Alge on the sand

[andy1985]

I have a 4 x 2 tank and there is alot of Algee growing on the sand in need to buy a catfish that would stir up the sand to get rid of the Algee, i have rainbow Fish and Pair of seruvms,
I was thinking of a small Syo but not sure what you guys would recomend.

 

[tscharf]

how big are your other fish, id say get a channel cat. u can find em in most pet stores for like 2 bucks. theyre skittish and will stir up the sand and at that size wont harm your fish, you may just have to rehouse them in a year or so

 

[andy1985]

I was looking for a cat for life heheh

 

[tscharf]

id say 4 line pim, just watch though my friend had one that was very aggresive, mine on the other hand was extremely docile and never harmed another fish. Or you could look at some of the smaller cats. i heard theres a bumble bee cat that gets up to and stays at no more than 6in.

 

[justonemoretank]

Corydoras catfishes suck the sand up and push it out of their gills, which stirs the sand. I have ten in my 125 and have no problems with algae on the sand.

 

[tscharf]

good call

 

[Billy_m24]

take a look at building an algee truff scrubber it easy to make cheap to build and it works just search algee in MFK or google algee turff scrubber

 

[Just Toby]

You do not need a catfish to do this.

If there is algae growing on the sand then you have either too much light or more likely too much nitrate and maybe too much uneaten food.

Start with a brand new nitrate test kit and test the tank and the tap water, then gravel vac and change 50% of the water (using dechlorinator every time) and test again.

Cut the light hours down to about 8 assuming the tank is not in direct sun.

Algae needs food to grow, either light or bio load / nitrate.

 

[FishingOut]

You do not need a catfish to do this.

If there is algae growing on the sand then you have either too much light or more likely too much nitrate and maybe too much uneaten food.

Start with a brand new nitrate test kit and test the tank and the tap water, then gravel vac and change 50% of the water (using dechlorinator every time) and test again.

Cut the light hours down to about 8 assuming the tank is not in direct sun.

Algae needs food to grow, either light or bio load / nitrate.

Agree, Sand shouldnt be growing on your algae. I think Toby is right with either a light or bioload problem. If you move the sand around with your hand and keep control over your nitrates and bioload then algae shouldnt establish itself on sand.

 

[Thalan]

The above posts are excellent advice and you should definitely look into your nitrate situation.
But to stick to your question a Hoplo would be pretty good at rooting through the sand.