Algae Control

I removed the chinese algae eater from my tank about a month ago. He was sucking the slime off my fish which was causing them to repeatedly get fungus. My fish are doing much better now, but I am beginning to get a light brown hairlike algae growing on my driftwood. What do people recommend to control this algae? I have two 5" bass in the aquarium, 38 gallon, temp 78-80. If I uses another fish to control the algae it has to be atleast 4" long so as not to be eaten by the bass. Should I try snails or is there an algae eater that wont suck on my other fish, but is large enough to survive in my tank?

could go for the common plec

I have heard/read that the common pleco can also be a slime eater.

I must admit ive never heard or had that problem with them, Outgrowing tanks fast yes but not eating the slime off of the fish.

I've heard that they are Nocturnal Slime Suckers, which might be a good name for a new rock band.

You can discourage algae growth by decreasing light, by adding live plants to eat the algae food, by making sure that all the fish food gets eaten, and by removing waste products. Any supplements that encourage plant growth will also encourage algae growth, so if you're using them you could cut back a little. Some people feel that a bit of algae is just a natural part of an aquarium. Algae spores are airborne and will grow in most any water. If the driftwood algae really bothers you and conservative methods don't work, you could always remove the driftwood and scrape off the algae with a stiff brush or something. Total darkness will also kill algae infestations, not to mention live plants.

Thanks John, I plan on re-planting my tank soon. Hopefully that will help. The algae is not really a problem yet, and I don't mind a little algae growth on the driftwood. Can anybody tell me what kind of algae it is? The algae is only growing on the driftwood and although it covers the entire driftwood it appears to be the longest on the bottom sides or sides with the least amount of light. It appears as a light brown fuzz or short hairs on the driftwood.

Here's a link to a discussion of brown algae: www.aquariumpros.com/articles/algae.shtml

Apparently, the stuff grows when the aquarium is not quite balanced. A large aquarium sometimes takes a while to establish itself, and live plants always help.

Do you have a planted tank? If so, you could add nutrient absorbing plants such as water sprite.Algae need a constant supply of light to thrive. To reduce algae, you could do what I call a siesta time. Say you put on your lights for 10 hours a day. You can put the lights on for 5 hours then turn them off for two hours then turn them back on again for the remaining five. Hope this helps.

those algae comes from plants.if you wash your plants very well you should remove your algae...at the same time from next before planting you must take care of plnats to clean and incecticides free.