Natural Plants for Apistos

[mcfishdude]

ok, my queen eats a lil algae. i see it on the plant scrubbing away sometimes at night. but i usually have to give it shrimp pellets, sinking algae waffers, or sinking carnivore waffers. these are usually devoured within 30mins or so if i have the lights out.

the pleco is extremely shy and hides whenever there is light. i have had it for a while (a couple months) and it does not seem to mind any of my water parameters. (this is still my 10gal) i try to keep the flow up enough to please my pleco but down enough so my plants dont blow/wave around. mine is about 2.5" and i paid $24 for it. i assume it is wild caught b\c 5 diff places in my area all got them at the same time and they were all the same size.

as for the ghost shrimp, i have 2 right now and they are cleaning pretty well, but i wanted to get a few more so i wanted to make sure they wouldnt start eating my plants. these are very cool tho! i can hold a shrimp pellet in the tank and they will sit on my hand and eat it! its pretty fun to watch them.

anyways, back to plants... is it necessary for me to get rid of the hair algae as long as there is not too much of it? or does it have negative side effects? i actually think it make things look a bit more natural, but i dont want it to get out of control. by letting it go.

i had a really big over growth of cyano- a few months ago, so i am def. going to clean that before it gets all over EVERYTHNG again!! b\c then it is a big pain!

thanks for all the info!

 

[aspen]

hey!

hair algae blossoms quite nicely, and quickly. keep on top of it. every bit you get out, won't multiply.

i wouldn't feed those algae wafers too much anymore. let him get his own algae if he wants some.

rick

 

[mcfishdude]

hey, what is the best method for removing hair algae from the plants w\o bruising or otherwise damaging them? i have tried pulling, scraping, rubbing and it doesnt seem to want to come off. thanks.

 

[aspen]

have you tried an old tooth brush? i like that method. if you are getting good growth, then remove the badly coated leaves. otherwise the toothbrush should work for leaves that you want to save. damaging the leaf is not the best thing, they will often die afterwards.

rick

 

[jowens]

For cleaning, I'd add some otto cats. They'll eat algae from plants withotu damaging leaves and unlike SAE's, they stay small, aren't aggressive and don't look like ugly snakes with fins. A truly beutiful pleco that cleans well and stays small is the Starlight Bristlenose Catfish (aka Peppermint Britlenose, among other names):

http://www.planetcatfish.com/ilibrary/loricari/ancistru/644_2.htm

I once had a Queen Arabesque, and while they're really cool, I found mine liked shrimp pellets a lot more than it did cleaning.

 

[mcfishdude]

wow! what a great site about plecos!!! thank you!! while we're on cleaners...does any one know how well farlowellas and royal farlowellas clean? i have been considering one for a bigger tank... same with rubber nose plecos. i want something that looks nice AND will eat my algae. i will probably buy a few otocinclus for the 10gal. put the q arab. in another tank and transfer in a clown pleco i have once i get my apisto's that way my tank wont get too crowded.

ok back to plants..how difficult is hair grass to grow and maintain? i love the way it looks etc and i think it might be good for fry to hang out/ hide in. will it grow too tall for my 10 gal? is it compatible w\ apistos?

thanks ya'll!

 

[jowens]

http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/1997-09.htm

Farlwellas will clean some algae from plants, but won't do much for your glass. For cleaning ability, I like:

1. Ottos - small, relatively hard workers, and non-aggressive.

2. Bristlenosed catfish/plecos - Stay much smaller than most plecos, work hard, and if you search around, you can find some really attractive color morphs. If you want to go this route, I might email planetcatfish and see if you can find a mail order place who will send you a cool bristlenose. My "starlight bristlenose" is the best looking pleco I've ever seen.

3. Young SAE's - they look like snakes with fins, have a bad attitude, and will eventually get big...but they work. Just an all-around unlikeable animal, IMO, but if you have a major algae problem, they're a good cure.

 

[mcfishdude]

ok rick, i tried the toothbrush thing on my plants...it sounds good on paper but it didnt really get any hair algae off of the live plants at all. it did work well on the plastic plants tho... is there a certain method to it so i wont bruise the live plants? or another good way? is algecide or another chemical treatment a bad idea?

 

[jowens]

Whatever you do, don't use algecide. It will kill or severely damage your plants. Both plants and algae live using the same basic processes (photosythnesis, etc.) so any poison designed to kill algae is likely to badly damage plants as well.

 

[mcfishdude]

okies, well, algacide is out then...i added two otocinclus a few days ago, they have been hard at work, but havent even dented the hair algae on the plants....i'll jsut have to give 'em time i spose.

anyways....i am still wondering about hair GRASS. what are the ater parameters for it? will it get too tall for my 10g tank? i love it and i think some live would be great for fry to hide in. does anyone have any experience with growing it? thanks

 

[jafo]

Otos won't touch hair algae but do a number on other types. The only fish I know that will eat it is a true Siamese Alage Eater. It's not their prefered food but they will eat it.

Hair algae has several factors that come into play. High nitrates and phosphates are the main 2 and too much lighting is another. If you cut your lighting back to 8-10 hours a day and get nitrates and phosphates down, you can beat it. I've beat it doing the forementioned and with the help from SAEs. It's an uphill battle all the way but it sure beats tearing the tank down to use bleach like many do.

If any plants gets covered up with the stuff, throw it out. Also trim any leaves that start getting covered. A few new plants are cheaper than tankful. I'd also cut back on fertilizing until it's completely gone.