What eats Brush Algae?

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Fishyfanatic

Fishyfanatic

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Does anything eat Brush Algae? I am trying to get rid of it in my 55 gal tank. It appears that my algae issues are coming to an end. Well, it's not getting any worse. Now it's just time to remove it all. I have Brush Algae all over my plants, driftwood, decor, etc. My snail even has it on his back. Is there a fish that will eat this stuff? If not, how can I remove it? I've tried scraping it off but that doesn't do any good. And that REALLY won't help my plants. I'll have to toss every one of my plants.

I am happy to report that my Blue Green Algae is at a standstill. It hasn't spread at all since the last water change. I couldn't get it all out since I couldn't see where it was, but it isn't spreading. It looks like I have that under control. Next week when I do my next water change I will get it all out of the tank.
 
SAE have been know to eat it.

You can also overdose Excel to kill the BBA. I just used the initial dose for 7 days. Not only does it kill that algae, it's also good for the plants.
 
That is great! I have been trying to figure out what I want to add to the tank. How many do you suggest? I have plenty of brush algae in the tank to keep one fed for quite a while. I'm actually too embaressed to take a picture of the tank because of it.
 
How many? That's a tough one. They get pretty big (6+ inches) and like to school. I would say that atleast 3 would be needed in your size tank.

I do not have any experience with this fish, but I have been trying to get them for about 6 months now. No one around here has them or are able to get them.
 
I may call around tomorrow and try to find a lfs that has them in stock. I was just at three today too.

I don't have Excel on hand and I've never actually seen it sold at a lfs, that's why I'd rather add fish. Otherwise it will be yet another order from Big Als (just placed one Friday). :) If I can't find a lfs with them in stock I may just place another other from BA.

Thanks! I appreciate the help!
 
A couple of things. My experience with SAEs, and I've had a bunch of them has been up and down.
The up side is that they will eat BBA......when it's new and fresh. Once it gets that black and coarse consistency they will pretty much ignore it.
The down side is that they tend to, at the least get annoying to some fish and at worst stress some to death (literally). At one time I had at least one in every one of my tanks and while they were young they where hungry and industrious eaters of algae. As they matured they got aggressive. I ended up pulling all of them and taking them back to the LFS. They stressed some of my fish to death.
I don't think, in all cases, that they are mean fish, but very fast and a very 'in you face' type of fish. IMO, not suited for a community tank with timid fish. They even stressed my Kribensis, which are not large fish but can usually take care of themselves.
Rosy barbs will eat BBA but they can get a bit overbearing as well and I wouldn't use them
again either.
rkilling1's suggestion about the Excel is definitely the best idea. It will kill BBA and is great for the plants as well. It is a little tough on some delicate plants like Val. but, IME they will adapt to the use of it and then thrive.

Len
 
i would get at least 2, as they do enjoy the company. i have 2 in my 50gal and they are awesome. they finished off a mild/moderate staghorn problem in about a week. get 3 if you want them to chow through the algae faster.
 
Florida Flagfish stay quite small (a couple inches), look nice, and eat the heck out of bba. I'd say depending on how heavily stocked your tank is five or six Flagfish would do a good job.
 
My SAE's ate BBA for a few weeks, quadrupled in size and now ignore it.

Also the larger one of mine is aggressive towards all my fish but never nips them or has stressed any to death.
 
piranha said:
What effect will overdosing with excel have on the fish? Doesn't it deplete the oxygen supply in the water? Would it be better to put in an airstone when doing this.
Click to expand...

Dosing at the initial rate will not harm your fish. More then that, I can't comment on.

As far as O2, I have read some articles about Excel depleting O2, but none of them were confirmed. You should not dose Excel at night. The good thing about Excel is the plants use it and make more O2.
 
This evening my husband and I checked out a new fish store that just opened up. They have minimal stock and it's a small establishment, but the owner is really trying to drum up a clientel. He is making a fish order this evening and he said that if he could get Siamese Algae Eaters or Florida Flagfish he would go ahead and place an order for me with his supplier. I should know something tomorrow. If he can't, I guess I'll just have to place another order with Big Al's.

On a good note, we were discussing African Cichlids and we mentioned that we breed for another store about an hour from our house. They buy all of our African fry. He is interested is purchasing all of our fry from us. That's excellent for us. Now instead of driving an hour to get to the lfs, it will only be 15 minutes. :)
 
My new SAE cleared out my hair/thread algae problem in no time. He's getting fat. I hope he doesn't start ignoring his duties like others have experienced.
 
All of you with agressive SAE..probably have flying foxes...not SAE. Store ALWAYS seem to have them labeled incorrectly. A flying fox will eat BBA when young, but stops and gets agressive when older.
 
This is not the link I was looking for. Somebody had posted a far better one on another thread that showed the difference. Once you are familiar with the differences, it is quite easy to tell them apart.
 
Sae.jpg


That is a picture of my confirmed SAE. The zig zag line on the side, tapering at the tail, no real solid colour and black outlined scales...
 
The physical differences between siamese algae eaters and flying foxes are the true SAE has clear fins(dorsal,tail,ventral,anal). The flying fox will have some dark coloring in its fins.
 
Flagfish rule at eating BBA! I have a similair sized tank, and had a very bad BBA problem. I put in a pair (yes, just two) Flagfish, and they had the whole tank cleaned up in about a week! I was very pleased. One word of caution, once they finish up the BBA, they may munch on plants. They ate some of my stargrass, and another type of feathery leafed plant (don't know the name of that one, but it was also covered in some type of algae).

Good luck!
 
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