18-10-2004, 01:08 AM
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From: Dick
I just bought two oto's. The purpose is to remove some black beard algae.
Will they work? I wanted sae's but they didnt have any...
thanx,
If you have bba or black hair algae, your fight has just begun. I
know of no fish that will remove the stuff by themselves. A match
between tank lighting and plants is important. I discovered "Low
Light" plants during my 2 month fight. I removed all visible algae,
including some in the gravel, bought Low Light plants, was more
careful about feeding, added SAEs, and added a timer to limit the
hours of light. I won, but I don't know that any one change did the
trick. I now have 5 tanks ranging from 75 to 10 gallons and have had
the 75 gallon tank up for almost two years. It has been over 14
months since I saw a "hair" of algae, just some green spots on the
glass. I don't use plant fertilizer nor CO2.
The nutrient balance is the single most important factor, but there is one fish
that can help. Florida Flag Fish will eat the stuff. Get females if you can
find them, because IME the males are way too aggressive.
Nick Wise
http://members.aol.com/nwwise01
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