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Amazing molly/platy
As a lurker for a couple years now and greatly benefitting from the tremendous
dialogue of this group all the while, I finally felt moved to make an
observation which I hope will be helpful!
I recently converted a 10 gallon aquarium set-up: bumping up the light to 30
watts and adding a DIY yeast set-up. Though it had been stable before (just
growing anubias, small crypts and java ferns), I anticipated some algae as a
result of this transformation. While several types of algae appeared, the
otto's and yamato shrimp seemed to take care of things pretty well until
filaments of thread algae began appearing everywhere (around the third week
after the conversion). It was everywhere and really destroyed the beauty of
the tank. To make matters worse, the yamato shrimp began dying... (perhaps
transport shock, a week-long heat wave that pushed tank temps...I only know it
wasn't starvation!) I resigned myself to sit back and wait for things to
stabilize.
However, as we all know, few of us can actually sit back at watch very long
without noticing something else that "needs attention". This time I noticed a
film of protein developing on the surface of the water. Remembering something
about using mollies as skimmers, I decided to go to a LFS I recalled sold
feeder mollies. They only had one molly and one platy, so I took them home
(for under a dollar). Three days later, most of the algae has been eaten. The
molly is already becoming quite chubby, and the platy also seems to be actively
picking out the threads from the java moss and the cabomba leaves. The protein
layer has also disappeared. I had no idea these little fish could be such work
horses!
Thanks again for all of the great information you all throw around. I hope
this helps someone at some point!
--John
Minneapolis, MN
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