# Planted Tanks > Fertilisation and Algae >  Black Molly to eat Algae in aquarium

## Aquanoob

I read some books that Black Molly (Poecilia latipinna) 
is a very effective fish against algae in the aquarium.
They will eat algae on the surface of the plant leave and 
the tank. IMO, my Oto is not that useful in eating the algae,
so I am thinking of adding one more algae-eating force.
Do anyone had good experience with them or in general do Molly 
eat algae?

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## fighting fish

i do agree with you that otos aren't good algae cleaners. my solution for algae is nerite snails...they are like the glass polishers. keen to know if mollies work well

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## barmby

Yes, Black Molly will consume some algae and help to clear up the water surface somehow. However, some molly needs to be conditioned to take algae. Wild one will be better.

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## Navanod

I've read about black sailfin mollies being used in new tank to prevent algae blooms during cycling. But they had to be starved.

IMHO, once fish food starts being offered after other livestocks are in, the molly will probably prefer fish food than algae.

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## TyroneGenade

Get young mollies. These are far more effective algae eaters than old ones. Growing fish need to eat more and will have a greater desire to nibble algae. Baby platies and guppies will do the same.

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## barmby

Likewise for baby Bristlenose Pleco - Ancistrus spp.. They are the real worker. 1 is to 10 otocinlus. People say Ancistrus is crap pleco. I think Ancistrus is gold  :Smile:

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## areng

Not sure if the colour of the Mollie has anything to do with it but, after having read several articles during my research, I decided to drop a few Mollies, and I used white ones, into my community tank a few months ago.

For a few minutes, I did detect a slight interest in eating algae but, it was just a few minutes. Now, all they do is drop babies every few weeks.

So, my vote is that they do not eat algae. Sure, if I starved them I guess they would but, when part of a community, how to starve.

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## Blue Whale

The easiest of all:

1. Use green cloth to clean the tank surface once. Use fish net to clean off the water surface. You don't have to deploy surface cleaner if you don't want to.
2. Decrease the iron dosage by half. You can increase when you discover the plants do not have enough iron.
3. Switch your lights off for a few days till the algae are cleared.

The above could be just small steps instead of the need to add more fish. You might come to one stage where overcrowding might occur or introduce new fish, introduce new problem.

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## TyroneGenade

Feed the mollies spirulina flake for a bit so they develop a taste for algae. I have seen them eat algae (of many types).

I do agree with the "drop the iron" idea but you may want to increase the K and Ca/Mg (if you have soft water). To compensate for the iron removed from the water column, push a iron nail deep into the substrate near the roots of plants which need lots of iron (like Amazon swords).

Algae can utilize light even when it is very dim so switching the light off is meaningless unless you give the tank a complete black-out. You are better with short light/dark cycles if you can't exclude ALL light from the tank.

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