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Hi,

I have 3 tanks (stocking in my profile), the largest one has some brown algae (diatom) on the glass and plants and the smallest one has some persistent BBA on the Anubias. I don't want to get algae eaters for them (the largest tank is fully stocked anyways), but I'm wondering would it be ok to borrow the 2 otos & one SAE I have on my newest tank to clean up the algae on the other tanks for a period of time and then move them back once the job is done? Has anyone done that? If so, would you acclimate them the same way as when you put new fish in or can I just do the temperature part? All 3 tanks have similar water conditions obviously (same pH, no ammonia/nitrite, 5-10ppm nitrate), except the one housing the otos & SAE currently is kept at 27C while the other 2 are at 25C.

Thanks for any input.

-P

acclimate them in a similar way

and give then a day's purging time when you move them back, or you coould end up with BBA in both tanks!

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Ottos can be delicate fish, and i think for the health of the fish it would be better not to keep moving them from aquarium to aquarium. If the ottos stress out they wont be doing much feeding for you anyway, and may take a few days to acclimate. A tougher species like siamese flying foxes may be a better choice, it is also much more likely to be unfussed by the other inhabitants of a densely populated community tank, especially if you already have midrange sized fish.

You could consider a permanent addition ,amano shrimp for example if your tank doesnt have fish that would eat them. They dont produce a huge amount of waste and their cleaning abilities can be very thorough.

This would be a better long term solution as basically if you get algae once, you'll get it again, and it would be cruel to keep transferring your ottos to the stress of being repeatedly caught and placed into different aquaria of slightly differing water properties, every few weeks.

Athough generally im not big on chemical treatment for algae, in your circumstances it might be a reasonable option.

upikabu

I would supprised if the SAE would be much help after a while they prefer fish foods rather than the Algae.

Tho Ottos are very small is it possible to have two perminent in each tank rather than risking moving them around all the time. Also I dont think they would be the easest fish to catch in a tank at any time.

Keith

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They are nasty to catch.

I found them very hardy really, I had 2 and gave them a bit of what-for (no choice at the time unfortunately) and they went like little troopers.

BTW, I've not had anything other than snails eat brown diatom algae.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Thanks for the replies. I did consider adding a couple of otos to the large tank; maybe I'll do that instead of moving the otos around. I found them to be quite hardy too (I made sure they've been in the LFS for a month before I got them).

Keith - so true about the SAE. He hasn't done diddly squat for algae control so far, just riding on the coattails of the otos. ] I think I got ripped off on it too (paid A$15 for it). I might put him in the small tank and see if he'll take care of the BBA. If not, he's going back to the LFS! I know it's not his fault; he's probably gotten used to flake food at the LFS.

I wish we could get Amano shrimps here (I haven't seen them anywhere, probably not allowed). I do have ghost shrimps, but I don't think they eat algae, do they?

-P

not enough of it, no they make a decent attempt, but tend to fail.

I'm having some success with BNs in my tank, maybe that is an option?

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I think that a BN would be your best bet & i don't trust any CAE, as they suck on fish, when they get older.


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I've moved 4 of my otos from tank to tank about 5 times as well as moving them from my mom's house to my new apartment. No casualities. The only problem is catching them. If you can get them to settle on the glass and then sneak up on them it isn't too bad. When you miss though they go into hiding and then the chase is not worth it. Most of the time my tanks are all nearly identical for temperature and water parameters so I just scoop them carry them to the next tank and release. Spending a long time acclimating them is going to be more stress than water that is maybe 5 nitrates or 1 degree different.

Last edited by sham at 24-Aug-2005 18:19

I took a pic of what I think is BBA on my Anubias leaves (they look like small strands of black hair):
BBA.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v58/witje/Fish/BBA.jpg

Is that really BBA or something else? I just want to make sure before I try using the SAE to remove it. I tried brushing it off with my fingers but didn't have much success. Also, what do you think if I just take out the whole drifwood that the Anubias is attached to and put it in the tank where the SAE currently lives? Will I risk infecting that tank with BBA if the SAE doesn't do its job?

Thanks again!

-P

i had similar problem with my tank...what i did....instead of adding sae...i turned of the light for abt 4 days...enuf to kill or stop the spread of the algae but not to harmm too much my plants...now..its under control...and yeah...i feed much much less than usual.