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Re: Algae wars



I have a 3 month old 38g tank that I had been constantly battling algae in 
until just recently.  It seems to have finally disappeared!  I had all the 
same stuff you have in your pictures... only mine seemed to come in waves, 
one type after the other.  I started with just 4 otos for algae control... 
they definitely were not sufficient.  I was growing lots of short fuzzy 
algae.  I added 3 black mollies.  They eliminated this plague instantly, 
but 2 new kinds of algae took over, ones that the mollies didn't seem to 
have much effect on.  This ugly blackish algae was a real eyesore, covering 
the plants.  I finally found some SAEs and added 3.  They are 
incredible.  They ate this new kind of algae that had moved in.  The tank 
was algae free in no time.  The plants that were previously hindered by 
algae covering them are noticeably growing faster now.  I am so pleased.  I 
don't think the fish did everything though.  Through all of this, I was 
helping out by doing lots of water changes (50% weekly) and manually 
removing algae.  You have to be very persistent and just keep cleaning the 
tank.  I was very frustrated for a while, and then it finally all worked 
out.  I think it was a combination of everything.... good algae eating fish 
plus the extra tank maintenance.  You said your tank is only 1 month old... 
you may have a stretch of extra work ahead of you before you pull out of 
it.  Get some SAEs!!!  They are really incredible.

Andrea

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