Algae is overtaking my gravel please help the captain!

[captainGregor]

Hey guys, please provide some assistance! I have changed lights in my tank and increased output to 110 W per 55G. I have some plants in the tank. I have a pair of breeding angels that are extremely agressive to the third angel. I have put a tank divider and separated those 2 from the rest of the fish. They also have 3 otos with them. Now, since I separated them I have noticed a tremendous rate of algae growth on gravel and only in the part where breeding pair is, and not in the other part. The divider is a flow-through type. I have done large water changes, mixed gravel up, nothing helps. Algae grows like crazy in that half. Also plants all get this nasty brown-black cover on them. Please advise.
thanks.

[mgkaelen]

not sure why this is happening, but will putting an oto in there to keep the growth down be a bad idea? the lone angel pro bably won't pick on him --- sorry i can't be of more assistance, but i saw nobody had responded yet to the thread!

[madasafish]

Well, Cap'n. When algae gets a hold, it tends to be tenacious and not stop until it's taken over completely...

Your best bets are these:

1) Get some Siamese Algae Eaters (Crossocheilus siamensis). These will eat all types of hair algae quickly, and are a fun, energetic fish. They do best in groups of 6+. These'll tend to set you back $4+ each.

2) Get some amano shrimp (Caridina japonica). These are incredible algae eaters, and blow the socks off ghost shrimp (which seem to do absolutely nothing). As you have angels, you'll need to make sure the amanos are at least 1" or 1.5" before you place them in the tank. They grow up to about 2", and I've found that mine have grown noticeably in the last 2 weeks. These'll set you back $2-$4 each.

3) In addition to 1) or 2) increase the CO2 dosage to your tank. Keeping the CO2 level around 20 ppm encourages plant growth, but discourages algae growth. Mind you, it's not always easy to keep this level without a pressurized system and a pH controller!!

My personal favorite now are the Amano Shrimp. Take a look at my "Red Striped Amanos?" thread in General Discussion. On the second page, I have 2 close-up pics of these guys. They're quite pretty when they get larger.

HTH.

[Christmasfish]

Another things is to make more flow to your flow tube...


My daughter and her tankmaker have a design to prevent the flow prob. the put UGF uplift tubes with air stones to make currents to all Parts of the tank.
It is capped by a filter cap to prevent betas from switching sides.

She plans to hided the tubeys behind java ferns and such.
She has a testor with her 10 gallon. It seems to work. All three divisions are clean and warm.

[BrianNY]

Well Capt., if your algae is in clumps on your gravel, it's likely cyanobacteria. Thanks to the folks at AA I cured with a total blackout period of 4 days. Put a blanket over the tank and it was gone. I did cheat and feed the plecos.

All the fish and plants survived and no more algae.