Fuzz Algae? Not Hair Algae!

[FSEMTB2]

How do you control fuzz algae? Will Otos eat the stuff with out ripping my plants to up..I have Rainbows in the tank and they love the stuff, but they are tearing my plants up trying to get it off..Thanks Everyone..

Ken

[fishluvr]

If you can keep a small corps of Otos & SAE running around the tank, most algae shouldn't be a problem.

I don't know your tank specifics, but I tend to keep one of each per 15 - 20 gals while running ~4WPG and all is well...

[FSEMTB2]

I hear you on keeping them for all algae, but will they eat this specific agae?

[fishluvr]

Otos should help conrol it (the combination of Oto/SAE is even better, IMHO), but you should also try to figure out what's causing it in the first place.

Are you running a heavily/moderatly/lightly planted/lighted tank? If planted, what's your routine for ferts/lighting/etc?

[theotheragentm]

How often are you feeding? What kind of lighting do you have in the tank and how often is it on? What about sun? Any sun hitting the tank?

Algae arises in tanks when you have too much lighting and excess nutrients. If you have plants, you have an imbalance in nutrients. If all the nutrients plants use are present with light, plants will out compete algae for the nutrients.

Try Nerite Snails if you can find some. They're saltwater snails, but they can be acclimated to freshwater. They won't mate in freshwater and will eat just about any algae.

[7Enigma]

When you say fuzz do you mean BBA? If so there are very few fish which will eat this type of algae and it can spread relatively fast around the tank. Heavily infected leaves should be removed as its a pretty damaging algae and even if the algae is killed the open wounds on the plant leaves weaken the plant and leech nutrients into the water which will allow other (or more of the BBA) to grow on the plant.

And nerite snails will mate in any water conditions, its just that the eggs will not be viable unless in at least brackish conditions. I'll be getting my hands on some of these and trying to acclimate them to FW. I'm hoping their reputation that precedes them is warranted!

[FSEMTB2]

I am 99% sure its fuzz algae, I found the corporate on plantgeek.com. They recommend using otos or SAEs to rid it, but wanted to get other recommends before I add them. I did a 3 day black out and most died out, but until I get my fast growers going it comes back.

[theotheragentm]

Otos and SAEs are probably your best bets other than Nerite Snails. They should do a decent job keeping things at bay. I've got an SAE and haven't seen any fuzz algae in my tank since I got him.

[Cliffz]

Folks--whats an SAE?
I also am battling some algae problems lately. One otto in a 55 gal--hoping to get a bristle nose pleco someday when the LFS gets some to clean the bottom.

[Cliffz]

never mind--just came to me siamese algae eater?

[dapellegrini]

You really need to determine how you got it in the first place and remove as much as you can manually. It would also be good to verify what you have across multiple websites:

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

http://www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/

If you keep mosses or other fine-leaved plants like Rotala Wallichii or Mayaca, SAEs will also eat these plants. IME they are not a great fish to have long term, though if you keep them young and don't feed much in the way of prepared food, you can keep them eating algae.

Otocinclus are good fish to have in general and will help with algae control with no down sides.

Amano Shrimp are another great algae critter, but they will get very large, and become aggressive (even start trying to eat the slime off of your fish) if not kept well feed. Mine started attacking my Farlowellas and killed off most of my RCS. They did an incredible job with an algae problem I had too.

Nerite Snails are also generally good cleaner, but they will lay bright white eggs everywhere - and they are very hard to remove (read impossible). Their shells will also slowly melt if you maintain a pH of less than 7.0.

Most of these critters like to eat algae once it is dead or dying, so you really should try and figure out why you are having this problem and fix it from that end. Most common culprit is low or fluctuating CO2.

Consider doing an overdose of Flourish Excel - 2x the larger dose recommended on the bottle, once a day for 1-2 weeks (keep an eye on your fish)... And 50% PWC every other day or so during the OD...

Good luck!

[newfound77951]

while I don't doubt dapellegrini's experience, personally I love my SAEs, they are constantly cleaning all my plants, have never eaten a plant (and they eat plenty of fish food too). I have never been able to successfully keep otos alive for more than a few months but my SAEs are going strong after over a year.

[dapellegrini]

Forgot to mention if you do consider dosing excel, there are a few plants that would not take it well. Most notably are Val and Anacharis. HM and HC have also melted on me with Excel, though they seem more tolerant.

I participated on a rant on another board about SAEs (not everyone agrees with me) here:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/fi...deal-saes.html

I think SAEs are still good fish, in the right tank. Ideally you would not have any of the plants I mentioned (IME they will leave everything else alone). They get big and are extremely active, so you have to balance that into your community.