Algae issues

[DazzleKitty]

In the last few days my mom and I noticed that the water in my 15 gallon tank has a slight yellow-green cast. We noticed there is a lot of algae growing on the dividers and other areas. The brush we have only goes so far in getting it all off. We've been putting algae-killing liquid we got from Petsmart in it but it certainly isn't doing its job.

What else can I do? I have a snail in there that I am sure is eating some of it. What else would you guys recommend? I've wanted to get a 'sucker' fish, as they call them, but I don't know if they come in the tropical variety and I heard they can damage betta's fins.

So, I don't know what to do. Should I get more snails? Any treatment you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

[Here Fishy Fishy Fishy]

dazzlekitty,

I can tell you one thing NOT to do... Do not get a chinese algae eater! They grow ridiculously big, far to big for a 15 gallon tank. A lot of stores sell them... and when the are young, they look pretty small... good for a community tank. But they're not! Some Plecos also get very large also.

As far as algae remediation, I can tell you that I scrape the glass once a week and have started using API's Algaefix. The idea is to remove as much algae as you can by hand, and the Algaefix will keep it from coming back. I have not used it long enough to tell you if it has been effective yet (one week). The tank had brown algae and thread algae, which I believe was introduced by a piece of wood I should have boiled before adding to the tank (that's another story).

If I had a large tank, I might go for 'natural' algae removal. But there is no room in my five gallon for another creature. So I am going to give this a try.

Algaefix should NOT be used in tanks with freshwater crustaceans, btw...

[Oldfishlady]

Be careful using the algae-cide products-they can kill fish, inverts and plants....start making some more water changes and clean the algae with a scraper

Do you have driftwood or live plants...some times these can cause water color changes

How much and how often are your water changes
Filtration or live plants?

Some algae is normal and expected in a tank of water with light and nutrients...since it is a closed system in needs to be controlled.....weekly water changes and manual removal....depending if you have live plants-the light may need to be on longer...no live plants decreased photo period may be needed....

[Here Fishy Fishy Fishy]

Yes, I'd listen to OFL *taking notes*

Algaefix has a lot of warnings on the bottle... including that the state of CA knows it causes cancer (yet on the front of the bottle it says it won't harm fishes or plants - ummm.... so which statement is true? Hmmmm.)

In any event, I only put about seven drops of this stuff in the tank once a week. If anyone accidently confused this stuff with, say, conditioner and poured even as little as 10ml into a five gallon tank, it would be bad news.

So, if you can, I'd try what oldfishlady suggests, and avoid any possible risks.
*rethinking my own algae battle plan...*