Algea eaters (the fish) in livestock tanks?

Question

I recently heard about putting goldfish in livestock (mosty horses and cattle) water tanks to help keep the tanks cleaner. However I just read a post on here that said basically goldfish weren't a good idea b/c they don't normally eat algea. What about the algea eaters? Those sucker fish? Would they work?

Answer 1

Well we just clean our water tanks out and scrub them. It's probably not healthy for your animals to be drinking water when the algea eater is using it as their bathroom.

Answer 2

I was looking on the web for an answer for you and came across this website more messages and answers on this subject. The best solution I read was:
If your livestock tank is in the sun the algae will grow faster than if it were in the shade. So, if possible move your tank to a shaded area where less algae will grow in your tank.
I also think you can put Koi fish in your livestock tanks to help cut back on the algae.

Answer 3

Putting any kind of fish in a livestock tank only temporarily interrupts the algae growing cycle it works like this----water+ ammonia(any organic compound)+sunlight = algae---- adding fish just changes the source of the ammonia.---- fish +algae=fish poop= ammonia ---- which when added to water and sunlight = algae.
The best solution would be to take away the sunlight or empty and refill the tank weekly.

Answer 4

African Dwarf Frogs. Also, yes the combo you suggested works. Personally, I love Rasboras so I'm gonna suggest about 10 of them too. And on the Glofish and Gourami, maybe 4 each.

Answer 5

Think about it, you are putting a fish in a trough that will sit there and poop. Do you want your livestock drinking fish poop? Fish don't belong in troughs, they would soon die because of the poor water quality, lack of oxygenated water, and the stress of large animals all around them. Just give in and clean the trough!

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