New algae in my tank

[PlatyLady]

Well I got my otos to combat the brown stuff. Now I have fuzzy/short-hair-like bright green stuff - looks like really short grass. It's been a couple of days since I've noticed it now, and I haven't seen my otos going at it. Will they? Do I need a new addition to take care of this? I have some common snails in there (pesky little suckers! How did I let them get in there?! Argh ), will they do the trick?

TIA

[Endgame319]

No the otos dont like the hair stuff, a pair of SAE would do the trick though. And I dont think the common snails would eat it, but i'm not too sure.

[PlatyLady]

Wow, fast! SAEs - I'll look around for some, but a couple LFSs around here have been known to get their algae eaters mixed up. I once got what I thought was an oto, that became crazy agressive and beat up my platy. Will have to be absolutely sure about what I'm getting, if I get anything at all.

Is that kind of algae an indicator of over-feeding? Where did it come from?

[Devilishturtles]

Are siamese algae eaters the same as Chinese Algae eaters? I have a chinese algae eater and it is very peacful, just sort of stays to itself, doesn't bother a soul! Any boy, does it work hard!

[Endgame319]

Not for long turtles! They are cute, hard-working little guys when they're young, but as they get older they lose their coloration and stop eating algae. They might even become aggressive and start sucking on the slimy coat of larger bodied fish. They are definately not the same as the SAE or siamese flying fox

[Endgame319]

Platylady, there is a number of ways to tell if its a SAE, they have clear fins, one set of barbels, and something else - i forget

[Endgame319]

Sorry for the three posts in a row :P

After a bit of reasearch it turns out algae-eating shrimp aka amano shrimp loove hair algae. 5-10 of them would make a great addition to your tank and wouldn't make a heavy dent in the bioload. HTH

[QTOFFER]

I've got the same algae too! It also started out with the nasty brown stuff and I bought three otos to combat it. Unfortunately, they all died in QT. I later found out that otos are all but impossible to keep alive. No big deal, I thought, since I found them to be reclusive and extremely dull anyway. :|

So, I ignored the brown stuff and it slowly dissipated on its own, giving way to the same kind of fuzzy green algae that you describe. I know that there are fish that will eat this stuff, but I want to choose fish that are colorful and interesting and fit in with my aquatic community - not simply because they are adapted to eat a particular type of scum off my rocks! Besides, when the algae is all gone, these fish still expect to be fed algae, which means yet another sinking pellet and the mess that they leave on the tank bottom.

My plan? now is to force myself to ignore the green algae too (I just tell myself that it is a natural part of the ecosystem that I am creating ) - at least until it completely covers my rocks and plastic plants. At that point, I will just remove these things and boil the heck out of them before putting them back.

[smilla4]

The Krib on telling SAE, CAE, and flying fox apart:
http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

For identifying your algae (has photos): http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm#fuzz

I don't know about putting chemicals (algae destroyer) in your tank to destroy it however...

[Sati]

Here is another link with actual photographs:

[Sati]

Here is another link with actual photographs:
http://www.petresources.net/fish/article/sae.html

[PlatyLady]

Thanks for the links. It looks like I've got beard algae, unfortunately. I'm going to maybe try scrubbing it off first. I don't really want to add any more fish to the tank right now. Could change my mind, but would rather not at this point. It looks like the shrimp would be cool though, but haven't seen any at the LFS I go to.