Hi All

I have a quick question. Our aquarium is flourishing and so are the plants - it's a veritable jungle, but we have noticed algae (or something) growing on the leaves of some of our plants. Whatever it is looks awful and I'm wondering if we are about to be over-run with this kind of growth everywhere ... any suggestions? Should I nip off the leaves that has this growth? Is it actually algae? It looks like very fine strands of something, almost like feathery spikes ...

Cheers

Heni

Yeah same thing here too

Everything looks pretty sweet untill you get up close eh??Do you notice the algae on all the leaves or just the ones nearer the surface (closer to the lights)?

I have had my lights down to 8 hours per day trying to get rid of this stuff, no luck so have cranked the lights back up to 10 hours and added a 6th tube tonight (180W total). See if that helps at all.

Very frustrating eh?

I too have stringy green algae, pretty common problem I would guess, my solution was to buy $20 worth or red ramshorns and they are so busy getting around the tank eating it is marvelous. I know lots of fishy people detest snails and I have never understood why, they are part of the ecology of water and do a great job. I am hesitant to put in more chemicals to control things like algae as the world seems to be heading to oblivion because of just that type of thinking !! If the snails become a problem they will be put in the Jewel tanks and do not think they will last too long although that to is a little abhorrent to me. I will not even put down sick fish or ones that are not the right colour or shape etc and some of them have become lovely fish. So my suggestion is try the ramshorns as they appear to be the least likely to eat the plants. Of course if they end up getting too hungry I guess they will start eating the next best green things

Sorry but I can not agree to the idea to introduce the snails. Because they will always breeding too many babies and they may eat leaves of the water plants like mad making you headache how to remove these snails out of tanks at all. If you hope so, please simply nip them slightly out of the tank but DO NOT BREAK UP the shells! The small snails are just inside the tail part of the snail. The breaking will help them to be released into the water.

No simple solution. To nip the leaves full of algae can be what you can do as well as to control the light (both strength and spectrum) to see the effect.

Hope to hell they do breed well as I can sell as many red ramshorns as I can produce, I have had these snails now for a couple of weeks and they have not looked like eating the plant at all, but if they do, they would certainly be easier to remove than algae, but everyone to their own opinion, Ifyou do have any ramshorns let me know I will gladly take them off your hands

To support Graeme's point, here's a pic of one of my tanks that has Ramshorns in it:

It's heavily planted and there are a lot more snails in there than can be seen in that pic. As you can see they leave the plants alone.

hehehehehehehehe as Mystic would say pmsl,

but everyone to there own theories, it is just that I have never had trouble with snails but man have I had trouble with algae !!!!!!!!

I always thought algae was just part of fishkeeping really. I've never managed to get rid of it completely even with plecs in the tank I still have algae to a lesser degree.

Its not all bad though green algae on the bogwood looks quite cool I think 8) and as long as it is kept under control is isn't too bad. I usually just take off the worst affected leaves and scrap the glass to keep that clear. Anyone else ever have major success in getting rid of it?

I have a mature tank (2 years old?) with no algae, I dont even no where my magnet is now.

I beleive this is because, 1) I added all the fertiliser etc to the substrate when I setup the tank and never add any to the water, 2) I run two largeish external filters, 3) I never feed my bristle nose plec's and they breed like crazy

I am interested in this concept of snails. Are these Ramshorns better than most varieties? Are you guys both thinking there will always be enough algae in the tank to feed them as opposed to them eating the plants? Do you Hummingbird control their numbers??

Do you not think that while they are cleaning the tank they are making more excrement, thus dirtying the tank in another way??

Roy said

DO NOT BREAK UP the shells! The small snails are just inside the tail part of the snail.

Not quite correct there.

Snails lay eggs.

Well the ones I have do, and Ramshorn come in that catorgory.

Alan 104

So why did you get snails Alan? Are they a pest or a contributing member of tank?

I am interested in this concept of snails. Are these Ramshorns better than most varieties? Are you guys both thinking there will always be enough algae in the tank to feed them as opposed to them eating the plants? Do you Hummingbird control their numbers??

Do you not think that while they are cleaning the tank they are making more excrement, thus dirtying the tank in another way??

I don't control their numbers, haven't had to so far. I introduced them into this tank because it was too small to have the traditional type scavengers/algae eaters (bristlenose etc). I quite like them, it's neat to see the way they move about in the aquarium like submarines (using air to float to the top/letting air out to sink). Ramshorns are actually molluscs so they breath air as well

Yes they excrete wastes, all organisms do. Snail waste is much more soluble than fish waste and certainly more soluble than algae so it makes it easier to get the stuff out of your tank entirely.

Would the snails do anything to Black Beard Algae or am i hoping for to much?

As I breed a few fish,

I have a snail or two in the fry tanks for cleaning up uneaten food.

Live food, when it dies, pollutes the water very quickly,

the snails clean it up, and leave it in suitable sizes parcels for syphoning out.

No to the black beard algae.

Sorry.

Alan 104

Snails lay eggs.

Well the ones I have do, and Ramshorn come in that catorgory

Malaysian trumpet snails are supposed to be livebearers. Don't know about any others.

Roy said

Not quite correct there.

Snails lay eggs.

Well the ones I have do, and Ramshorn come in that catorgory.

Alan 104

Sorry that I know nothing exactly about the Ramshorns. However, as for the common popular species in China, Cipangopaludina sinensis, it always have small babies in its tail tip. So, if you introduce any by accident into your tank, and you do not like them and killed them by breaking them, you may receive a booming of them in the tank.

I agree that the excrete wastes from the sanils are not so difficult to be catabolised than those from the fish, to some extent. However, if too many???

Anyway, I hope the Ramshorns are good kids in your tank. :lol:

Well! What an abundance of really useful responses. Somehow we have managed to end up with MANY ramshorn snails, and a few others. Blowed if I know where they came from to start with but they are definitely NOT eating any foliage off our aquatic plants so far ... so ... yeah thanks Everyone. I feel much better about everything now.

Our fish are so cool. We have many guppy babies, and also somehow managed to end up with three platy babies - again not sure how - guess our one platy may have been pregnant but ... hmmm

Cheers

Heni (Jane from Dunedin)