i have some fish in a 28 gallon tank and im trying to add more to make a nica community aquarium, but i dont to have to clean it a lot because im kinda scared of eth suction things sucking up my fish! So someone told me that i should get loaches instead of cory cats, do loaches eat algae?will they help keep my aquarium clean?
2006-11-23 03:44:05 · 6 answers · asked by ziddyziddy 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
Depends which species of loach you mean. Chinese sucking loach is an algae eater but most loaches are not. They are predators on snails mostly, clown loach and horseface loach are two like this.
Khuli loaches are rarely seen except at night as they spend mocst of the day in the gravel at the bottom of your tank.
If your tank is big enough you can put cories and loaches in together.
A better algae eater is a plecostomus but they do grow very big quite quickly.
2006-11-23 03:59:33 · answer #1 · answered by stevehart53 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Loaches are not known for their algae eating ability probably because they probably not very good at it.
They are better known for cleaning up bits and pieces of uneaten food from the gravel as they like to stick their mouth into the gravel to dig around for food.
A Pleco or an Oto or a Siamese Algae Eater would be a better option if you're looking for an algae cleaning crew. Shrimp like Yamato fit the requirement well too.
Anyway, there is a vacuum like contraption that you can buy from the aquarium where you get your stuff. It can be manual attachment pump type or one which allows you to fix the outflow to your filters inflow. Ask the shop keep for a gravel vacuum and they should be able to show you some. Those gravel vacuum attachment are design so that it could suck up waste and debris but the suction is low enough for most fishes to swim away from it.
2006-11-23 11:48:28 · answer #2 · answered by dragonfly_sg 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you don't want to clean your tank then you can't add too many fish. The problem isn't the algae and turds that you can see - it's the ammonia and other substances that build up in the water. These will make the water more and more acidic until they cause the fish health problems. Water changes are absolutely essential for your fishes health and wellbeing and just because the water looks clear doesn't mean that it's not poisoning your fish.
2006-11-23 11:52:39 · answer #3 · answered by stienbabe 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Neither loaches or cory cats eat algae. BUT Chinese algae eaters eat algae... they can be aggressive though.
2006-11-23 16:08:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
all I actually do to clean my tank is kinda stir up the water the poop comes out of the gravel and gets sucked in the filter and I change a little water so you dont really have to worry about sucking your fish up
2006-11-23 18:42:20 · answer #5 · answered by Skittles 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes or you can try a plecostomus
2006-11-23 13:14:18 · answer #6 · answered by Sm@rtAs$ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋