Can't Control This Aggressive Algae!

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plecos won't solve an algae issue. Many species of plecos do little for algae IMO

Nice to have an algae crew. I will recommend nerite snails( nice looking will not breed) . Malaysian Trumpet Snails ( not very nice looking and will breed but do wonders for substrate and do a great job eating the crap at the bottom). Also Oto Cats are highly recommended.. Otocinclus macrospilus

As for new plants I would use a 1: 20 ratio of bleech and water and let those plants soak for a minute then rinse them off , maybe do it a 2nd time then they should be good to go.

Most hardy plants for a low light tank won't use up much nutrients so not sure if there would be mush algae benefits. Plants liek ANubias would be a great addition but are very slow growing.
 
I keep forgetting about the snails, but I think the goldies will eat them. They are quite large. I'm still on the fence about the plants, but I will consider it. I think they will eat them too though.

Do I need to worry about treating/quarantining the snails?

I see some photos now of the snails and they look fairly large, so I guess they will be safe from being gobbled up.

Can anyone recommend a safe place online to order the snails? I mean they won't come with diseases, etc.
 
Good luck. I had to "start over"

My BBA problem was due to multiple causes and explained here in my post 7

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/bba-problem-311191.html

The filter was clogged with it and my artificial plants were covered with it. I threw both away and "started over."

Good luck. My tank has been crystal clear and algae free for over four years now. I hope you vacuum your gravel regularly so all the fish waste doesn't turn to (dissolve into) nitrates.
 
Thanks Paul, I will definitely check out your other post shortly. Yes, I vacuum the gravel every time I clean the tank, every two weeks. I use a python gravel vac.

Question, can I use the flourish Excel stuff if I don't have any plants in my tank?
 
Robyneller said:
Thanks Paul, I will definitely check out your other post shortly. Yes, I vacuum the gravel every time I clean the tank, every two weeks. I use a python gravel vac.

Question, can I use the Flourish Excel stuff if I don't have any plants in my tank?
Click to expand...

The only chemical I use in my tanks is Seachem Purigen which helps with nitrates along with other benefits and therefore helps control algae. I know nothing about Fourish Excel but it seems to me anything that would help plants would just make an algae problem worse. I too have no live plants ..... just lots of artificial ones.

Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community - Paul1792's Album: Paul1792's 38 gallon - Picture

[note my comment at the bottom of the picture about bba and why I have "blue backing" on the east side of my 38 gallon tank as well as on the back.]
 
I wouldnt dose flourish excel in a tank without plants. At that point your making the dissolved co2 in the water much higher than normal with no plants to use it, so only your surface gas exchange would balance it out. Sure, if you put enough in itd probably get rid of the algae but all the fish as well haha. What makes co2 "get rid of algae" is that it helps plants outcompete it. Co2 itself doesnt deal with algae exactly.
 
Thanks for explaining how the Excel works. Im extremely cautious, so I wasn't going to try that until I understood better.
 
Excel in sufficient quantities acts as an algaecide and as far as I understand it doesn't add to the dissolved co2 content of the water.
 
My mistake, Caliban is right. Excel adds carbon in another form. What I said applies to CO2, not the form that excel uses.
 
I had a similar problem a few weeks ago. What worked for me was to first, do more frequent smaller water plans, and then change the lighting. Because algae needs continuous light, if you turn the light of several times throughout the day, and cover the tank to keep it black while doing so, the algae won't be able to survive. I did so for about three days, and the algae that was covering everything completely disappeared.
 
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