On 2004-10-17, Matt C. wrote:
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,


Otos will not touch it. SAE's are suppose to. I've heard rumours that
redline torpedo barbs (http://www.aquabotanic.com/contest20...ott2004-10.jpg)
will eat it. I've seen the algae eating shrimp go at it before giving up.
I was able to control my brush algae with two SAEs, some plant, and barley
straws. I had Elodea canadensis inside the tank and some devil's ivy outside
the tank to help take up some of the nutrients from the brush algae. Before
the SAE and barley straws, the brush algae would just grow all over the stems
of the devil's ivy that was submerged and all over my parrot's feather that was
completely submerged. The decaying barley doesn't actually kill what's
in there, but it slows/prevents the growth of new algae cells. What I did
notice was that the brush algae didn't stick to stuff as well.

http://www.aquabotanic.com/barleyarticle.html

Do a search on google for more references. You can get barley straws
in pellet form at a pets store like Petsmart. I put a pellet in between
my power filter media about once a month.

--
"I have to decide between two equally frightening options.
If I wanted to do that, I'd vote." --Duckman