# Algae Eater in Petsmart



## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

I have green spot algae(GSA) on my 15 Gal and I see algae eater in Petsmart
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3953759&lmdn=Pet+Type
Do they help me take care Green spot algae ??

And do mystery snails are good to stop Green spot algae ??

thank you


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

From my own experience, the best product for green spot algae removal is Elbow Grease. If your looking for something to consume it, you want Narite snails. The True Perculia in S Arlington sell them. Is your tank get any direct sun light or in a room with a lot of ambient lighting? It caused by excess lighting.


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

digital_gods said:


> From my own experience, the best product for green spot algae removal is Elbow Grease. If your looking for something to consume it, you want Narite snails. The True Perculia in S Arlington sell them. Is your tank get any direct sun light or in a room with a lot of ambient lighting? It caused by excess lighting.


Oh I know The True Perculia I had been there. Do you know how much do they sell those Narite snails ?
My tank info
I have 13 Gal (20*10*15h) and I set up on October 18 .The tank is far away no have any direct sun light.
E-co complete + Seachem root tab
I have DIY Lighting T8 4*15w (mix 3100k/ 6500k*2 /10,000k) + DIY paper reflector 
Light 7 hours/ day
13 fish
some cherry shrimp


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## wwh2694 (Aug 15, 2008)

Nerite snails are very good algae eater. I got them at ebay for cheap rather than true percula. They cleaned my rocks realy good that it was spotless. They will not eat plants. I have some MTS that will clean those type algae too. MTS will aerate your substrate and clean glass at night.


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## Ekrindul (Jul 3, 2010)

I don't think anything eats GSA. I have nerites and I've never seen them remove it. Best thing is manual removal if it's on the glass and pruning leaves that have it. To keep it from coming back you need to dose PO4 (phosphate), or increase the dose of PO4 if you are already dosing it. Low phosphate levels seem to trigger GSA to begin growing.


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

wwh2694 said:


> Nerite snails are very good algae eater. I got them at ebay for cheap rather than true percula. They cleaned my rocks realy good that it was spotless. They will not eat plants. I have some MTS that will clean those type algae too. MTS will aerate your substrate and clean glass at night.


what is MTS ??

So you think Algae eater & Mystery snails in Petsmart are not good to help algae control ?


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Another suggestion--you need more plants! Your tank is very sparsely planted which also encourages the growth of algae.


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

Michael said:


> Another suggestion--you need more plants! Your tank is very sparsely planted which also encourages the growth of algae.


HAHAHA I know. Actually, I want to make a filed with a x'mas tree  
So fish can have a lot of space for swimming,but my fish always stay ta bottom tank =_= I do not know why.


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## Ekrindul (Jul 3, 2010)

Malaysian Trumpet snail is MTS. They are more beneficial for removing detritus and keeping the substrate from compacting. They may eat lipids on the glass, but you would need a huge army to make an impact on algae. 

Snails will help with some types of algae, although mystery or apple snails create more poop than anything, so I'd avoid them. Plus, they prefer other foods to algae. Nerites, ramshorns, pond snails will all help clean the tank, but they won't do anything for GSA as it's like concrete. 

There isn't a fish or snail I'm aware of that does eat GSA. Manual removal or increasing PO4 are the solutions known to work.

Also, if the algae eater at Petsmart is the Chinese Algae Eater, avoid it entirely. This fish doesn't eat algae except when it's young, and it gets very large and aggressive.


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## Ekrindul (Jul 3, 2010)

tae2610 said:


> Oh I know The True Perculia I had been there. Do you know how much do they sell those Narite snails ?
> My tank info
> I have 13 Gal (20*10*15h) and I set up on October 18 .The tank is far away no have any direct sun light.
> E-co complete + Seachem root tab
> ...


The cherry shrimp are really all you need for algae control. I wouldn't bother with snails. And I agree with Michael, more plants. You need some stem plants.

GSA looks for high nitrates and low PO4 as a condition to grow. The stem plants will remove the nitrates and then the PO4 limitation will not be such an issue. The GSA that is present now will have to be removed manually, but it shouldn't return unless the PO4 limitation increases.

Bear in mind, you can always remove the stem plants later, once the foreground has filled in and you have more plant mass.


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

Gonna go take a look something make PO4 higher and higher


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

Thank you all for information However I have last question
Do any fish/snail help control Green Dust Algae(GDA)?


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Ottos will eat GDA.

I have some Najas sp 'Roraima' that you can float in your tank while your plants grow. It will not shade anything and will take up any excess ferts you have. You are welcomed to it. I should have brought it to the DFWAPC meeting but forgot to get in the other tank. I think it's the BEST new tank cycling plant around. I always keep some in my tanks to stave off any imbalances. It's a great plant and unlike floaters, easily removed.


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## Ekrindul (Jul 3, 2010)

tae2610 said:


> Thank you all for information However I have last question
> Do any fish/snail help control Green Dust Algae(GDA)?


Things that usually work against GDA are more flow, less light, more CO2. Some say increasing phosphates works; reducing nitrates ... basically same as with GSA. Not as much consensus on that, though. In a tank your size, less light and more plants is probably the best option to fighting algae, overall. If you can raise that light a few more inches, that should help.

If it were me, I'd manually remove as much algae as possible, add more plants, do a big water change (70%), and dose something like Flourish every other day, or even every day (it won't hurt anything to add more). Wait a few weeks and see how it progresses. Then and only then would I consider other options like adding more livestock.


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

Tex Gal said:


> Ottos will eat GDA.
> 
> I have some Najas sp 'Roraima' that you can float in your tank while your plants grow. It will not shade anything and will take up any excess ferts you have. You are welcomed to it. I should have brought it to the DFWAPC meeting but forgot to get in the other tank. I think it's the BEST new tank cycling plant around. I always keep some in my tanks to stave off any imbalances. It's a great plant and unlike floaters, easily removed.


Yeah, I have this plant I got some from Mike(Crowman) thank you for the answer


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

tae2610 said:


> I have DIY Lighting T8 4*15w (mix 3100k/ 6500k*2 /10,000k) + DIY paper reflector


 The 10,000K bulb is not nesscary on planted tanks. Your mix of 3100K & 6500K are the optimal color ranges for plant growth cycle. As of right now, you pumping out 4.6w per gallon. If you stopped using the 10,000K bulb, that would leave you at 3.5w per gallon. Till you get your plant demands up, I would lower your light output little for now.

What is the foreground plant?


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

digital_gods said:


> The 10,000K bulb is not nesscary on planted tanks. Your mix of 3100K & 6500K are the optimal color ranges for plant growth cycle. As of right now, you pumping out 4.6w per gallon. If you stopped using the 10,000K bulb, that would leave you at 3.5w per gallon. Till you get your plant demands up, I would lower your light output little for now.
> 
> What is the foreground plant?


Hair grass / Singapore moss / Java moss
These all I have


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

I haven't seen Malaysian Moss, could be similar to Taiwan Moss. You need some more plants in your tank. Is there anything your looking for in particular?


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

digital_gods said:


> I haven't seen Malaysian Moss, could be similar to Taiwan Moss. You need some more plants in your tank. Is there anything your looking for in particular?


I m so sorry I mean Singapore moss  not Malaysian Moss >.>

Well, I just watch when people trim their plants and close to Arlington I always go get ^^


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Stick the Najas in your tank if you don't have it in there. It should grow REALLY quickly if your tank is balanced. I didn't see it in your regular px. Since it's a floater it won't affect your layout.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

5,000k to 10,000k and you will be good.


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

I change new lighting to 3*15W . I hope it helps my algae problem


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

what type of lighting did you get... till you get lots of plants in there the light will just feed the algae. I replied to your post, I will give you plants to stuff that tank. only thing is I'm in plano which is 50-60 miles from you.


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

fishyjoe24 said:


> what type of lighting did you get... till you get lots of plants in there the light will just feed the algae. I replied to your post, I will give you plants to stuff that tank. only thing is I'm in plano which is 50-60 miles from you.


Here picture of my DIY lighting I bought all these at Walmart


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

COOL THAT WORKS... now just wondering how to get the plants to you being on the other side of the metro plex. 

um how far are you from irving?


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## tae2610 (Sep 9, 2009)

fishyjoe24 said:


> COOL THAT WORKS... now just wondering how to get the plants to you being on the other side of the metro plex.
> 
> um how far are you from irving?


chill Joe,I live close to Six Flags I think one day someone close here will have some plants. I have a lot of patient


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

tae2610 said:


> chill Joe,I live close to Six Flags I think one day someone close here will have some plants. I have a lot of patient


HA HA , okay more plants for me  ....


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