Tank Mate Debate (CAE/Oto cat)

[Kittiee Katt]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, and the question is at the bottom for people who don't want to read a short essay on my life...

So, my 2ft (120ltr) tank has become overrun with algae of various kinds due to my laziness with the water changes over the past few weeks. It went from daily 50-60% changes to weekly 60-70% changes when my betta died and boy did the algae bloom.

I've been looking into ways to reduce the algae and I've cone across a few different ways to do so, but most of them are not possible in my situation, or just plain fiddly.

1. Cut the light back. This would be a great idea if not for the fact that my light is only on for eight hours a day and I have plants in the tank that barely scrape by with the light I have, so that's out of the question.

2. Change more water! Another great idea, change more water more frequently to lower the amount of nutrients available to the algae. If I do this I'm worried my plants will start to die because they weren't doing very well with the daily changes and I don't want them to die. I don't use any ferts or co2 so my plants dying seems to be a real possibility.

3. Co2. Apparently dosing co2 will cause the plants to out compete the algae for the nutrients - but co2 kits are expensive as is the liquid stuff, and DIY ones look fiddly and I don't want to mess around constantly with a DIY system.

4. Manual removal... Nuh uh. Nope. Not happening. I've tried and its a lost cause..

Which leaves us with the final option, algae eaters!
I've been reading a bit about different algae eaters and think oto cats would work nicely, and not outgrow my tank, but I don't know their compatibility with my cae, mostly I'm worried about the cae harassing the otos and mistaking them for others of his kind and turning aggressive. What are the chances of this?

Other tank residents (beside the tiny cae) include x3 kuhlli loaches, x6 white cloud minnows and one upside down catfish.

Any help would be great! And before someone mentions shrimp, I've never seen freshwater shrimp down here and don't think I'm allowed to keep them.


Overall I want to know the chances of my cae harassing the otos if I were to get them, or if he'd leave them alone and continue doing his own thing?

Thanks in advance, if anyone has other suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Post Script: my cae was rescued a couple of years back from my mums "friend" who kept him in a 30ltr with HEAPS of other fish, he hasn't grown since I took him in, but is healthy and seems to be happy, please don't jump down my throat about keeping him in a 120ltr, as he's only 3-4" long.

 

[tlindsey]

I personally like the look of the Otos but CAE may harass them like you stated.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

I personally like the look of the Otos but CAE may harass them like you stated.

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about... I suppose I could re-set up the 80ltr for the cae if things went sour but personally I think he's to active for a tiny tank like that, the extra 40ltrs (mostly a difference in the length of the tanks) makes a fair amount of difference. And otos down here are between $16-$20 each and I'm not a millionaire, if the cae killed them I wouldn't be happy lol


The debate continues...

 

[tlindsey]

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about... I suppose I could re-set up the 80ltr for the cae if things went sour but personally I think he's to active for a tiny tank like that, the extra 40ltrs (mostly a difference in the length of the tanks) makes a fair amount of difference. And otos down here are between $16-$20 each and I'm not a millionaire, if the cae killed them I wouldn't be happy lol


The debate continues...

I wouldn't pay that amount for a oto lol. Cae are hardier so keep that in mind.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

I wouldn't pay that amount for a oto lol. Cae are hardier so keep that in mind.

The cheapest I've ever seen otos for sale down here is 12 bucks, and that was because the store was closing down... Everything costs a fortune down here. To give you a general idea of how much it costs to be an aquarist down here: my 5ft tank cost me $1700 (or there abouts) to set up, that got me the tank, stand, gravel, hood and two 300 watt heaters.. Like I said, its expensive.

If only the cae would actually EAT the algae... He does nibble it here and there but no where near enough to keep it in check. And Siamese algae eaters get way to big (imo) for a 2ft 120ltr tank..

Damn it... I swear this hobby hates me sometimes...

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Other fish that may help are a mix of flying fox fish, pond snails and small pleco species

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Other fish that may help are a mix of flying fox fish, pond snails and small pleco species

Most of them get to big (imo) for a 120ltr tank, its only about 13" wide, and messy fish like plecos would just be a hassle in such a small volume of water. I kind of breed pond snails for my goldfish in the 120ltr already and they couldn't keep up with the algae, that's part of the reason I'm having this problem.

But thank you heaps for the suggestions.

 

[Fat Homer]

Here is my 2cents worth (without knowing the type of algae or how bad it is)

1. Add more plants, the more plants in the tank the better to help use up extra nutrients leaving less for the algae

2. Have a siesta period in your lighting, so for example, if you want 12 hrs light total, put them on a timer for 6hrs on / 3hrs off / 6hours on, coz this interrupts the algaes photo synthesis

3. honestly adding more fish = adding more waste = add more nutrients for the alge to grow, so really need to get to the cause of whats creating the algae before can tackle it...

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Here is my 2cents worth (without knowing the type of algae or how bad it is)

1. Add more plants, the more plants in the tank the better to help use up extra nutrients leaving less for the algae

2. Have a siesta period in your lighting, so for example, if you want 12 hrs light total, put them on a timer for 6hrs on / 3hrs off / 6hours on, coz this interrupts the algaes photo synthesis

3. honestly adding more fish = adding more waste = add more nutrients for the alge to grow, so really need to get to the cause of whats creating the algae before can tackle it...

Thanks heaps for your advice.

There are various types of algae... A bright green stringy kind, the black brush stuff and a bright green spotty kind that looks like the stringy stuff but only grows about 2mm long.

I've been thinking about getting more stricta (hygrophila corymbosa I think it is) because its the only stem plant that seems to survive my crap lighting without melting and from what I've read the stem plants grow quickly and absorb more nutrients than say, carpet plants or what not. This is true right?

My lights are on for eight hours a day, would that shorten the break time or would it be four on, three off, four on?

And the waste problem is why I was leaning towards otos, they're small and (hopefully) wouldn't produce as much waste as something like a pleco, but I see what you're getting at.

I assume the algae is the product of my whacky water change schedule, as I said it was getting large daily changes and had only my betta and an USD catfish, then when I lost Bruce I put the kuhllis, minnows and cae back in there (and monitored the water parameters closely for a few days) and dropped my water changes back to weekly. So I assume it was the sudden "burst" of nutrients available that caused the algae to bloom.. I've been thinking about upping my water changes to biweekly while the algae is going stupid but I get the feeling it probably won't help much..

 

[Fat Homer]

Hmmmm... Im not sure what fish eat hair algae (the long green stringy stuff), but i think i remember Silver Flying Foxes eating black beard algae, although again, probably not the best route...

As for adding plants, another method is when you trim your current ones, to replant them back in, eventually you can fill your tank and hopefully cut back some of the algae...
As for lighting, if you run 8hrs normally, then do 4hrs on, 3hrs off, 4hrs on... The break is meant to interupt the algae from photosynthesizing giving the plants a chance to catch up...