What FW fish for taking care of my brown algae problem?

[illuminum]

I just purchased 3 chinese algae eaters because I heard that they will take care of my brown (short hair-like) algae problem. It's on my rocks and plants. Does anyone know if they eat brown algae.

What other fish eat brown algae?

 

[Jchillin]

Otocinculus (oto's) are notorius diatom eaters. I'm not sure, but I believe the Siamese Algae Eater consumes algae and not the Chinese??

 

[illuminum]

I had oto's in my smaller 12 gallon tank and they didnt touch the brown algae

 

[greenmaji]

Otocinclus affinis.. is the only fish for brown diatom alage that I can find..
This is normaly a new tank algae problem.. Do you have plants? If so they, the plants, should get rid of it on there own, over time. If not I would just wipe it off. It dosnt stick to things like green spot algae does.

 

[illuminum]

Then it must be a different type of algae. It's short, fuzzy, and brown. I can't wipe it off my plants or my rocks. I tried scrubbing my rocks and that didn't even get rid of most of it.

 

[Jchillin]

Here is an excellent algae reference click

Describes each type with pics.

 

[aqh88]

chinese algae eaters grow 10" or more and turn agressive with age. They also don't eat algea very well especially when older. Every lfs seems to try to sell these fish to beginners. Your much better off with otocinclus, bristle nose pleco, siamese algae eaters, or 1 flying fox. flying fox are agressive to their own species or fish of similar markings. What fish to recommend specifically depends how big your tank is, the rest of your stock, and what type of algae your actually dealing with.

 

[illuminum]

Here is an excellent algae reference click

Describes each type with pics.

alright! It is brush algae. Oh, and dorry about the misnomer. I had purchased Siamese Algae Eaters, not Chinese Algae Eaters. I purchased three for my 30 gallon. Let's see what damage they can do.


Here's the info that site pulled up on it:
Brush algae:
This grows in feathery black tufts 2-3 mm long and tends to collect on slower growing leaves like Anubias, some Echinodorus and other wide leaf plants. Also tends to collect on mechanical equipment. This is actually a red alga in the genus Audouinella (other names: Acrochaetium, Rhodochorton, Chantransia). It cannot easily be removed mechanically. Remove and discard the affected leaves. Equipment can be soaked in a 25% bleach solution, then scrubbed to remove the dead algae. Siamese Algae Eaters (Crossocheilus siamensis) are known to eat this algae and can keep it in check. A more drastic measure is treatment with copper.




Edit: Here's an old photo from my tank with the algae..

 

[jrp1588]

That is what I had also. It's really stubborn. I'd be interested to find an answer in this too. I still have a little bit left.

 

[greenmaji]

This is a fish-only tank right?
If its just on your rocks and equipment I would use the soaking in bleach solution then scrubbing method. I would think this is a nutrient problem causing this.. do you have any PO4? maybe other nutrients are adding to the problem such as NO3 and Fe? Some of your rock work looks to have a slight red color to it, that could be the Fe problem.. try removing those and doing some big water changes with the bleach method and see if that doesnt take care of the problem.. I hope this advice isnt too drastic! 8O

 

[Crippldogg]

I think Bristle-nosed (bushy nosed) plecos will take care of the brown algae. They only grow to a few inches too so they are small.

The brown algae will turn to green eventually, is the tank fairly new?

 

[jibboo]

not sure if this is the same as the "hair algae" that I had (yours looks a little more reddish/brown), but I added a couple rosy barbs to my 55g and it cleared up pretty quickly. I believe if you do a search for hair algae in the forums there were a few threads about other fish that'll eat it (I think rosy barbs, and american flag fish) come to mind. i tried the rosys since my lfs had some and they were cheap.

 

[greenmaji]

Siamese Algae Eaters and Rosey barbs are the only brush alage eaters that Ive read about.. but that said I still think getting rid of the Fe source and using the 25% bleach solution dip and scurbbing on the infected rocks/eqipment will solve this algae problem for the long term.
btw. brush algae will not turn green..

 

[jibboo]

here's a link to one of the threads I read before ... might be helpful

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=49700

 

[greenmaji]

that tread is not specific to brush algae.. brush algae is the problem and american-flag fish are not known to eat it (in fact they are known to not eat it).
Brush algae is one of the tougher algaes out there.. if it gets on live plants its best just to remove the infected parts of the plants and discard them (its bad stuff)

 

[illuminum]

that tread is not specific to brush algae.. brush algae is the problem and american-flag fish are not known to eat it (in fact they are known to not eat it).
Brush algae is one of the tougher algaes out there.. if it gets on live plants its best just to remove the infected parts of the plants and discard them (its bad stuff)

That's the problem. They are all over my XL anubais barteri plants in the 30 gallon tank.

 

[greenmaji]

Now that you said it is a planted tank its time to give you a link
http://www.aquariaplants.com/alqaeproblems.htm
What levels do you maintain your CO2 at?
Are all of your nutrients being dosed?
The SAE's might get it under controll in the case of your anubais but keep in mind that you might have to discard part of the plant to rid yoursef of the algae..
How much light do you have?
Are you using DIY CO2? Or preasurized?

 

[illuminum]

I'm not using any CO2 injectors. I also don't keep track od my CO2 levels either. I'm just hoping the SAE's get it under control. I'll post the results. Thanks for the insight.