Algea Destroyer

I keep getting a lot of algea on my glass, even after faithfully and once a
week water changes, once a month complete water change and "scrub". I have
a plecky, and I was wondering using a algea destroying or treatment will
hurt the pleco in my cichlid tank.

'nutherBob

Are you changing all the water once a month?

--
Paulo
"'nutherBob" wrote in message
m...
I keep getting a lot of algea on my glass, even after faithfully and once
a
week water changes, once a month complete water change and "scrub". I
have
a plecky, and I was wondering using a algea destroying or treatment will
hurt the pleco in my cichlid tank.

'nutherBob

On Tue, 24 Feb 2004 22:23:23 -0500, "Paulo" wrote:

Are you changing all the water once a month?

Even if he was, what does that have to do with alge?

He'll want to check his water supply for phosphates and see where
that stands. Next, post the tank water quality (nitrates, etc.) and
lastly, how long and how much light is there on the tank.

Most "algae destroyer" brands contain either cyanide, copper, or arsenic.
Yes, all of these are toxic to fish too.


"'nutherBob" wrote in message
m...
I keep getting a lot of algea on my glass, even after faithfully and once
a
week water changes, once a month complete water change and "scrub". I
have
a plecky, and I was wondering using a algea destroying or treatment will
hurt the pleco in my cichlid tank.

'nutherBob

Since the others already pointed out that algae destroying chemicals are
most likely a bad idea, I should add that I also had the same problem in
my 55g Malawi tank (and not the other community tank with very similar ...
everything), and my most effective measure to date has been getting a
rhino pl*co... he can't be more than 3" in length but he seems to be able
to eat infinite amounts! He just does not stop. He cleaned up a thick
coat of algae mixed with fungus in under a month since I got him.

I also have a queen arabesque but he doesn't seem to come out during the
day at all and his effectiveness seems to be lower, despite him being
larger (5")

I guess what I'm saying is, different pl*cos - different results.



On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 03:20:07 +0000, 'nutherBob wrote:

I keep getting a lot of algea on my glass, even after faithfully and
once a week water changes, once a month complete water change and
"scrub". I have a plecky, and I was wondering using a algea destroying
or treatment will hurt the pleco in my cichlid tank.

'nutherBob

"'nutherBob" wrote in
m:

I keep getting a lot of algea on my glass, even after faithfully
and once a week water changes, once a month complete water
change and "scrub". I have a plecky, and I was wondering using
a algea destroying or treatment will hurt the pleco in my
cichlid tank.

'nutherBob



The active ingredient in almost all anti-algae chemicals is the
herbicide simazine. However, this only controls certain types of
algae and has also been shown to stunt the growth of the young of
certain species of fish. Do a Google search for simazine if you
want more information. I tried it once, and do not recommend it.

As others have suggested, it is also generally not recommended to do
a "complete water change". Partial water changes are recommended to
prevent shocking the fish by making too abrupt of a change to their
water conditions.

Bristlenose plecos are most often recommended for algae control in
rift lake cichlid tanks. You might try one of those if you have
some other species.

Regards,
Meph

CORRECTION to my previous post ...

1. most SNAIL killing chemicals contain copper, arsenic, or cyanide.
2. most ALGAE killing chemicals contain herbicides, which are also toxic to
fish.

Same results if you use too much though, nearly everything in the tank dies.

I recommend you use strong chemicals like these only as a last resort, and
only if you are sure you know what you are doing.


"Keith J." wrote in
message ...
Most "algae destroyer" brands contain either cyanide, copper, or arsenic.
Yes, all of these are toxic to fish too.

snip

I would suggest that you buy a UV inline sterilizer. Relatively inexpensive
and will destroy algae and parasites and bad bacteria and keep your tank
clean.



"'nutherBob" wrote in message
m...
I keep getting a lot of algea on my glass, even after faithfully and once
a
week water changes, once a month complete water change and "scrub". I
have
a plecky, and I was wondering using a algea destroying or treatment will
hurt the pleco in my cichlid tank.

'nutherBob

On Sun, 29 Feb 2004 22:43:52 GMT, "Bubba Joel"
wrote:

I would suggest that you buy a UV inline sterilizer. Relatively inexpensive
and will destroy algae and parasites and bad bacteria and keep your tank
clean.

I'd really love to know where you find these "inexpensive" UV
sterilizers, because the cheapest I've found was around $200 CDN - and
compared to a bottle of Alge Destroyer, that aint cheap.

Bubba Joel wrote:

I would suggest that you buy a UV inline sterilizer. Relatively inexpensive
and will destroy algae and parasites and bad bacteria and keep your tank
clean.

UV filters kill floating things, most notably green water algae and lots of
parasites that have a free-floating stage.

They don't do squat for the algae on the original poster's glass, since that's
not passing through the UV filter.

'nutherBob, if you are not growing plants in your cichlid tank, consider using
less light or light for a shorter period every day. 1 watt of flourescent light
per gallon won't encourage algae.

Some plecos are algae eaters (ancistrus in particular). Some are omnivors or
carnivors. Find out what kind you have, and what it wants to eat.