freshwater question

[meagheavz]

i hav a 20gal freshwater, i hav moslt cherrey barbs and ras harq and 2 wcminnows, i have something for algea, i havent had any luck with ottos thwey die all the time on me.

 

[noodleman]

whats the question?

 

[meagheavz]

lol wut can i do about algea

 

[nycsicktank]

scrape it off with a blade

 

[Davidl919]

Suggestions = Freshwater aquarium salt, Replace carbon, Replace or check light bulbs, check (ph, nitrate, nitrite, etc) levels, Water changes, and clean filter. Any one of those might help, oh and temperature not too high.

 

[noodleman]

turn off the lights for a couple of days

 

[Tito]

You can keep ottos alive but you need only a few 2 or 3 depending on the size of your tank and most importantly the amount of algea you have. If you buy ten but have algea only for one you will starve them to death.

 

[meagheavz]

i got 4, and now i hav one. and this is like the 5th time ive got them..they eat blood worms and stuff , but they just die off, i just had any luck i want something that not going to die in 3 weeks

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

i got 4, and now i hav one. and this is like the 5th time ive got them..they eat blood worms and stuff , but they just die off, i just had any luck i want something that not going to die in 3 weeks

Quote from an online forum of ottos,
"They are very delicate and die easily. It is best to get them in groups of at lest four. Usually some die but the survivors can live for years."

Ottos need well filtered water to thrive.

As for cleaning the algae, I found plecos work better and more hardy.

 

[meagheavz]

very tru but pleco ned more then 20glss

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

very tru but pleco ned more then 20glss

get the dwarf kind but they don't usually available in lfs.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

clown plecos- to 3"
bushy nose pleco- to 5"

there are abunch of small plecos that are regularly available in the trade.

 

[KathyC]

If you have an algae issue, it's best to correct the cause of it..overfeeding, too much light either through windows or lights left on for too long a period. More frequent water changes would also be helpful, along with vacuuming the tank when doing your water changes.
Pleco's are fine (especially the Bushy nose variety) but they should be fed spirulina tablets at lights out each night.
Adding salt or carbon won't correct an algae issue. Salt should not be added to a FW tank unless there is a specific reason to do so. Indiscrimenent use of salt will render it useless for the times you would need to use it for it's medicinal purposes.

 

[marki24]

U can add a little bit of salt i used kosher salt it was like 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons with major water changes. The water in the lakes or rivers that most of our freshwater fish come from does contain some level of salt. So salt is fine to add but i dont believe that would solve ur alage problem. How much lighting are you using and for how long do you have the lights on during the day? How often do you do water changes and how often do you clean your filter media? This will help us help you... I had some major alage problem at one time at my jobs fish tank and i got those 99 cents alage eaters and its had cleaned it up within a few days.