Do any of you goldfish owners have a plecostomus (algae eater) in your fish tank?

Question

I have a 20 gallon tank with 5 fancy goldfish in it and I just lost my second algae eater. (They were both rubber lipped plecostomus and, yes, my water levels tested fine.) The boy at the pet store said it would be better if I didn't have one in the tank. He also told me that goldfish sometimes produce too much ammonia for algae eaters to live in. I already have a small algae problem... will it get much worse without an algae eater? Do any of you out there have an algae eater living successfully with goldfish, or will I be better off without one?

Answer 1

I am sorry that so many rookies give the wrong advice in this forum, I will try to explain a few things for you
you do not need a pleco with your goldfish, goldfish do the same thing as pleco and algae eaters and your pleco could be starving to death
goldfish give off ammonia all the time, thats why they tell you that you cant keep tropicals with goldfish (and the water temperature difference)
if you have an algae problem then reduce the amount of light
are you leaving the light on all the time? they dont need it during the day and turn it off when you go to bed
plecos can get large and they can be predators, I've seen many that attacked resting goldfish and sucked their eyeballs out
or suck so many scales off a side that the goldfish dies
just keep your goldfish in the aquarium alone, reduce the light and change 1/3 of the water once a week or so
get a good book about goldfish and study it so you dont wind up getting bad advice
good luck

Answer 2

I would invest in an under gravel filter to keep the water flowing and to help drag down and out some of the 'ick' that the goldfish may be producing. Pleco's are a great thing to have. A friend of mine left the light on in the tank for months without knowing about algae and then started complaining that everything was green. Pleco's are tough fish, I can't see them getting knocked off from some ammonia. You could try getting special food for them, I can't remember the exact name but they are flat discs that sink to the bottom.

Answer 3

I have been into goldfish for years. Both in tanks and in ponds.

When I had my 80 gallon tank I have a large Pelly he lived and thrived.

First off you have too may goldfish for that size tank. Goldfish live for many years and they are a large fish. 5 full grown goldfish would be capacity for my 80 gallon tank. Goldfish are not really appropriate for small tanks, 20 gallon is small.

Goldfish do produce a lot of ammonia. But it is toxic to them also. First off you have to test your tank for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH. The ammonia and nitrite must test totally clear! You can't show any ammonia or nitrite. And your PH must be in the proper range.

With goldfish you need to do the partial water change every week without fail. With as many fish as you have in such a small tnak I would do a partial water change every 3 days.

Increase your filtration. Most likely you have the filter recommended for a 20 gallon tank. It is probaly too small. You want a filter that filters the entire tank volume 6 times an hour. Add another filter. Hopefully you are using a Bio filter. YOu can't have too much bio-filtration.

If you get your water balanced you probably won't need a pelly. ( you have too many fish any way.) You see alge is a plant, sort of. Think of it as a plant. For growth it needs water, sunlight and plant food. In your tank water is not a problme for alge. Most likely light is not either. The plant food is most liekly your problem. The fish excrete in the water. Benificail bacteria in the bio filter change the excrement into ammonia, then into nitirte both of which are highly toxic to the fish, Then the beneificial bacteria change the nitrite in to nitrate which is plant food. If you have algea you have too much nitrate in your water which means you need more water changes and more filtration. The algea is eatting the nitoren that would poison your fish so it really is not such a bad thing.

Reduce the number of fish you have, increase filtration and step up the partial water changes.

By the way I no long have my 80 gallon tank but when I di dit went for 4 years and was NEVER cleaned out. I havea goldfish pond 12 feet by 14 feet by 4 feet deep that has not been CLEANED out in 12 years. Completely cleaning your tank is a bad thing! 99% of the time correcting the water condtion and the cleaning you do when you do your partial water changes is enough to get your tank back into line after a bit.

Answer 4

Figure one inche of fish to one gallon of water or twenty inches of fish for your tank. The algae eater is not necessary but it is helpful. The question is what type of chemicals and what type of pump you are using. I would suggest some sort of biowheel and something to destress and declorinate your tank. I would also suggest the more fish you have the more often you have to clean the tank, maybe once a week. If you do that you probably don't need the algae eater. But definitely get a bigger pump. Maybe an Emporer. You may need a bigger tank as well. The bigger the tank the less often you have to clean it . Of course the bigger the pump you need.

Answer 5

i've had a pleco before but in a tank full of cichlids, so i cant vouch for your goldfish. the dude at the pet store was right about one thing however, goldfish do produce lot of amonia, but plecos are generally very hardy so they should be doing fine. if amonia is the problem, then more frequent water changes would be the most efficient and inexpensive way to solve your problems. be warned though that plecos can get large, so keep this in mind. or, to tackle the problem without risking yet another problem, try minimalizing the amount of light in your tank, especially sunlight. you can also try algae eating snails, but i havent kept those so i cant say how they would do.

Answer 6

Are you feeding the pleco properly, the algae in the tank may not be enough. You may need to supplement with algae wafers or some type of sinking pellet (just make sure you see it eat, the goldfish will eat it before he can get to it). You could also put a piece of zuchini (weighted down) or an orange slice in the tank, they would all enjoy that. Just make sure to take it out after 4 hours or so.

Answer 7

I have five goldfish and the same exact problem.
My way of solving it was Snails. I have three and they have all lived happily and they love the algae. The only thing about snails you have to be careful about is they reproduce a lot(or so I've heard) so if you get them you should ask if they have only males or only females so you don't end up with snails overtaking your tank. : ) To answer your question directly though, You can just clean your tank regularly and try to keep it out of direct sunlight(it helps the algae grow faster) and if you think you need a little extra help think about getting some snails.
Well, best of luck with kickin' the algae! : )

Answer 8

I wasn't aware of the amonia issue, but I did have an algae eater die in my fish tank while the two goldfish continued to frolic.

I use a pad to scape the algae off the sides of the tank.

Answer 9

I have an goldfish and a betta living in a tank together. I also have a small algae eater in the tank with them. They are doing just fine. There in a small tank that probably 1 gallon tank too if that helps. If you have any more questions, just ask.

Victoria

Answer 10

Do not mix goldfish with algae eaters. I did just that in my aquarium. It did not take 24 hrs before the algae eater die.