Will algae suffocate plecos and cories?

[squid]

My cory and pleco tank has been over ran by lots of floating plants, but also noticed that on the tank floor there are lots of algae, not sure if these are hair algae or what type.
will algae suffocate cory and plecos? or would it be ok to just let the Algae continue to grow?
not much space on the floor though.

my tank is exposed to sunlight.

[smitty]

Well I would not want my tank heavily saturated with algae. Is there anyway do block some of the sunlight. I also have never heard of algae suffocating catfish.

[bekateen]

Besides the light, your excessive algae indicates lower than desirable water quality - uneaten food or too much urine and poop. Can you cut back feeding a little and up your water changes?

And as smitty suggested, can you cover at least one side of the tank to block light?

On the other hand, lemons to lemonade, with all that algae you might be able to keep Otocinclus happy.

Cheers, Eric

[Bas Pels]

As stated before, the presence of a lot of algae might indicate the water contains too much food for plants, most likely due to overfeeding. BUT the algae themselves will not harm anyone.

I myself have thead-algae in some of the tanks. Sometimnes there is a dead fish in them, but I never see any fish struggling with the stuff. Therefore I would assume the fish died before it was cought in the algae, not the other way around. This algae are a sign of proper water, therefore I will not fight them, I just remouve most of them every now and then.

[squid]

thanks! the algae in my tank which is thriving doesnt seem to be edible to my britlenose.
i have not covered my tank kas i have some bristlenose fries and i wanted to give them some algae problem is the algae which is growing doesnt seem to be edible to them
i'll take some piuctures tomorrow.

[squid]

Here are some pics of the problem algae.

[Bas Pels]

Yes, we call it beard algea, they do like it when the water is rich in nutrients. Not many fish eat them, the Argusfish does, and perhaps a hungry Mollie

On a sidenote, it can look very beautifull, on a piece of wood or on a rock

[squid]

Yes, we call it beard algea, they do like it when the water is rich in nutrients. Not many fish eat them, the Argusfish does, and perhaps a hungry Mollie

On a sidenote, it can look very beautifull, on a piece of wood or on a rock

oh... thanks so these are called beard algae. so they're not really harmful to fish?
thanks

[Bas Pels]

Nope, I've had them for years

[squid]

thanks!!

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Here are some pics of the problem algae.

It looks like Cladophora, which isn't eaten by most fish. You can tell by feel, Cladophora is slightly "gritty" when you rub it between your fingers.

Cherry shrimps will eat it, but as the others have said it isn't harmful at all, and can be quite beautiful.

The "green algae" belong to the same clade (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viridiplantae) as the higher plants, so they share the same photosynthetic pathways and conditions that favour the growth of the plants you want, also favour the growth of the plants you don't (the green algae).

cheers Darrel

[bekateen]

Here's my black beard garden, with the corys doing quite well searching for live black worms.

Cheers, Eric

[squid]

Thanks guys really apprexiate the help