Want MORE algae in tanks

[saltydog]

I have an odd problem in two of my 110 gallon tanks. Both are in a south-facing window where they get direct sun shining in through the back (when the sun shines!).  Because of this I use plecos to control algae. I use a single polo (strip) light with F-8 daylight flourescents (60 watts) driven by an electronic ballast on each tank.  My problem is that I cannot keep plants in the tanks because there is not enough algae to sustain my large plecos (one in each tank). They eat the plants. I cannot feed the plecos spirolina discs, because pacus which are in one tank & tin-foil barbs which are in the other are voracious eaters & never leave anything behind no matter how much I feed them.

Does anyone have experience in feeding plecos any garden vegetables? Maybe my fish would leave these alone long enough for the plecos to get their share.

Also, are they any species of plants that plecos are known to pass up even when they are starving?

Thanks in advance for any & all suggestions.

Roger

[dpatte]

ever considered adding fertilisers to your tank (jobe's plant sticks come to mind) to encorage more algae growth?

Enough Nitrates and phosphates should get things going.

Im sure many in the club can provide 'seed algae' if you just need something to get it going.

I have hornwort that grows very well - a few strands and i doubt anyone would eat it. I even have some with algae on it

[saltydog]

Is that what the plant fertilizer sticks contain- mainly nitrates & phosphates? My nitrate levels are probably on the high side as I only perform 1/3 water changes about once a month? No uneaten fish food in the tanks I am sure so maybe phosphates are low. Worth a try.

The hornwort might grow without being eaten by the plecos but I had a bit of this in my tanks before. The tinfoil barbs gobbled it up in one tank & it did not thrive in the other one. I know that apple snails will eat it. I bought some with some snails at LFS after asking whether the snails would eat it. I was told they would not. Three days later it was all gone!

This brings me to a second question: Does anyone know of any plants that apple snails won't eat. I haven't found any yet!

I did have a couple of ideas of my own with regards to feeding my plecos. I could run my lights in the afternoon. This might increase algae growth. Currently they are on only in the morning starting at 6:30 am & then again from about 5 pm to 11 pm. (For asthetic & practical reasons I cannot add more strip lights.)

I could also try adding some spirolina discs after lights out. I think that plecos are mainly noctural. However, these tanks are never entirely dark since a bamboo blind which is lowered at night does not entirely obscure a streetlight (which is brighter during the winter due to reflection off of the snow). I think the other fish may still be able to see the food at this time.

Any other suggestions from anyone?

[dpatte]

All plant fertiliser (for garden, house plants or aquariums) is marked with three numbers

such as 6-12-6

The first number is N - nitogen
The second number is P - phosphate
The third number is K - potassium

I have used Jobe plant sticks for ferns & palms to bring up the nutrients in my tanks.

[aidensmomma2000]

"Does anyone have experience in feeding plecos any garden vegetables? Maybe my fish would leave these alone long enough for the plecos to get their share. "

Try boiled zuchini- they love it!! (dont boil too long or it'll lose its nutritional value- just long enough thats its soft and will sink :wink: )

[artw]

Roger I am not sure of your goal : do you wish to farm algae for the pleco?  do you wish to grow plants and not have the pleco eat them?  do you want to feed your pleco separate from the pacus?

a) I am not sure how to do this without getting green water.
b) choose plants that the plecos won't eat.
c) zuchinni works well, or try feeding your plecos in the middle of the night when the other fish are oblivious to their surroundings.

[saltydog]

My goal is actually to have some healthy plants with my fish in these tanks WITHOUT algae. Here, as I see it,  are my problems in accomplishing this:

The fish are large, mostly South Americans They uproot (or, in some cases, eat certain types of plants). I do not want to use potted plants because I do not want to see the pots. I have engineered a couple of locations in each tank where I can put plants without them being uprooted (example: carved ("caved") lava rock laid on side to form planting cavities)  Due to the fairly bright location of the tanks, significant amounts of algae develops.

The plecos (one in each tank) are there in order to take care of this but when they run out of algae to eat then they eat the plants. I find it difficult to feed the plecos so that they will leave the plants alone because many of the other fish are voracious eaters and leave nothing behind for the plecos (example: pacus, tin-foil barbs). Hopefully this describes my problem more comprehensively.

Thanks for your input, Art (& others). I intend to try night-feeding the plecos with zuchinni. By the way, which plants won't starving plecos eat? Does anyone know?

Maybe if I loaded the tanks with plants "potted" in lava rock 'caves' the algae would vanish & I could remove the plecos. (The plecos themselves are partly responsible for the uprooting of the plants.) Though expensive, I would do this if I were sure that it would work. What do our members think?

[BermudaBorn]

Hey there Salty Dog.  You can feed plecos Cucumber slices, they will eat those up like crazy!!!  I think the Barbs and Pacu will leave those alone, for the most part.

Cheers!!!

Hope this helps!!!

Jeffrey...