why did my algae eater die?

Question

hi, i hav a tank with 2 goldfish in it, it kept getting cloudy and dirty so i was advised to get an algae eater, i got 1 from the same shop, dont know wot kind it is,,but it was small and dark grey/blackish,, i had it in the tank for 4 days and it died,,, does any1 know why??

it was a COLDWATER algae eater and i told the aquarium shop i needed 1 to go in with my goldfish,,they told me which 1 to get and its was suitable to go with goldfish, i dont know the temprature, its just goldfish,,,wasnt freezing tho, and the tank is a good size

Answer 1

You don't mention whether your tank is heated, you state your tank was cloudy and dirty, was this cloudy a green colour, or as i suspect just misty with no definite colour. what size tank do you have, are you using a filter. all have a lot of bearing on what why and how.
If you have 2 gold fish in a 10 gallon tank one would suppose that the tank is 12inx12inx12in, to small for 2 goldfish, if the tank is larger but unfiltered then the dirt and/or the bacterial build up in the tank was the cause of the cloudiness and not algae. in which case you overloaded your tank even further by adding another fish.
If you have no heating has as been suggested the fish died through cold, if you've not tested the water your parameters might have been detrimental to the fish.

And finally, this fish they sold you sounds like a loach or pleco of some kind which would have been totally useless at clearing and algae bloom anyway, these fish graze they don't filter. you'd have been better off with something completely different, depending on the questions above.

You need a filter/larger filter, you will need a heater to accomodate tropical fish, you may want to think of a larger fish tank depending on the size of your tank now and the size of the goldfish which are messy eaters, you need to do water changes at least once a week by the sounds, remembering to use a water decontaminate. You also need to go to a different fish shop as the one you went too obviously didn't check on what was wrong in the first place and sold you something that wasnt suitable.

AJ

Answer 2

First of all, dirty cloudy water isn't what you get an algae eater for. Chances are there is a cause to your cloudy water. Without knowing what size tank or what filtration you have it's hard to say the cause but typical ones are a lack of filter or overfeeding if you do have one. It could be that your tank chemistry is a mess. You should have your water tested before trying to add another fish. Typically goldfish are extremely dirty fish. They require at least a 20 gallon tank PER fish to stay healthy. If the water chemistry was off it could have killed the algae eater.
Two other possibilities are that you didn't have any algae for him to eat or that you don't have a heater on the tank.
I would stay away from buying an algae eater until you have green algae growing in things in your tank. Typically if your tank chemistry is poor the algae will be red or brown instead.. this is not going to be fixed by buying an algae eater. You need to fix the water first.
Hope this helps!

Answer 3

This could have happened because of several different reasons. The first and possibly most obvious is because of the stress that was put on the little fish when you transposrted him from the store to your aquarium. To reduce stress after you bring your fish home you should put your new fish in the bucket that you use to change your water with. Use all of the water from the container that you brought the fish home in and add the approximately the same amount of water from your aquarium into the bucket with the fish. This will help to get your fish adjusted to the temperature, pH, nitrates, nitrites, and other biological factors that are in your water compared to the water that it was living in.

Another factor that could have contributed to the death of your algae eater is not having enough food. In my experiences, pleco's and algae eaters are much happier when they are fed algae discs that they can suck on and eat. I have a 9 in pleco and he gets two or three discs in the morning and cleans the algae off of the decorations and sides the rest of the day.

The cloudiness is not necessarily caused because your tank is dirty. The tank could just be going through part of its nitrogen cycle and it can stay cloudy for several days. I have found that if it stays cloudy for more than three or four days I use a water clarifier that removes the cloudiness and does not affect other biological factors inside of the tank.

Answer 4

Hi there. Was it a Pleco? Kinda looks like the Submarine from "20,000 leagues under the sea"? Anyway. since they (Pleco's) live in S America, the water has to be warm. As you just have goldfish, you probably don't have a heater in the tank, and it's possible it died due to that. Every year I take the Pleco that I've raised inside, and put it in my pond outdoors when the water temp hits about 70. By the time Autumn comes around they are around 10" long! I usually can catch them and put them back into a larger tank 'till spring again. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

I have a tank with two goldfish & and algae eater too. I've had all three for about 3 years so it didn't freeze to death. Sometimes new fish die a few days after you buy them from shock - if you kept your reciept the store will probably give you another one. Most fish stores have a week or two live policy for that kind of thing.

Answer 6

Hi Jo, I'm sorry for your loss. It's sad but the majority of pet stores are completely ignorant to the needs of the fish they sell & their advice is often ill-informed here-say so unless you have a specialist aquarium dealer near you the best place to get info is one of the many fish-keeping forums on the internet. The 3 listed below are all excellent sources of information if you are planning on getting/altering anything in your tank or simply to ask what is wrong when you have a problem. (there are many more but these are just examples) Good luck.

Answer 7

Because algae eaters are tropical fish and you put it in with GOLDFISH which are coldwater fish and produce alot of waste which lead to high ammonia levels which the algae eater would not tolerate and if algae eaters are tropical fish why did you buy one for a goldfish tank is it a small bowl? , The algae eater probibly froze to death,

Answer 8

i could examine the amonia and ph. locate out what type of backside feeder is going ultimate with what type of ph and ammonia stages. The puppy shop the place you have become them could have undesirable fish too. you are able to take your water to them. maximum puppy shops will try for unfastened and in the adventure that your water is solid, maximum provides you with your cash decrease back or provide you a unfastened fish. of path, you are able to desire to take the lifeless fish with you. What type of different fish do you have. A Placo is an exceedingly hardy algae eater and has a thorny fin that protects if from the main agressive of fish. although, it desires to be super in the adventure that your fish are agressive. pass to the puppy shop and initiate off asking some questions. in case you don't get something passable there, you are able to pass to a diverse puppy shop. solid success and Take Care

Answer 9

Do you have any type of filtration for your water? Is it a new set up? Most often you will need to "condition" your tank prior to putting in certain types of fish. What i mean by Condition is to develop a sort of environmental cycle in which microorganisms work in synch so the water doesn't get high Ammonia levels from leftover food, waste, etc...Ammonia poisoning is the number one cause of fish deaths.

Answer 10

It is really hard to give a good answer because there is not enough information like water temperature, water quality, tank size, etc

Here are some websites about them that might help!!!

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/fish/Plecostomus.pdf

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/pleco.htm