good algae eater for a 10g tank?

troy272

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Aug 21, 2005
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just today my rubber lipped pleco died and i would like to get a new algae eating fish as soon as i can so that way i dont have to worry about getting algae as easily as i would without one. what would you reccommend for a 10g tank. my tank specs are in my signature. i was thinking maybe some ottos but what would you guys reccommend?

thanks,
Troy
 
Honestly, since your tank is so overstocked, I wouldn't recommend adding more fish to it at this point. You'd be better off buying one of those magnetic algae scrapers and doing it by hand.
 
Satin and Tat said:
Honestly, since your tank is so overstocked, I wouldn't recommend adding more fish to it at this point. You'd be better off buying one of those magnetic algae scrapers and doing it by hand.

i do have one. and some algae fix chemical stuff i have rarely used. i had algae one time and it got rid of it within a week. could i use that and the scraper? also do catfish eat algae? i dont think so but im just curious.


thanks
 
Do the snails eat algae? I have a 10g with some snails and I have never had an algae problem. I keep rummy nose tetra, don't think they eat algae.

If the snails do eat the algae I'd think that would be a good alternative for you.
 
ack.z06 said:
Do the snails eat algae? I have a 10g with some snails and I have never had an algae problem. I keep rummy nose tetra, don't think they eat algae.

If the snails do eat the algae I'd think that would be a good alternative for you.

i would think so too but im worried about the reproduction. dont they reproduce alot? or are there any snail species that dont reproduce? and are they agressive?
 
They do seem to be reproducing at a good clip. I figure fishing a few snails out of the tank is easier than dealing with algae.

The fish seem to be indifferent to the snails and the snails to the fish.
 
snails aren't agressive at all, and if you get ramshorns or mystery snails, the eggs are easy to remove. snails are pretty lazy though and won't go through the effort of eating the algae when there are food bits hanging around. also, your goldfish might develop a taste for them.
 
When I had a snail in my extremely lightly fed 10g he did nothing for the algae. Not sure what kind it was though. Most catfish won't really eat algae, they may pick at it, but not enough to make a dent. I would avoid using chemicals to clean the algae, its always best to avoid putting junk into the tank unless absolutely necessary. Otos would be a choice in theory, but from what I understand they can be very sensitive to water conditions and with 2 goldfish in a 10g I don't think they would do very well :o !! I think elbow grease is really the very best option here, if you keep up on it, it shouldn't get that out of hand
 
yeah, less food, more water changes, healthy cycle. getting another fish will only add problems, best to kill the algae at the source by not having nutrients available for it.
 
wataugachicken said:
yeah, less food, more water changes, healthy cycle. getting another fish will only add problems, best to kill the algae at the source by not having nutrients available for it.

BINGO... and getting rid of one or both of those goldfish.
 
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