay relatively small, and are very docile around other fish. Plus they are large enough not to get picked on by the upside-down catfish.

I'm not at home during the day, and I don't always turn the lights on at night, even, so i don't think it can be solved that way. The tank is in a corner of a good-sized room facing a set of french doors, but there is a large patio with significant roof overhang outside the french doors, so the tank does not get direct light during the day.

What does this mean: If you get the real thing you'll have a big problem. ?

 

[Homedog98]

The real plecos get to be a foot in length. The bristle noses are half that size!

 

[portia]

The real plecos get to be a foot in length. The bristle noses are half that size!

Ah, got you. Will a 6" not be too big for my tank? Do they eat algae as well as the little chinese ones?

 

[Homedog98]

I think you'd be fine, and since it has a food source you won't have to worry about it much. And they eat a TON of algae and produce a small bioload.

 

[BigJim]

CAEs get big and aggressive and they typically don't eat much algae when they get older. Most plecos tend to eat little algae when they get older.

I would rehome the upside-down cat. Different species are sold under that name. The smallest species I've seen got to about 8", the largest, about 18".

For algae control, look for nerite snails. They're supposed to be the best at cleaning algae off the glass.