Fairly new freshwater tank

[Cragar]

I'm brand new to this board.  I've ran a search on algae, but didn't find what I was looking for.  Let me explain my setup before I ask my question...

I set up a new 20H tank about a month ago.  In the meantime, my tank has cycled, I've performed two 20% water changes, tested vigorously, and I've added my fish (have three more to go).  Currently, I have 3 Albino Tiger Barbs, 3 Buenos Aires Tetras, and 1 Bristlenose Cat.  I plan to get 3 Green Tiger Barbs this weekend to complete the community.

Here's my current water conditions:
PH: 8.0 (stabilized)
GH: 16
KH: 6
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: No clue as I don't have a test kit for this.  Will be getting one, soon.

Anyway, I noticed about 2 weeks ago (was still in the cycle) that algae was starting to grow on the rocks and plants (all fake).  I'm sure this is extremely typical.  Since I didn't want to introduce the Bristlenose Cat too early and didn't want to add any chemicals, all I could do was sit and watch.  However, I completed the cycle and put the BC in last Thursday.  While he's done a wonderful job at cleaning up the tank so far, there are a few plants that he seems to ignore (only becasue I don't think he can feast off of them due to their structure....I may be VERY wrong).  What can I do?  Should I go ahead and add a chemical to rid my tank of the remaining algae and get him some algae wafers?  I seriously don't want it to continue as it's not very attractive.  Or do I need to sit back, be patient, and let the BC do his job?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Cragar

 

[Matt Nace]

-You could either buy an otto or two, which would stick to the leaves of the plants.
-On water change day, pull out the plastic plants and use some diluted bleach and it will kill the algae off. Rinse well and your good.
- Don't use a chemical.

 

[Cragar]

Thanks!

I really don't want to use any chemicals if not necessary.  I do use Stress Coat, but that's it (unless treating for illness, of course).

Fish look extremely healthy.  As stated above, I want to add three Green Tiger Barbs to make a shoal of 6.  From what I understand, this should keep them so preoccupied with each other, they won't bother the BC or others.  The Buenos Aires Tetras are two and a half to three inches long and hold their own.  They seem quite content with the Tiger Barbs.  Since I will be adding the GTBs this weekend, I figure I'm at my limit for number of fish in this tank.  I already have plans to add a 55 gallon, soon (as far as how soon, not sure).  It will be a Cichlid only tank (other than a pleco).

I will use the bleach idea.  Are there any precautions I need to take when using this?  For example, amount of time before re-introducing into the tank?  Amount of bleach to use?

Thanks again....

Cragar

 

[Pooky125]

Well, when my algea gets really bad, which it does consitantly despite my oto, i do 10% bleach, 90% how water,a nd soak it for a few hours.. them rinse it until it you can't pick up the bleach smell, I did this on one of my rocks, that I just could not get clean, now it's algea free, and a nice vibrant blue like it used to be.. As for algea.. it's natural, live with it...nothing you can really do for it...

 

[kimmarie0462]

I read somewhere that after you use bleach that you should soak the items in something that will neutralize the chlorine.

 

[koolkatzfish]

Give the bristlecat some time, it will clean the easy stuff first.  Don't forget to supplement it with algae wafers also.  If you do the bleach thing, soak for a day in a bucket with a whopping dose of dechlorinator, after rinsing like crazy. *twirlysmiley*

 

[Cragar]

I've decided to leave the plants as-is for a while and see how it goes.  I mean there's really only one that he hasn't touched and it doesn't look *all* that bad.  The rest of the tank looks supberb, so it has good balance.  I bought some Hikari algae wafers this weekend and will be introducing one of them to him tonight.

Thanks!
Cragar

 

[surfergal]

I don't know much about the bristle nose catfish - I have cories. "Rudy"  :-* is right about the otos though. They are very adept at scouring even the most delicate fronds of plants. It's amazing and they love it!

Before I started my planted tank, I had several plastic plants - some were hard to remove the algae from . When the algae would get unsightly, I would pluck the plant from the tank, take it to the sink and roll the plant back and forth through my hands under warm running water. This seems to do the trick for most of the algae.

surfergal