My son has an aquarium and is good about keeping it clean. There are no live plants and we only buy rather inexpensive goldfish because they are attractive and because it’s cheaper to replace when they die.
The problem is with algae and I’m not sure what to do about it. I have a good quality pump/filter but the filter clogs weekly and the pump clogs up about every three months. I tried once to clean out the pump and only succeeded in ruining the motor.
I have used some anti-algae tablets (don’t know the name) but these don’t seem to work very well.
I did buy some algae eaters once but they died (maybe they weren’t acclimated long enough).
I had thought of starting over with a new tank, etc. but don’t want to spend the money unless necessary.
So, if anyone out there has any suggestions, I would welcome any of them.
Ummm…I think you’ve got bigger problems than the algae. If goldfish and algae eaters, two of the more hardy species in the pet trade, are dying in your tank on a regular basis, something’s seriously wrong. It sounds like you don’t have a water quality test kit, so I’d urge you to take a sample of the water in the tank to your friendly neighborhood pet shop, and have them test it. They’ll generally do this for free, if you’re a customer. It sounds like something is really “off”.
As for the algae, have you tried starting over, with the same tank? If not, next time the tank is unoccupied, empty it, clean the gravel, and let everything air dry for several days. Do you clean the gravel, as well as the walls of the tank? If not, you’ll never get rid of the problem, as there is more algae in the gravel than there is above it, most likely. And, the amount of algae growth can be controlled by the amount of light the tank gets. If you have the light on 18 hours a day, you’re going to get a fabulous crop of algae. Minimal light = minimal algae. This also applies to sunlight. Keep the tank away from windows. Which reminds me, if the tank is in a window, it could be the heat from the sun that’s killing your fish.
Overfeeding. It’s a hard lesson of childhood that you can’t feed the fish very often. A pinch once a day is more than enough. More food is just fodder for algae–and it rots, poisoning the water and killing fish.
Actually, overfeeding can kill the fish long befor algae can even develop, much less rot. Overfeeding produces decaying food, which produces ammonia – the #1 killer of aquarium fish.
Ammonia is converted by bacterial action into nitrites (also toxic, but less so), which are later converted into nitrates. Nitrates are effectively plant food, which is why common fertilizers contain various nitrates. It is these nitrates upon which algae thrive.
So if you have an abundance of algae in your tank, that’s a good sign that you have too much ammonia accumulating in the water. The solution is to feed the fish sparingly, and to perform a partial water change regularly. Most knowledgeable aquarium owners would recommend changing about a third of the water every two weeks. (Do not change out much more than that, as the sudden change in water chemistry can be fatal to the fish.)
Also, goldfish create the most ammonia of any tank-suitable fish, so it doesn’t shock me that your algae eaters died. Generally, it’s best to keep goldfish by themselves.
Is the tank in the sun? Do you leave the tank light on for more than eight hours a day? Both of these can lead to increased algae growth.
It’s apparently out of print now, but it’s a good basic guide to keeping fish, and keeping your tank healthy. I agree with the others who’ve posted here, you shouldn’t be losing goldfish and algae eaters unless there’s something wrong with your water.
There’s a lot more information I at least need to help you solve the problem. First and foremost–what is the size of the tank? Is it a standard 10 gallon, or smaller? What type of filter (canister, hanging-on-the-side, corner, undergravel, etc) are you using? How was the tank prepared and then set up? When you say “algae eater,” what variety are you referring to–the brown, minnow-like Chinese algae eater, or the heavier-body plecostamus? (Believe it or not, these can all factor in to why fish are dying–the algae can be affected by some of it, too.)
I have to speak up on this one–I’ve had tropical fish for 20+ years and have bred both African and South American cichlids, as well as bettas (although the male ate the eggs, the jerk!). I’ve had my share of successes with the more exotic fish species, so when I put a 10 gallon goldfish tank in my classroom, I thought it’d be no big deal.
Nope. I went through goldfish–and plecos–like popcorn in a movie theater. Treatment after treatment, water test after water test…nothing solved the problem. (Several had a particularly virulent case of anchor worm–NOTHING got rid of those little parasitic bastards!) Drove me nuts.
I finally just gave up and bought snakes.
urban1z, I use a magnetic algae remover–the kind where half is in the tank, half is magnetized to it on the outside of the tank. It doesn’t get the algae off the rocks/plants/etc., but keeps the glass very clean.
I just want to second Ruffian’s recommendation of the algae cleaner magnet. This is definitely the single most useful aquarium gadget I’ve ever purchased.
Ruffian got to it first, but we need to know your tank specs. What size tank? How often do you do water changes? Do you gravel vacuum? What kind of filter are you using?
Thanks for the replies everyone. I left some things out as being a little too TMI, but my son doesn’t live with me. He is moderately retarded and lives in a group home. I have no (or very little) control over the available light in his room and, although I have asked him to keep the aquariam light off, he likes to be able to see the fish.
The tank is 30 gallons. If I had more control over the situation, I would have not let him have the tank. He has no income so it devolves to me to provide the keep-up funds; somewhat more than I really wanted to pay.
On the issue of fish dying, I didn’t mean to imply that there was a constant turnover in fish, although sometimes he does have too many. I’m not too worried about this since we get only the $.25 feeders. I think the problem with the algae eaters (Chinese, I think) was that I didn’t let the water in the bag from the pet store warm up to tank water temperature before I let them out. I’ll try this option again.
Mike is good about changing water and cleaning the tank (once a week), but I’m sure he could do it better.
Is this goldfish tank heated? Because it doesn’t need to be, and in fact, shouldn’t be heated. Goldfish are not tropical fish and cooler water will likely reduce the algae (possibly).
But don’t try it with Chinese algae eaters! Dang. Those things are nasty. Very agressive.
No, next time get yourself an otocinclus. Cute, inoffensive little guys. Or since you’ve got a thirty gallon, maybe a pleco. I find plecos very charming, myself, and they get to be about a foot long. But you may want to check temps–as already mentioned, goldfish don’t like warm water, but plecos and otocinclus do. Maybe goldfish aren’t your best option?
Anyway, I just want to repeat–do not get any Chinese algae eaters! You were lucky the first one didn’t survive.
No, they aren’t. There are two species which resemble each other were much. The false chinese algae eater (Epalzeorhynchus sp. or Garra taeniata) and The chinese algae eater (Crossocheilus siamensis).
The false is agressive towards other fish, though mostly its own kind. The true siamensis is a peaceful schooling fish. It’s highly recommendable as an algae eater.