Algae seems to be under controll except for....

[b4tn]

Thread algae. It isnt as bothersome as the BBA it only takes about 10 minutes every morning to remove it all with a tooth brush but DANG! this stuff grows fast! I will remove it all and the next day there are several 6" threads going from plant to plant. So at plant geek it says excess iron can be the cause. Anyone else have experience withthis type of algae? Or is this type of Algae something I just have to deal with?

 

[Lance M.]

Ah yes I believe I have the same algae in my ten gallon. I've had it before and found that flying foxes will eat the algae so you don't have to constantly manually remove it (and they'll get nice and fat ).

I'm gonna get another one soon cause the one I have now is cleaning up my 20 gallon.

 

[b4tn]

I have four but they arent very interested in it. They seem to be more interested in my drift wood. They spend all day on it

 

[crazycat]

flying foxes are not as effective at keeping algae at bay as siamese algae eaters. they are very easy to confuse, since they look very similar. i can tell you that my saes DEMOLISH any bba in my tank. however, they don't swim at the top of my tank, so any leaves that i have floating don't get touched. i often bring a leaf down and anchor it with some driftwood so they can clean it off. they can clean a 36" long jungle val leaf in about 15 minutes! it's really cool to watch.

http://www.azgardens.com/algae_eating_fish.php
this is a good reference for telling the difference between saes and flying foxes.

hth

 

[czcz]

I got thread when N bottomed out. I dose lots of Fe and don't have it, and people smarter than me dose more Fe and don't have thread either. Lots of fish will munch on it -- mollies (help surface scum, too), small barbs, flagfish, and so on. Some natural aquarium types seed it for fish food.

 

[Lance M.]

flying foxes are not as effective at keeping algae at bay as siamese algae eaters. they are very easy to confuse, since they look very similar. i can tell you that my saes DEMOLISH any bba in my tank.

What does bba stand for? And I have a CAE and a flying fox (I know for sure true flying fox). I've seen my flying fox eat it, but from what I've been told the only eat it when they are young.

 

[Hoovercat]

bba= black beard (brush) algae.

 

[Lance M.]

Ah ok thanks.