Are algae wafers bad?

M

Millersmom

millersmom
Nov 29, 2008
8
0
0
Washington State
I am new to this aquarium thing. Several weeks back I treated my tank with an algae product, that made my fish sick - killing one, and damaging another. On Friday - I bought a Garra Ping Pingi algae eater. I was told that it would be perfect for my freshwater, unheated tank with goldfish in it.

Well, when I feed him an algae wafer - I've noticed that they make a mess. I take them out after he has fed a bit - so that they don't spoil the water. I am noticing that my nitrate and nitrite are going up every day. I partially cleaned the tank yesterday, sucking out debris - but the nitrates are getting higher. Is it the algae wafers, or the additional of another fish? I don't want to do a partial water change daily - but did one yesterday, and added "Prime" and the levels are still going up slowly. I am such a nervous owner - I don't know what to do. I don't want to kill any more of them - I want to keep them healthy. Please advise
 
How many gallons are in the tank? How long has the tank been set up? What are the inhabitants? Are you using a liquid test kit to test the parameters?

In the future never ever buy a fish without first researching the fish's needs. Never buy a fish to fix an algae problem either. Getting rid of the algae is your job, not a fish's.
 
another ? would be how old is the tank it could be new tank not cycled yet but constant wc and useage of prime is a good way to go

albino bristle nose pleco are also a good fish to keep for algae issues

good job taking out the uneaten parts personally ive never really found algae wafers to be a bad thing but very necessary for a varied diet for my fish

i try to not put more food in my tank than the fish can eat before it hits the bottom except for my tanks where the fish prefer to eat off the bottom

and welcome to ac a great place to be if you have a tank

thought you would like this pic from another post considering your title

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175024
 
Algae wafers aren't bad but they are very easy to overfeed with. Look at how much the fish eats in a day and break up the disk to that amount.

Rising nitrites/nitrates and lots of algae is normally a sign of overstocking, overfeeding, and too much light.

In order to figure out what it is specifically we will need these questions answered.

How big is the tank?

How many goldfish and what types of goldfish do you have?

How long have you had the tank?

How often to you do a water change?

How much of a water change do you do?

Is the tank planted?

What kind and how much light does the tank get?
 
The tank currenly doesn't have any algae. I thought it would be a good thing to have an algae eater in case the algae started to develop. I had developed some brown algae previously - it was on the rocks and decorations. I did not know how to deal with it, and a person at the petstore sold me an algae product - and it killed one of my fish, and made the others sick. That's why I'd rather an algae eater - instead of chemicals. That's also why I'm feeding this guy algae wafers - since I completely cleaned the tank from the deadly chemicals, it's been clear of the algae. I was hoping this guy could help keep it that way.
 
I'd suggest picking up a gravel vac and sucking up the fish waste and food in the gravel, fish waste and un eaten food are the largest sources of nitrates. Also, what filiter are you useing on there? Having a proper filter will help out greatly with the bioload of fish and food.

Last, are you doing weekly water changes?
 
Tank is waay overstocked. Goldfish are poop machines, let alone yours grow to be a foot in length or longer. Do you have plans for a tank upgrade? You will probably need to do water changes every other day on that tank just to keep the parameters suitable. Rehome them all or start building a pond....

Research on how to clear up the specific algae. Using a product or a fish to eat the algae does not eliminate the root of the problem. Diatoms (brown) appear in new tanks and usually clear up on their own. Water changes, increased light, manual remover will also get rid of them.

In the future I would consider no longer trusting your Fish store's advice.
 
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