# Fish Tank Cleaning Secrets- Revealed! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2002, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-tank-cleaning-secrets-revealed/103205 "2002-04-12T11:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-tank-cleaning-secrets-revealed/103205/21 "2002-04-13T15:31:55Z")
A plecostomus certainly is the best option in fighting algae, but in some cases it isn’t feasible. I had a small pleco in my 30 gallon aquarium as well as a featherfin synodonis catfish. The synodonis is a good 6" long and apparently, quite territorial. When the pleco got to be around 4" or so, the synodonis regularly beat the crap out of him. I tried removing the pleco on numerous occasions, letting him heal in a hospital tank, and re-introducing him–and within a few weeks, have to take him back out again. That pleco now has a nice 10gal to himself (shared with some mellow glass cats). The 30gal, however, is becoming algae-overridden. My solution has been to use those algae tabs they sell in pet stores. Clean the tank, do a water change, and drop in the algae tab–and voila! No new algae growth. Bleach is not recommended. Fortunately, goldfish are fairly hardy stock. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-tank-cleaning-secrets-revealed/103205/22 "2002-04-13T19:02:08Z")
A friend that is heavy into fish collecting (14 tanks right now) swears by Oxyclean to clean his tanks and equipment. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-tank-cleaning-secrets-revealed/103205/23 "2002-04-13T23:58:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bwk \* > \*\*algae won’t grow in a tank with poor water conditions. \*\* Depends on what kind of algae. There are at least half a dozen different kinds of algae-like stuff (including true algae, cyanobacteria, and diatoms) that can grow in a fewshwater fishtank. Different water conditions and light levels encourage different kinds of algae growth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-tank-cleaning-secrets-revealed/103205.md?page=1)