Babies and Algae Eater

[wolfnature]

Howdy everyone,

I am relatively new to fish and aquariums (about 5 months) and am definately still learning.

I started with a 10 gallon tank and currently have 2 swordtails, 2 guppies, 1 chinese algae eater, and 1 dwarf frog. I recently purchased a 6 gallon tank to use as a breeding tank (after some surprise babies ). I have had the tank setup for about 3 weeks and have had the babies in there for almost 2 weeks (they're doing great).

I am considering adding a chinese algae eater to the breeding tank because I am already getting quite a bit of algae on the tank walls. The chinese algae eater I have in the 10 gallon tank does a great job of keeping things clean and gets along with everyone, so I think one would do good in the new tank. My question is if there are any possible negative aspects to this. I'm not sure if this will have a bad effect on the babies. There are currently 9 baby swordtails in the tank and are a bit over a month old and are big enough to not be eaten

Thanks for any advice.

 

[NJ Devils Fan]

to Aquaria Central wolfnature.

How often do you clean the tank, I mean do a water change?

 

[kveeti]

The problem is a Chinese algae eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) will get much too big for your 6 gallon breeder. You won't be able to move him to the 10 gallon after, because even that tank will eventually be too small for the one already in there. They grow to over 6 inches and zoom around fast, they need a large tank.

p.s. Welcome to Aquaria Central.

 

[pinballqueen]

I'll be the first one to point out that c.a.e.'s are not nice forever...they will develop a mean streak when they reach full size. It could depend on the individual fish, but all of them I have had have started picking on slow movers when they got up to 3 or 4 inches.

Otherwise, seems like a great idea....just keep an eye on the cae for signs of aggression....

 

[wolfnature]

Thank you for the quick response.

Most of the stuff I've seen led me to believe that the chinese algae eater gets to be 2 to 3 inches (mine is a little over an inch now). I don't know if it makes a difference but I have a golden chinese algae eater

Is there an algae eater that will stay small that would be good to add (perhaps a flying fox)?

I've been doing water changes every 4 or 5 days on both of the tanks.

 

[kveeti]

Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not sure about the golden variety, except that they are awfully cute! The couple places I quickly checked said 4-5 inches, so perhaps they are a bit smaller.

A flying flox would grow too big.

There's otos (otocinclus) that stay really small, but I believe they only eat brown algae. I've heard some people say their otos eat green. But otos like to be in groups, you'd have to get at least 3 and they are delicate.

Could you perhaps switch your algae eater to the breeder temporarily? That's not really a long-term solution, you certainly don't want to have to keep switching him back and forth.

 

[wolfnature]

I had thought about maybe putting the one I have in there for a while to clean up. But I was also looking for something that could stay in there permanently (or at least for a long period of time).

Wouldn't I need to keep something in there full time to keep the cycle going? I've thought about using the tank to experiment with live plants also. Would live plants help control the algae and keep the tank cycled?

I know. Lots of questions.

 

[kveeti]

Questions are a good thing. I just wish I could help more, hopefully somebody else will chime in with better advice!

OK, your 6 gal has been set up for only about 3 weeks. From what I understand algae problems are common in newly set up tanks. The balance is still working out. What colour is the algae? Is it covering everything or just a film on the glass? Basically, an algae eater is part of the solution but not the fix. There are causes for algae and it takes experimentation to find the cause and change the conditions.

You said you do water changes every 4 to 5 days - what percentage?

What kind (fluorescent/incadescent) lighting do you have on this tank, what amount (wattage) and how long do you leave the lights on? Do you have any plants in there now? Do you have test kits - what is your nitrAte reading? What is your feeding schedule and amount for the babies?

Does anybody else know if a snail would be a good idea and what kind (so it wouldn't reproduce and take over)?

Plants would help, but will not keep your cycle going if there are no fishies in the tank. I am assuming you are going to put the babies back into the 10 gallon? If they are 4 weeks old, no doubt you will have more babies very soon to take their place. Or, you could just leave 1 or 2 in there.

 

[wolfnature]

There isn't really a heavy build-up of algae (after re-reading my original message it sounds worse than it is). I've notice over the past few days some algae on the wall of the tank (near the top). It's green algae and hasn't taken over anything, I was just hinking I would try to control it before it gets too bad.

When I do water changes I change out roughly 1/3 and vacuum the gravel.

I have a flourescent light, but not sure of the wattage (It's an Eclipse 6 system if that helps). The light is on for about 12 hours a day (which I knew is on the high side, and is probably contibuting to the algae growth). I have been testing the water and all the parameters have been reading fine. I feed them twice a day (in the morning and in the evening when I get home) and just give them a small amount of some crushed flakes. Every couple days I feed them a little bit of frozen brine shrimp now that they are bigger.

I currently have a couple of fake plants and some rock decorations in the tank, but no live plants now.

Just out of curiousity, how do some other people handle their breeding tanks? Do you leave something in there all the time to keep the cycle going and then take it out when you get babies? Or do you leave it empty? This is my first batch of babies, and as you said kveeti, I'm sure I will have plenty more in the future.

Thank you fo r all the advice so far.

 

[pinballqueen]

Turning off the light would probably slow the algae growth a little. I just turn my lights on when I'm looking in the tank. Since you don't have any (wanted) plant life in there, there is no need to have the light on, really.

I wasn't trying to discourage you from getting a cae, I was just pointing out that they sometimes get a little "curious" with fish that are slow-moving...I've never had them with fish that were small (and I stay away from livebearers, personally, my preference is to big, showy fish, so I've never seen them interact with something that little). On the plus side, you could leave the cae in the tank to keep the cycle going once you move the babies over to the larger tank....

Good luck!