Algae Dilema?...

[hmgonzalez]

Hi, i'm setting a 10 G aquarium, i already have 2 bigger than this, and i'm looking for this tank, a nice planted and full of ornaments tank, for that i'm putting only little fishes, i put already two blue rainbow fishes, two angels, two albino cory, two kuli loaches.... my only problem is that i  dont  have  somebody to eat algae...

like it would be a small tank, with a lot of plants and ornaments, i don't want a pleco living there, beacuse they grow so much, and they tend to move so fast and scare small fishes and destoy ornaments....  

Siamese Algae Eater is usually confused here in Monterrey Mexico, with flying foxes, so it's not a guarrantee to buy a SAE fish if it's SAE written in the tank..... and also i've heard that SAE tend to be agressive at older ages....

I saw a Golden Chineese Algae eater, it's good for me and small enought but the person at the LFS told me that it's very agresive and not so good at eaten algae.....

What can i do for algae control, should i use pills for algae control, Does those pills really works?....

Please can anyone tell me your experience in small tanks with no pleco there?

 

[arcab4]

if u want small algae eaters..go with ottocats. they stay small and do a good job on brown diatom algae.

i used to have alot of them in my tank but rarely saw them. they do tend to be on the shy side.

if you can, i would get SAE. they're not so hard to tell apart from flying foxes if you know what you're looking for. i believe if the band goes to the end of the fin..instead of ending at the body..it's a SAE. do a search and you can find out for sure.

 

[ryanp15]

Pues, a little bit of advice, angels will outgrow your tank. They get big. And for algea control you should probably go with otto cats, they do good on brown algae. In my 10 gallon convict tank I just use my hand to get the algea off, or my algae magnet. Because convicts kill anything I put in the tank for algae. Maybe that would be your solution. ;D HTH  *thumbsupsmiley* *twirlysmiley*

 

[JWright]

I'm with Ryan. Angels require about 20 gallons a piece, they can be very territorial.

Even without the Angels, you're still pushing the limits of your tank. Hand scraping may be the way to go.

Josh

 

[Matt Nace]

I also agree that the Angels are not the right choice for the 10.

Even many rainbows require swimming space and can exceed 4 inches or more.

I have to disagree with the choice of a SAE for a 10 gallon. They would be fine for a little until they start to grow. They can reach 4 inches or so. They also need a little space.

I would go with 2 or 3 ottos. If you add live plants , the ottos and some ammano or ghost shrimp. Do coolies eat those? I don't know for a fact.

 

[ronrca]

I hate to repeat the suggestions that were made before but the ottos would the best choice. In my 90G planted tank, I have hardly any algae. I have 2 SAE's and 2 ottos. The SAE's are 4" and get annoying sometimes at feeding time because they also eat some of the flake food. They also are eating my rotala wallichii. The ottos however are very peaceful and I hardly ever see them. They only grow to about 1.5" and are perfect for a 10G. However, do not put too many in otherwise the algae will disappear quickly and the ottos will not have enough food unless you feed them with algae wafers. My lfs recommends are 1 per 10G.

 

[hmgonzalez]

I know about angel, like i said before i had two aquariums a 20 G with larger angels, and a 55g with oscars.... the reason i put the angel there is beacuse they are two small they are now babys, so they will have a hard living with the big angels, so i set up a small tank for pleasure and, beacuse when you have large tanks, with large fish, you cannot have little but beautifull fish.... and meanwhile i can give the baby angels a home.....  

tanks for your advise about algae, maybe i will do it manually for the first months, if it's works, maybe i'll keep it that way...

 

[ryanp15]

Pues, not to be annoying but angels need about 15-20 gallons per fish so you will probably need to set up a 55g+ for them. Not to be picky here just letting you know, and oscars tend to grow out of 55 gallons of water if you have more than one. Sorry once again not trying to be rude. Hasta luego.  ;D 8) *thumbsupsmiley* *twirlysmiley* *celebratesmiley*