Algae Eaters - Bottom Feeders Needed ???

Cribbinator

Cribbinator

Fish are Friends, Not Food
May 26, 2004
89
0
0
Alpharetta, GA
www.thecribbs.com
Hello,

I had a quick question. Do you need to have Algae Eaters and/or Bottom Feeders in a tank in order to prevent algae from forming ? The reason I ask is that I have a 26 gallon bowfront tank and I am planning on putting in fish that live in the middle to high range of the tank and not on the bottom. I don't want to purchase a Plec because the tank is too small for almost all Plecs I've seen so that is why I was wondering if it was ok to not have one and if I would run into an algae problem if I didn't.

Thanks,

James
 
You don't HAVE to have an algae eater. However, there are smaller algae eaters out there, including some non-fish species. There are other people on this site that have more experience with them. So, I’ll let them tell you about certain species. If you really do not want to have an algae eater there are things you can do to limit algae growth. You should make sure that you do not keep the light on to long. Different species like different amount of light, find out want you fish like and limit the light to that much. Also do not over feed. Over feeding will add nutrients to water and can encourage algae growth. Third, clean the sides of the tank and the gravel. When algae starts to form you can take it out by using an aquarium scrub brush, or magnetic scrubber on the wall. After scrubbing Change the water and vacuum the gravel. You will still have some algae, but hopefully it will not get out of control.
 
Bottom feeders aren't necessarily to eliminate algae. from my point of view, they stir up junk and eat other junk. They are good to have and if I was a little more read on them, I'd probably have more benefits to add.

If you have/anticipate and algae problem you need to find the source and not treat the symptoms. If you keep on top of things you probably won't have a problem.

to limit algae, you'd be better of being proactive... keeping the tank clean, water changes, not over feeding, watching you light period.

Adding plants will also do a good job, they use the nutrients that algae would.

My sig has bottom feeders. Cories are cute and you'd only need six. Mollies get it off the side of the glass but only if they are hungry.

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9
At that link at the bottom of the page it tells about living algae reducers. Definately check it out! It talks about fish as well as ammano shrimp.
 
Thanks for the replies. Yes I'll definitely have to be proactive about it. I think the problem I had before with algae was caused from me leaving the light on way too long. Hopefully I won't have a problem this time around with the new tank setups.

As for the Cories, I wanted to get a couple but I noticed that for all the Cories that it states to have soft sandy subtrate. Unfortunatley I am using medium-small sized gravel. Are there any Cories that should be ok with this type of subtrate ? I really like the Panda Cories.

Thanks,

James
 
THey have soft substrate because jagged stuff could hurt their barbels, on their face, that skims the bottom. It could scrape or cut them. Then I am assuming they risk infection.

I have gravel and pebbles in my tank. I haven't noticed any ill effects. Definately no infection. I also don't think that others have had problems with cories and gravel. They are popular fish, and it seems having sand substrate isn't. I'd expect if it was more of an issue, there would be a lot more posts on here about it. IMO

I have emerald, with a nice green tint. I only have 4, which is an ok #. 6 is optimal for the least amount. My loaches tend to school with them anyway.

The panda ones or the pepper cories look neat as well. There are dwarf cories if you are worried about space or bioload.
 
i reccomend you do get one but get like a loach instead of a pleco.
Click to expand...

Most loaches like to be in groups of their own kind, and aren't really known for their algae eating, so I don't think they would be very effective:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom