Need a Cleanup Crew

[JPMcQueen]

Hi, I have a 550L aquarium and i need algae eaters. The algae I have is a combination of brown and green algae on rocks and to a lesser extent on the glass.

I have a couple of nerite snails but they well, work at a snails pace.

Plecos are out because I keep goldfish and it cant be guaranteed that the wont attack the fish for the slime coat

My local store and a few other people have suggested hillstream loach but the view is mixed on flow needs etc.

Any ideas?

 

[JxsPxxle]

Hi, I have a 550L aquarium and i need algae eaters. The algae I have is a combination of brown and green algae on rocks and to a lesser extent on the glass.

I have a couple of nerite snails but they well, work at a snails pace.

Plecos are out because I keep goldfish and it cant be guaranteed that the wont attack the fish for the slime coat

My local store and a few other people have suggested hillstream loach but the view is mixed on flow needs etc.

Any ideas?

Maybe a group of otocinclis? These could do the job. However no fish is guaranteed to get rid of algae and it is better to rid of it manually.

 

[Metalhead88]

I haven't had any experience with pleco actually going after slime coat of any fish. If you are keeping goldfish, certain pleco may be your only option because of temperature preferences.

If my conversion is correct, your tank is around 145 gallons? A tank of this size would need a rather large sized algae eater to even dent the outbreak.

I'd suggest only adding a fish that you actually like. Rarely does adding a fish actually solve a problem.

This may be something to take down manually.

 

[CryptFan]

If you keep you’re tank heated then Chinese algae eaters are great. You can get them at any PetSmart or Petco and they clean up the algae so fast, they do start out at about 2 inches but they grow so fast! They aren’t the prettiest fish but, they sure do get the job done. If your tank is unheated then you’re going to have to go with some sort of pleco, I wouldn’t worry too much about it harming any fish but, just keep an eye out.

 

[Essjay]

Chinese algae eaters have a reputation for stopping eating algae as they mature, and they have been known to start eating the slime coat off other fish. Personally I'd rather go with a plec of some sort.

 

[mhancock]

Chinese algae eaters have a reputation for stopping eating algae as they mature, and they have been known to start eating the slime coat off other fish. Personally I'd rather go with a plec of some sort.

Agreed. I had two CAE and didn't keep them long. I found they were aggressive, and kept sucking the other fish.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Chinese algae eaters have a reputation for stopping eating algae as they mature, and they have been known to start eating the slime coat off other fish. Personally I'd rather go with a plec of some sort.

My chinese algae eater never do the job he just sleep and eat this is mine he’s 10 inches long and never do anything (my profile pic)

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I concur, go with a pelco. I have a albino bristle nose pleco and he does a great job getting the algae of my glass.

 

[seangee]

Algae grows because there is an imbalance between light, nutrients and plants. Trying to find fish to deal with the problem means that you will be fighting algae forever. Fix the source and you won't need anything to eat it.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

An easy fix is to get some floating plants. I have salvinia and a tad bit of frog bit in my 10g betta tank and I have little to no algae. I sometimes remove a lot just so the snails/shrimp can have a natural food source.

 

[FishGuest5123]

An easy fix is to get some floating plants. I have salvinia and a tad bit of frog bit in my 10g betta tank and I have little to no algae. I sometimes remove a lot just so the snails/shrimp can have a natural food source.
[/ I’m a little confused @PheonixKingZ. First you said it was your pleco that got your algae off then you said with floating plants that you have no algae. Which is best?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I would say floating plants are better than getting a fish.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Common plecos get BIIIIIIG, even for this size of tank. And once they grow up, they don't eat that much algae. My experience with Chinese algae eaters is similar to what others have said: They get big, mean, lazy, and don't really eat much algae.

My favorite algae eating fish are panda garras. They have a ton of personality, they're friendly and mostly peaceful, and they really do a job on algae. They seem comfortable in a fairly wide range of water temps, too, although they aren't a true cold-water fish. You'd need a pretty big school for a tank this size, but big schools are fun.

Better yet: Get a master test kit and keep a close eye on your nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia (these can all be addressed with cycling, water changes, plants, and/or reduced feeding). Try using less light, or giving the lights a break for a few hours in the middle of the day. Fish will help with algae, but usually a big algae bloom points to some imbalance in your ecosystem, Until you figure that out, adding more fish is as likely to increase the problem as solve it.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Common plecos get BIIIIIIG, even for this size of tank. And once they grow up, they don't eat that much algae. My experience with Chinese algae eaters is similar to what others have said: They get big, mean, lazy, and don't really eat much algae.

My favorite algae eating fish are panda garras. They have a ton of personality, they're friendly and mostly peaceful, and they really do a job on algae. They seem comfortable in a fairly wide range of water temps, too, although they aren't a true cold-water fish. You'd need a pretty big school for a tank this size, but big schools are fun.

Better yet: Get a master test kit and keep a close eye on your nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia (these can all be addressed with cycling, water changes, plants, and/or reduced feeding). Try using less light, or giving the lights a break for a few hours in the middle of the day. Fish will help with algae, but usually a big algae bloom points to some imbalance in your ecosystem, Until you figure that out, adding more fish is as likely to increase the problem as solve it.

Yesterday my algae eater just killed one of my platy ,even though algae eater are small they can suck your fish to dead