Algae eating fish

I have 100 planted gallon tank. I have two flying foxes, am thinking about introducing some other algae eating fish that is considered 'peaceful and will not harm plants. Any suggestions ? 10x

Bristlenose plecos; several ottocinculus.

I never had much luck the ottocinculus.... Are plecos considered also good got hair algae ? Can you refer me to a link regarding that pleco ? 10x gizmo

I have been fighting Black Hair Algae and bought Siamese Algae Eaters, SAEs. I also notice Mollies and swordtails peck at the stuff. I reloaded my 75 gallon tank with low light plants 1.5 to 1 wpg, and then wondered if I was providing light too long. I have been turning my lights off for a few hours and do believe the combination of things is getting rid of the BHA. I read this week that even though my average lights power is about 1.5 wpg that running lights from 5 am to 8 pm, my personal hours, is not healthy for plants or fish.

There are only a few fish that will eat hair algae - plecos aren't one of them. Blueish-green slime algae is the same when it comes to algae eaters. Florida Flag Fish, Procatopus, Ameca Splendens (butterfly goodeid), and Red Ramshorns Snails are the only ones I know of, that will eat both the above algaes. Butterfly Goodeids are livebearers and eat hair algae like a kid eatting candy - their draw-back, they get a little aggressive as they get older....... To speed the clean-up along, you can remove a good amount of the hair algae by twisting a tooth brush within the algae. A 5% bleach _dip_ for 2 to 4 min. will kill any algae that is left on the plants...... Very little solid waste should enter the bio-section of your filter. Solid waste decompose in the filter (DOCs) and are pumped back into the tank as an endless supply of plant nutrients, so excessive algae growth occurs. Pre-filter your filters intake (cleaning it every other day), and changing at least 20% of the water weekly, will also help reduce the algae growth. The longer the polluted (DOC) water is held in the filters media, the more effective the removal of the DOCs. An add-on bio-wheel will greatly help keep the DOC from building up........Frank

Check out this site?
http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

I keep SAEs, Otos, and Used to have Bristlenose

American Flag fish, Mollies, Platys, Swordtails... all known to eat algae of various types. Flags will take care of hair algae in my experience. They will graze on that stuff like crazy. Mollies take care of thread algae growing on old plant leaves. Platys and Swordtails aren't all that great but they do eat SOME algae here and there. American Flag male would be a little territorial at first but should settle down after a couple of weeks of defending a territory he's claimed. Females don't do this but they aren't 1/2 as pretty as the males. AFF are actually a type of Killie fish just in case you were wondering. People often use them in ponds as they are very hardy and readily breed in the right conditions. Plecos usually eat only the flat algae that grows on glass, wood and rocks. In my experience AFF are the best of the bunch for taking care of algae. At one time their breeding tank was the only tank I had that wasn't infested with some sort of algae or

Hey there, you might want to check your system clock and date. It's a bit

Ameca Splendens....

Where to find them I don't know except mail order. I'dlove to find them in thre SBay Area.

Bob

I let my fingers do the walking - called every pet shop in the greater St. Louis area, with no luck. After a few times, Beldt's Aquqrium (St. Louis, Mo.) ordered me 6 pair a cvouple of years back

Cup of coffee on keyboard didn't help ...... anyway, what I was going to say before the coffee thing, ask the pet shop you deal with, to order you in a pair or two. Once you tell them what good algae eaters Ameca Splendens are, I would think they would want them in their store. By the way, older ones get a little aggressive, as do the Florida Flag Fish. Most pet shop owners have no idea that these fish eat algaes, let alone hair or blue-green slime algaes. Don't forget a few red ramshorns snails. They won't let your gravel mat, stay out of site, and won't eat your plants....... Frank