I have purchased a oscar and a parrot fish when is the best time to get an algae eater right now or later?

Answer 1

I disagree with most on here. Buy one AFTER there is algae established, otherwise what is it going to eat? You could give it algae wafers, but it would be grateful for natural algae. My advice is to wait.

Answer 2

I have had an oscar and a parrot and a plecostomus together for almost a year and they all get along famously! I suggest you get a plecostomus unless there is an algae eater that grows as big as these fish. Ortherwise the following will happen; the oscar and parrot (which both grow very large) will outgrow the algae eater and then will attack it because of its size. Whereas you can buy a fairly larger plecostomus (since they grow at a slower rate than oscars/parrots) that can contend with those large cichlids as they grow. (don't get your pleco too much bigger because I read that they can eat smaller fish) My pleco was about three inches when I put it in with my 2 inch oscar and 1 1/2 inch parrot in the beginning, if that is any gauge.

Answer 3

Oscars And Parrots are Cichlids which are territorial fish.If your oscars and parrots are juveniles then this is the best time to purchase a fish so that it can easily mix up with your oscars and parrots.I prefer you should buy plecos because they grow large and are very intelligent they are really not scavengers but active fish which you would need time to understand as time passes by.Hope your tank will go smoothly with no problems.BYE.

Answer 4

I've got 3 fish tanks and I only have algae in ONE of them, that is because the tank gets natural sunlight instead of having a tank light on it. A lot of the time if a tank has algae it is because the tank is getting sunlight or because it has something weird going on with the water.

Also, most plecostomus are NOT algae eaters. The younger ones'll eat it, but when they get big they'll ignore it, most of the time meaning they'll starve. Wait until you have algae, if you ever do, then worry about it, not now.

Answer 5

If you're putting them all together in one tank, I'd warn you about the oscar. They're very territorial cichlids and the parrot fish won't stand a chance. But if they're still small, make sure the algae eater or janitor fish (common name) is bigger than these two because if you don't feed them properly, they'll eat the janitor fish overnight. I know, my oscars did the same to my janitor fish in one evening.

Answer 6

Buy it NOW. Make sure you buy a PLeco that's at least 3 to 4 times bigger than your oscar. Because Oscar grows very quickly. they can grow 4 inches in a month. And The plecos grow extremely slow. Therefore many times the plecos becomes supper.

Also from my past experience i had to also separate the parrots. The oscars out grew them also.

Answer 7

i could attempt to pull the tail out of your oscars mouth...in case you could internet the fish and raise his mouth fairly out of the water, and pull the tail out, i imagine that could be your suited wager. i don't believe of you should take it to the vet because you'd be hardpressed to hit upon a community vet that could examine out your fish, and also you're able to likely merely reason the oscar more effective stress with the help of shifting it. The algae eater likely were given stuck because of his confusing scales. that is exactly why he has them contained in the first position, besides the shown actuality that in this situation, they did not artwork early adequate! reliable success, keep us printed!

Answer 8

I hope you're not putting the two in the same tank. Your parrot fish is a salt water fish and your Oscar is NOT!

Answer 9

Right now.
Early in the game because you'll get a head start on preventing a noticeable build up of algae. It'll also take care of uneaten food within the gravel, which provides a breeding ground for algae to develop.

Answer 10

I would suggest a Plecostamus instead of an algae eater. They are much better armored for an aggresive tank.

Go ahead and get it now!