# Planted Tanks > Fertilisation and Algae >  Hair algae? try Endlers!

## torque6

Since I've haven't had success with shrimps of any kind; my last malayan from Seaview went suicidal and flew out of the tank. 

So did a search on the web and the usual few pop up :- otto, yamoto, malayan, sae, snails. etc...

Till i came across several articles highlighting Endlers as successful hair algae eaters. I recalled mollies/ platies do eat algae when starved, but these articles proved very interesting.

Check them out. :Well done: 

http://www.endlersr.us/viewtopic.php...ighlight=algae

http://www.mysapientia.com/camera/fi...r/endlers.html

http://www.petfish.net/forum/index.php?topic=58706.0

http://www.geocities.com/endlers_liv...r/feeding.html

http://www.aquaworldaquarium.com/Art...ivebearer.html

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## barmby

Endlers are good. I was at Gan Aquarium three weeks ago. Uncle Tiong shown me the wood gets cleaned before and after. 

Btw, I like one of the sentence from the article. funny




> Endlers will breed with guppies! to ensure you don't get hybrids please don't have endlers and guppies in the same tank.
> I don't have guppies anywhere in the house at all, you would be amazed at how fry can travel!!!!-Sheba

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## wllm33

> Since I've haven't had success with shrimps of any kind; my last malayan from Seaview went suicidal and flew out of the tank. 
> 
> So did a search on the web and the usual few pop up :- otto, yamoto, malayan, sae, snails. etc...
> 
> Till i came across several articles highlighting Endlers as successful hair algae eaters. I recalled mollies/ platies do eat algae when starved, but these articles proved very interesting.
> 
> Check them out.
> 
> http://www.endlersr.us/viewtopic.php...ighlight=algae
> ...


thanks for the useful infomation.
i also have been using snails, shrimps (just bought 50 malayan shrimps), otos, but the blue/green algae still persists and killing off my gujing.

will try endlers if all fails although just added the malayan shrimps as my nereit snails keep on dying and my ramshorns are too slow..
thanks

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## flybaits

have a 2ft 'service tank' where endlers clear up my algaed plants n dws....

effective and clean job provided you don;t feed them too often..... heheheh

cheers!!!

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## Viper007

> Endlers are good. I was at Gan Aquarium three weeks ago. Uncle Tiong shown me the wood gets cleaned before and after. 
> 
> Btw, I like one of the sentence from the article. funny


Isn't Endler's also another breed of guppy???

Wah like that no need to buy fish food liao for endler's. :Cool:

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## torque6

> thanks for the useful infomation.
> i also have been using snails, shrimps (just bought 50 malayan shrimps), otos, but the blue/green algae still persists and killing off my gujing.
> 
> will try endlers if all fails although just added the malayan shrimps as my nereit snails keep on dying and my ramshorns are too slow..
> thanks


william, no fauna will eat BGA, its a cynobacteria.

Viper,
Endlers are related to guppy, but its strictly refered to as Poecilia Wingei, wild guppy thus i wouldnt refer them as guppy or aka Poecilia reticulata_._

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## Viper007

> william, no fauna will eat BGA, its a cynobacteria.
> 
> Viper,
> Endlers are related to guppy, but its strictly refered to as Poecilia Wingei, wild guppy thus i wouldnt refer them as guppy or aka Poecilia reticulata_._


Gee thanks torque for the info.  :Smile:

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## craftsman

> Viper,
> Endlers are related to guppy, but its strictly refered to as Poecilia Wingei, wild guppy thus i wouldnt refer them as guppy or aka Poecilia reticulata_._


Now, if you really want to get serious about the differences between guppies and endlers, look here.  :Shocked:

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## Shadow

> william, no fauna will eat BGA, its a cynobacteria.
> 
> Viper,
> Endlers are related to guppy, but its strictly refered to as Poecilia Wingei, wild guppy thus i wouldnt refer them as guppy or aka Poecilia reticulata_._


They both will cross breed  :Opps:

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## torque6

> They both will cross breed


 ya, so best to keep them isolated. If you want 1-3 pieces in your 1-2ft tank to take care of slight hair algae, keep them as 1male:2female ratio. Just dont mix regular guppies in there, since i' havent been able to find articles or pics such as those i posted effective in clearing most algae.

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## wllm33

[quote=torque6;428403]william, no fauna will eat BGA, its a cynobacteria.
hi,
thanks for the enlightenment.
so what's the best way to get them off my plants. they are dying like blazes, one by one. I am using my fingers to wipe them off, but not fast enough.
Any suggestions , but not poisonous to my shrimps and otos?
thanks.

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## torque6

[quote=wllm33;428620]


> william, no fauna will eat BGA, its a cynobacteria.
> hi,
> thanks for the enlightenment.
> so what's the best way to get them off my plants. they are dying like blazes, one by one. I am using my fingers to wipe them off, but not fast enough.
> Any suggestions , but not poisonous to my shrimps and otos?
> thanks.


Most shrimps/oto or endlers dont eat BGA, best is to use anti-biotics. You can google BGA and some of my old threads will pop up on AQ.

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## Loopy

Thanks for this information, I had no clue, as I have an eternal battle with this sort of algae on my fissidens I am happy to try it out.

Peace out.

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## torque6

> Thanks for this information, I had no clue, as I have an eternal battle with this sort of algae on my fissidens I am happy to try it out.
> 
> Peace out.


Another option is to try h202, soften it and let the endlers take care of the rest.

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## barmby

William, no algae is the same. Endler is good with hair algae. BGA is another matter. There are other issues that need to address.

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## wllm33

[quote=torque6;428664]


> Most shrimps/oto or endlers dont eat BGA, best is to use anti-biotics. You can google BGA and some of my old threads will pop up on AQ.


thanks for the advice.
i have put in tetracycliine as i do not have erythromycin.
hope my otos, snails, and shrimps will not be affected.
is this bga gram +ve or gram -ve bacteria?

don't know if it is my imagination, but i seem to see a bit less after i put in 50 malayan shrimps and more otos.
(before i added the antibiotic).

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## torque6

Added an endler today into the tank, will update if they "really" cleared the hair algae on my bogwood.

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## wllm33

i don't know if it is the tetracycline or the malayan shrimps which i put in the tank, but the algae seems to be disappearing.
thanks for the advice.
cheers

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## Jaffar

Most of the shops are selling male endlers. Which LFS can I buy the female one's? 
The female endlers seem very similar to guppies so need to be careful in selection. Thanks

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## EddyTing

> Added an endler today into the tank, will update if they "really" cleared the hair algae on my bogwood.


Hi torque6, saw your thread in marketplace today. Did it work on the hair algae? Effective or not? Mind share with me?

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## craftsman

> Most of the shops are selling male endlers. Which LFS can I buy the female one's? 
> The female endlers seem very similar to guppies so need to be careful in selection. Thanks


C328 got females on occasion. Try your luck there.  :Grin:

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## Jaffar

Thanks craftsman. 
I tried C328. Unfortunately, they did not have the females. 
Will try my luck again.

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## torque6

Just an update, I've happened to starve my endler for about 9 days, no feeding at all. But it has refused to eat any of the small patch of hair algae on the bogwood. I've noticed it staying on the surface all the time scouring for pellets.... 

Sigh...I'm giving endlers an *F9* for algae management.  :Sad:

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## Jaffar

What a let down. I expected something better from endlers. Good thing I did not go ahead to buy more endlers.

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## EddyTing

Ya, well, guess most effective way is just to remove those manually. Soak on bleach few seconds, gentle rub and back to water. Repeat until the hair algae is gone.

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## DE-ROC

endlers work amazing i got some for my tank 2 weeks ago, and no more algae!

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## craftsman

> Thanks craftsman. 
> I tried C328. Unfortunately, they did not have the females. 
> Will try my luck again.


Try and ask in the buy/sell thread. Maybe people might be selling.

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## torque6

> endlers work amazing i got some for my tank 2 weeks ago, and no more algae!


Ya, i've noticed that as well. It seems that natural occuring algae is part of endlers diet, but definitely not endlers sold here on our shores. They seem to be "domesticated" :Laughing:  and by enlarge prefers pellet/flakes food.

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## PeterGwee

Hair algae are sort of higher species of algae similar to plants. Once induced, they will grow well if given proper conditions as that of plants. You need to go in and remove them aggressively and not just rely on algae eating critters. Their growth rate is very much faster than that what the crew can eat.  :Laughing:  Once you kill the algae, focus on maintaining good conditions like enough nutrients and good CO2.

Regards,
Peter Gwee

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## squall99e

brought some from colourful aquarium on sat 

put in office tank on sat even in my abit hair alage tank, 

Today no more hair alage, dun know if they will still eat hair alage when i put in the fish food

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## torque6

> brought some from colourful aquarium on sat 
> 
> put in office tank on sat even in my abit hair alage tank, 
> 
> Today no more hair alage, dun know if they will still eat hair alage when i put in the fish food


very odd, mine didn't touch them at all even when i starve it for 2 weeks. Looks like varying results. Are yours hybrids ?

Agree with peter that they favour conditions similar to plants, however "agressively" removing them tends to spread them more. I'm currently just overdosing Seachem excel on a daily basis, followed by water changes and removal twice per week. Removed my fishes into another tank to cut down on feedings/bioload. Its so far so good, but im looking at maybe 4-5 months of this regime till they are totally gone.

I was getting some sunlight 11am-2pm; 3hrs daily into the tank when i send my curtains for tailoring for about 2 weeks, slowly the hair algae has started appearing, but each time i cleared them, they spread even more. Once established, even in small clumps it can be quite tedious as they grow and spread extremely fast.

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## squall99e

i can't really tell the difference between hyprid or not.

Just got it from colourful aquarium at thompson.

Guess really have to depend on luck

My plant look much more cleaner today

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## barmby

Maybe, get the wild male ones from punggol park pond or etc. IMO, a much better choice than farm breed guppies. Be sure to quarantine them 2 weeks before adding to the main tank.

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## wllm33

saw some endlers , both males and females today at c328, quite affordable.
you may want to look there if you are still keen to purchase pairs.
think have both the tiger type and the red/green/black colours type.
just to share.
cheers

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## krabbie

> i can't really tell the difference between hyprid or not.
> 
> Just got it from colourful aquarium at thompson.
> 
> Guess really have to depend on luck
> 
> My plant look much more cleaner today


I bought some from CA as well ... but my endlers didn't touch the hair algae at all ...  :Mad:

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## torque6

After starving them for over a week, it didn't touch the hair algae as well. No matter, i've managed to clear them the old fashion way, but it took me close to 15 weeks to get them under control.

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## Aquaboyy

mine also  :Sad: 

they not interested at all....

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## ccrs2008

Just to sharing my way to clean Hair Algae.
I bought 20 pcs Amano Shrimp (Yamoto) (Depend your tank size) and keep them in another small tank without food for 1 week and them put them all into Hair Algae tank, it took only few day to clear almost 80% of the hair algae.
After that you have to focus on maintaining good conditions like enough nutrients and good CO2 like what Peter mention in this thread. Thanks,

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## torque6

The endlers weren't aim at removing hair algae but to see the effectiveness using fauna to remove them besides the usual amano/malayan shrimps.

The most effective has always been removing them aggressively during your water changes, couple with good flow of co2 and a balance of lights.

This method however too me 18 weeks to resolve once hair algae is induced in my tank in just 2 weeks.

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## WatsUp

Don't expect endlers eat up BBA, they don't. Endlers only eat those very basic algae.

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## oldmantan

> William, no algae is the same. Endler is good with hair algae. BGA is another matter. There are other issues that need to address.


Hi Barmby

my star moss has been infested with hair algae, i think. its fine & green and appears to coil round the moss forming another layer on top.

what kind of endlers should i get? or should i go for other combination of treatment? pls advise.

rgds

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## barmby

Hi oldmantan, I can't really tell you what endler to buy in order to solve hair algae issue. 

1 Erm. Mollie is good. But what's good for me , may not be good for you. 
2 You should add some yamatoe shrimps. 
3 And use toothbrush to remove hair algae manually.

The above is only about clearing the hair algae. you need to address your CO2 issue, which is the biggest offender when comes to algae problem.

hope this is going to help.

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## oldmantan

Hi Barmby

thanks for your prompt reply. 

ive got approx 100 taiwan shrimps in a 3 ft tank. CO2 @ 2 bubbles per second, as advised by the folks at bioplast for fast star moss growth. apparently its fast hair algae growth too.

will try to lower the co2 and cut off the sunlight (the maids have been opening those curtains again).

rgds

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## barmby

Hope others can help as I am not good with planted tank with shrimps. They make things slightly complicated

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## tupiddog

Malayan Shrimps did it for me... very cheap somemore ....

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