"Mary E. Hill" wrote in message
...

"Rick" wrote in message
...

"Mary E. Hill" wrote in message
...
I don't think I should get any live algea eaters because of the tank
size,
so what would y'all recommend?

I've got the 5 gal hex in the office with a betta and two african
dwarf
frogs. It's the eclipse system with the light & filter built into the
hood.

I've got about 2 inches of gravel in the bottom and do a partial water
change every other week. The light is on 8-9 hours per day and not on
weekends. Temp around 78-80.

I'm seeing just a bit on the glass and on the plastic plant (which
I'll
now
get rid of).

Any advice appreciated,

Mary



a bit of algae like you describe is normal. Scrub it off with a soft pad
and
if necessary periodically bleach the plastic plants.

Rick


The 12 gal tank at home has never shown a single sign of algae like this.
So
if I simply scrub it off, it won't get out of control? Really? I hope
it's
that simple

Thanks,
Mary



does this tank get more light than the one at home?. Perhaps it is located
in an area that gets more direct outside light. Many factors can cause algae
such as too much light, overfeeding etc however I have 36 tanks and all have
live plants, some have a few plastic (in those tanks where the fish eat the
plants) and all have some form of algae. You can experiment by cutting down
the the amount of time the light is on and the amount you feed, do more
frequent small water changes etc and it may help somewhat. Otto's are
excellent algae eaters however although they do eat algae off the glass they
do not "scrub" it clean and the residue will remain and eventually have to
be removed.

Rick