Aquarium cleaning/algae eaters?

Question

So I was having a problem with my fish dying everytime I did a water change. I boycotted cleaning my tank and have gone for 2 months now without cleaning, just topping the water off and have had no fatalities. I'm getting green algae and my snail isn't enough to clean it. What's a good algae eater that won't get too big? Does anyone else go this long without changing the water?

Answer 1

I have had customers that went longer than that, but when you have fish deaths during a water change, it means that you are not doing something right. Try smaller water changes, but do them more frequently. Use plenty of dechlorinator, it is really hard to overdose. You are getting the algae because your nitrates are climbing. Nitrate is basically one of the three main ingredients in fertilizer. Eventually your tank will crash, and any new fish added wont be able to handle the bad water conditions. Then you will be completely cleaning out your tank and wondering why all your fish died. The only way around this is live plants, and you will need alot of them, and a fairly thick gravel bed. Even with plants, you should do small waterchanges to keep everything going well.

Answer 2

In terms of the water changing deaths, the first thing I would check is whether or not your dechlorinator handles Chloramine as well as Chlorine. If your city puts Chloramine in the water, you will need a dechlorinator that can handle that. Next thing to check is what temperature is the water you are adding to the tank? Are you trying to get the temperature to be close to the temp in your tank? If not, the shock of a sudden temperature change can kill some fish. Next thing I would check is whether or not the bucket you use for water changes has ever been used for anything else. If it has ever held anything but water - e.g. cleaning producs - the residue may be in the bucket. Also, are you doing anything that may affect the filter during water changes? Regular cleaning is good for filters, but if you're using any type of chemical, or a chemical is present while you are cleaning it, it could be getting contaminated during cleaning.

It is important to narrow down what is causing the fish deaths at water changes since nitrates will build up over time, and are poisonous in large enough quantities. I keep live plants in my tank, but I still do water changes - although not as frequently as I probably should.

In terms of the algae issue, the first thing I would do is decrease the amount of time your lights are on. If you want to add some algae eating fish, it depends a bit on what is in your tank already. Otocinclus are a great little catfish (you want a group of them), but they are sensitive to water conditions, and are not suitable in an aggressive or semi-aggressive tank.

The siamese algae eaters - available both in golden and regular color - can be effective, but are more aggressive (especially as they get to their full size), and may bother your snail. You may want to try for one of the dwarf species of 'pleco' such as rubber lipped. For those, I would strongly recomend you go to a reputable fish store rather than a big box store like Petsmart or Petco, or a pet shop like Pet Ranch. You will get a healthier fish to start with, and the fish store should have more knowledgeble people that can help you and make sure you get the right fish.

Answer 3

There really is no algae eater (fish, snail, shrimp, or otherwise) that will keep algae 100% out of your tank.

Part of the algae problem is lighting and nutrients in your tank. If the tank is fully cycled, all the ammonia and nitrite is being converted to nitrate, which is a plant fertilizer. If you don't remove the nitrate by doing water changes, it will eventually lead to nitrate poisoning of your fish, or it will be used by algae for growth.

It's possible that if your tank was new, the deaths were due to ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning - these are more toxic to fish than is nitrate, and these build up in tanks that are newly set up, or have had medications (antibiotics) used in them recently. Since these compounds build up gradually, the fish can adapt slightly to their presence, but when you do a large water change, it "shocks" them - Bad to good conditions can be just as harmful as good to bad contions if they happen too quickly.

What you should do instead is do 25% water changes every week, and use a gravel vacuum to clean the gravel. Also be sure you aren't overfeeding your fish.

Answer 4

You need to clean the tank. No fish or snail can substitute maintenance. Algae Eaters get from 8-24 inches long and will be aggressive towards other fish as they mature. When you clean the tank, make sure you only clean about 20% of the water, and when you fill it back up, be sure to dechlorinate the water. Algae Eaters and Plecostomus really cause more algae (from nutrients in their waste) than they consume.

Nosoop4u

Answer 5

Plecos are great, but get really huge. I'm talking 12-24" and rather quickly. There are some shrimp that eat algae, I have a little skinny whitish colored one that does fairly well. It's not an albino I don't think, but they are easy to find.

Answer 6

Get like 3-4 Oto catfish they only get 1.5" and are GREAT algae eaters. :] I change my tanks water every weekend.

Answer 7

give each of your fish a tiny set of goggles. Something's going to give soon but I'm not sure which way it's going to go. Call the pet shop (that has a large amount of fish) and ask for help.

Answer 8

do you just change part of the water or are you tearing down the tank to clean it?

Answer 9

first make sure you have proper light, second my algea eater is a yellow color and I don't remember the long name, but ask at the store because this one doesn't get as big as the regular plecastamus type