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,

--
Matt C.
http://home.comcast.net/~briarbushbrewery/

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 21:31:49 -0400, "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,

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.

dick

I think a lot of people (including myself from time to time) just don't
realize or forget that there is more than one algae free path. Every single
person will have a different experience when growing plants. You can have 2
people each with the exact same tanks, fish, plants, lights, CO2, etc., but
the experience will be different due to tap water. I've found the advice
here is great, but not everyone's setup's will benefit. I had to keep
experimenting until I found what the correct dosage was for my setup. It
can take a while.

--
Craig Brye
University of Phoenix Online

"Dick" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 21:31:49 -0400, "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,

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.

dick

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

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

On 2004-10-18, N. Wise wrote:

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.


Let's make sure we're clear here... My understanding is "hair algae" is
the long stringy type that's usually green to light green in color.
"Brush algae" or "beard algae" is dark green to black in color and grows
in clumps, sort of like a paint brush or the hair on a troll doll.


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