I put him in a 5 gallon tank with 2 guppies, 2 tiger barbs, and a very, very friendly female Platy. What do I feed the algae eater? I know he eats algae, but do I have to feed him something else as well? I never had an algae eater so someone answer this question.
2007-07-20 06:55:30 · 13 answers · asked by Kagomey 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Algae Eaters get 8 inches long and their growth is in no way restricted by their environment. Get rid of the Algae Eater or get a bigger tank (20+ gallons). Also, 5 gallons is not enough room for Tiger Barbs, they are very active, nippy fish that each get 3 inches long. If you insist on keeping/killing your Algae Eater, get him some sinking algae wafers. I give my fish Omega One Veggie Rounds.
Nosoop4u
2007-07-20 07:36:37 · answer #1 · answered by nosoop4u246 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
If there isn't a lot of algae in the tank; you can buy like an algae supplement at any local pet store.
2007-07-20 08:03:59 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The pet store sells Algae chips specifically for algae eaters. When we gave them to ours the algae eaters loved them and grew bigger. It's usually in the fish food section. We didn't have much algae in our tank to keep them happy and the chips did the trick. We found that without live plants there really wasn't much for the algae eaters to eat. Hope this helps :)
2007-07-20 07:06:40 · answer #3 · answered by Zoozy 4 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Algae wafers are what ours enjoys. Usually he'll snack on the algae on the walls of the tank and the decorations in there but its not enough so we give him a wafer at night when he's active. When ours got aggresive we gave him zuchinni pieces, he loved it and was a happy camper once again.
2007-07-20 07:19:56 · answer #4 · answered by f1mudvayne29 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
You have all that in a five gallon? Poor things. Algae eaters get to be a foot long, so I would try to rethink all your many fish in that itsy bitsy tank. It's mean for the other fish too since they like to swim, but it will also be unable to keep up with all the waste they put out.
2007-07-20 07:16:38 · answer #5 · answered by boncarles 5 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Nothing really. they are there to get that green icky gooey stuff that is in your tank.
If you worry about your algae eater not having enough algae then buy algae disks. you buy just about every pet store and at Wal-Mart.
2007-07-20 07:39:00 · answer #6 · answered by beaglepuppylove 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It's a good idea to feed them a couple times per week, since algae is rarely enough to sustain them for a long and healthy life. You can buy spirulina tablets for them, or feed veggies like zucchini, cucumber, spinach, and leafy lettuce. Seaweed well rinsed of salt is really good for them too.
Be careful with pleco's though - many species, including the common pleco, grow much, much too big for your little tank, and it's important to only go with dwarf species if you want what's best for them.
2007-07-20 07:02:03 · answer #7 · answered by Ghapy 7 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Most pet stores sell algae discs, which algae eaters love. He'll also eat zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, and maybe even potato slices.
~ZTM
2007-07-20 07:32:48 · answer #8 · answered by ZooTycoonMaster 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
it eats the algae.
2007-07-20 11:24:15 · answer #9 · answered by Jason P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if your aquarium is newer then get some algea tablets but if your aquarium has had fish and been going for a while it will be perfectly fine. (by the way the algea tablets wour hurt your aquarium at all)
2007-07-20 07:40:36 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋