I have a tall 55-gallon tank that's been spotless since I got it, with the help of a Chinese algae eater (named Nuts). There's not enough algae that grows to feed him properly, but my tank is full of cone snails that live in the sand and he snacks on those too, which is fine by me. I never actually put those snails there, they just showed up. I've been watching for over a month and there always seems to be new baby snails burrowed in the substrate. A few weeks ago I noticed he was losing color and acting lethargic, so I added bloodworms to his diet a few times a week. He's back to his normal self now. I also give algae wafers, but I haven't found any in the pet store that didn't have suspicious ingredients, like grains and other non-aquatic foods, so I try to limit them to 1-3 times a week. I rarely do algae wafers and bloodworms on the same day.
A few days ago, I rescued a common pleco that has stunted growth and put him in my tank, and I noticed he's also beginning to lose color in random patches on his body. I'll post a picture tomorrow when there's sunlight. He's a dark brown with subtle speckling, but medium patches of lighter brown are showing up on his back. It doesn't look bacterial or fungal, and my water parameters are where they should be. It's possible this is normal coloration, I couldn't find anything that matched when I looked it up, but because another algae eater in this tank lost color from malnutrition, I can only assume it's because he's not getting the food he needs. I put bloodworms in the tank tonight, but I've come here for advice. I'd love to try to grow more algae in my tank, but I already have the lights (a little LED bar that lights up the whole room at night) on for 10-12 hours a day. My tank is near a window, so when the sun is at the right place in the sky, I'll also angle my blinds to allow sunlight to stream into the tank. I do this weekly, on average. My filter is running at a lower flow than it's set to, so I can only explain the flow by saying neutrally buoyant food stays suspended for a while, but will find its way to the filter intake in a few minutes if it doesn't sink. Should I leave the lights on for longer? Should I let sunlight into the tank as often as possible? Is there anything else I can do to encourage algae growth? And what should I be feeding my pleco to ensure he's healthy? Any other advice is welcomed.
A few days ago, I rescued a common pleco that has stunted growth and put him in my tank, and I noticed he's also beginning to lose color in random patches on his body. I'll post a picture tomorrow when there's sunlight. He's a dark brown with subtle speckling, but medium patches of lighter brown are showing up on his back. It doesn't look bacterial or fungal, and my water parameters are where they should be. It's possible this is normal coloration, I couldn't find anything that matched when I looked it up, but because another algae eater in this tank lost color from malnutrition, I can only assume it's because he's not getting the food he needs. I put bloodworms in the tank tonight, but I've come here for advice. I'd love to try to grow more algae in my tank, but I already have the lights (a little LED bar that lights up the whole room at night) on for 10-12 hours a day. My tank is near a window, so when the sun is at the right place in the sky, I'll also angle my blinds to allow sunlight to stream into the tank. I do this weekly, on average. My filter is running at a lower flow than it's set to, so I can only explain the flow by saying neutrally buoyant food stays suspended for a while, but will find its way to the filter intake in a few minutes if it doesn't sink. Should I leave the lights on for longer? Should I let sunlight into the tank as often as possible? Is there anything else I can do to encourage algae growth? And what should I be feeding my pleco to ensure he's healthy? Any other advice is welcomed.
