# algae issue



## hanky (Jan 18, 2012)

So I've had this 100 gallon tank for about 15 years now housing a 18 inch irredesent shark a bala shark 5 cory cats and a 7-8 inch plecu, also 4 large goldfish (those feeder fish from the fair games that arent suppossed to last this long LOL) he has always done a fine job of keeping the glass clean except the last few months I've been scraping green spot algae off the glass every week or so and it just keeps coming back. I dont see the plecu on the glass as much as I used too, I saw on another site that older plecus stop eating off the glass? is that true? do i need a younger one? any ideas on how to get the algae off the heater, air tubes, bubble wand, filter tube?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Green spot algae you won't find much of anything to eat it, just scrape it off. I would add a couple of bristlenose plecos to the tank they will outdo eating algae than the commons.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

hanky said:


> So I've had this 100 gallon tank for about 15 years now housing a 18 inch irredesent shark a bala shark 5 cory cats and a 7-8 inch plecu, also 4 large goldfish (those feeder fish from the fair games that arent suppossed to last this long LOL) he has always done a fine job of keeping the glass clean except the last few months I've been scraping green spot algae off the glass every week or so and it just keeps coming back. I dont see the plecu on the glass as much as I used too, I saw on another site that older plecus stop eating off the glass? is that true? do i need a younger one? any ideas on how to get the algae off the heater, air tubes, bubble wand, filter tube?


Hello hank...

You've got a few years tank experience on me, but my algae issues forced me to invest in the brown snails from the LFS and to start an aggressive water change routine. My snails took care of the algae, the only real problem is they multiplied so quickly. But, I really like the little guys and snails are hard to avoid in a planted tank anyway. They have cleaned my large tanks in just a year or two.

The large, frequent water changes removed the excess nitrates and phosphates, so I'm sure part of the algae disappearance is the result of the loss of a food source.

Just a thought.

B


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## hanky (Jan 18, 2012)

B
Thanks,Yea I was thinking of a few snails and I know there are some species out there that wont reproduce easily and over run my tank. I keep seeing alot about this LFS? what is that? This algae thing just has me stumped because it came up so quickly and I've never had a issue before, had this tank setup at least 12-15 years.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

hanky said:


> B
> Thanks,Yea I was thinking of a few snails and I know there are some species out there that wont reproduce easily and over run my tank. I keep seeing alot about this LFS? what is that? This algae thing just has me stumped because it came up so quickly and I've never had a issue before, had this tank setup at least 12-15 years.


Hello again hank...

My source for the snails was my local fish store (LFS). They appeared some time ago with a few plants I bought and apparently, I failed to rinse the plants well enough. 

Anyway, some of the little brown guys get quite large, some the size of a penny. Seems like they die before they get much larger. But, they're very efficient breeders.

B


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

LFS = local fish store


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## hanky (Jan 18, 2012)

Local Fish Store = LFS, got it. I guess I need one of those charts that converts phrases to initials haha.*old dude

just checked my water for the first time in a while too, my nitrite .5 and nitrate about 80 are both high and the water in my area is really hard ph and alk are ok. when i first started with tanks all we really checked was ph and the LFS would tell you if your ph is ok then the rest is ok, guess I still have alot to learn about this and look forward to using these forum more. when I get my water at normal ranges i will be getting a few Bristlenose plecos and some snails, maybe a couple shrimps cause they look kindda neat.


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## hanky (Jan 18, 2012)

just a quick update, So about a week ago I picked up 1 albino bristlenose pleco (thanks Susankat) and he has been all over the glass day and night.
and 2 nirite snails (thanks Bbradbury)that have been doing a fantastic job of cleaning up the corners of the tank where the sealant is, which is a hard spot to scrape the algae off of. noticeable difference is just a week. thanks again all


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