starving angel!!

[waterpretty^O^]

1. I've got algae- snails will help, right? Anything else I can do?

2. I have two angels and one of them is having trouble with the flake food. The other has grown a ton since I bought them, but the first is small, and when I watch him eat he seems to be spitting out the flake food or glancing at it and then ignoring it. Should I change his food or what?

[Star_Rider]

have you tried other foods? like thawed frozen food? bloodworms?

it could simply be it does not care for the food.
I've got one large male that prefers flake over just about anything else.
most of the others will eat just about anything they can fit in their mouth.

Angels in general. will usually accept most foods with the occassional picky eater.

but keep an eye out.

[verbal]

1. I've got algae- snails will help, right? Anything else I can do?

Plecos are my favorite algae control method. If you go that route make sure it isn't one that gets too big for your tank. Bristlenose plecos are good algae eaters and don't get huge. Snails are effective, but can take over a tank and some will damage plants.




2. I have two angels and one of them is having trouble with the flake food. The other has grown a ton since I bought them, but the first is small, and when I watch him eat he seems to be spitting out the flake food or glancing at it and then ignoring it. Should I change his food or what?

Live food such as blackworms or brine shrimp is most likely to tempt him. My angels love thawed frozen brine shrimp. You might try freeze dried blood worms.

[Charlie Greiner]

Snails can work out well. The key is to remember the factors contributing to excessive algae - overfeeding and the resultant poor water quality. As food decomposes nitrogen compounds are produced. Think of these as algae food. The ways to control this are partial water changes and reduced feedings.

I tend to overfeed my fish. I also have times of the year when I am so busy (like tax season, I am a CPA) that I do not have the opportunity to do large water changes. As a result my snail population booms during the busy times. This is a good thing since my tank is in my office and needs to look good all the time.

After tax season I do more regular water changes and the snail population reduces because of the lowered food supply (algae and leftover fish food). They simply do not have the energy levels needed to reproduce and die off is not replaced by new snails. This week alone I have done 4 daily 1/3 water changes and expect to do another today. I already see a decline in the snail population.

I have MTS snails and use artificial plants so I do not experience plant consumption issues.

Essentially, your aquarium is a small world in which you control certain factors, water quality and food supplies being two of them. Feed the algae and it grows. Algae eating organisms will then grow in size and number. Reduce the food for the algae and the herbivires decline in number.

Charlie