brush algae

[Fidelity]

I have some brush algae growing on some of my fake plants and a limb/log in my aquarium. I have done some resurch on how to get rid of it or try to get rid of it. I am not asking how to get rid of it but rather if it will harm the fish I have. I have seen no where that addresses wether or not it will harm the fish so I thought I'd ask to see if anyone would know.

I have a 20gal long with 2 neons tetra, 2 blood fins, 4 guppies, a zebra, a Chinese algae eater, a female betta, and some snails. I know it is not healthy to just have 2 of the neons, blood fins and one zebra. I did have more but they died before the outbreak of algae and I am not sure if I should get more at this point.

The out break came after getting some accual plants. They didn't last and then the algae came. The algae outbreak happened about 2 months after introducing the plants. I did keep the plants in a seperate tank, a 1gal, for a while before introducing them but seen no sign of anthing. I do not know how long it takes for this kind of algae to accure so it could have been the plants.

I also have a nother tank, a 10gal, that I use for a fry tank. It does not have the algae breakout and I did not introduce any plants in this tank. So I am almost sure it was the plants that caused this.

I also would like to know if I used the bleach dip method if the sented bleach can be used as that is all I have right now. I have read that I should not use the sented type but I have not seen anywhere as to why. If it is all rinsed off then what is the reason not to use the sented kind.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

[ZeroSystem]

I'm not sure about scented bleach, but I would probably play it safe and get the non-scented kind.

The algae, although not very pleasant looking, is not harmful to your fish. The algae might be growing due to some other water parameter not being within an appropriate range, but the algae itself will not harm anything other than the overall appearence of your tank.

[Fidelity]

I was just wondering because if it would hurt them I was going to go ahead and try the sented bleach and take a chance. I would have been taking a chance anyway by waiting on getting the unsented bleach if the algae would harm them. But now that I know it will not then I can wait untill I do have the unsented kind.

Thanks

[Jay]

Disinfecting equipment and fake plants with bleach is OK, perfume or no perfume.

A dilution of 19:1 water to bleach is a good safe bath.

Be sure to rinse well before returning things to the tank.

You will need to disinfect as much equipment and fake decorations as you can to beat back "brush algae"

You might also want to get some Seachem "excel" and use it as if you had a planted tank. BBA does not get along well with excel.

Jay