FishProfiles.com Message Forums

why are people so lazy with algae. you can just remove it most of the time."i need an algae eater" most of the time is either a cover for wanting another fish or there just being lazy. unless you really like the fish or there is algae you cant remove physically. you shouldn't get an algae eater of any kind. as common plec and chinese algae eaters are some of the most abused fish

if u have hair algae, an algae eater is almost impossible not to get. I have never found a product to get rid of hair algae. Also, if you rip hair algae off of what it is on, it's spores will spread, and there will be 10 times what was there.

i agree 100% with you greenmonkey and with a small tank an algae eater just takes up stocking room that is at a premium. and with hair algae..never had it.

cfd

--------------------------
Billy was a scientist, Billy is no more. For what he thought was H20, was H2SO4

Unfortunately, some algae eaters are abused by their owners who got them simply to eat algae.. but chances are they are abusing ALL their fish as well. I can understand what you are saying is as much as people that know nothing about their fish's requirements buying algae eaters just because they think they " have to have" one to eat their algae, even though it will outgrow the tank and they don't supplement their algae diet with anything else so it dies and they just go out and buy another one. However, the statement you wrote was pretty general, so I'm going to have to disagree with it. I personally am not lazy, nor do I need excuses to buy fish, including algae eaters. I am an adult, I make my own money, and if I want a fish or shrimp or snail to eat algae then I am going to get one or twenty. Do I have to really, really like them in order to care for them properly? No.

I agree with RoboFish.

Hair algae is the protist from hell. It covers everything, smothers plants, and makes your gravel look like a grassy field. It is nearly impossible to remove manually or with chemicals, so basically the only solution is the get the one fish that is known to eat this stuff - The Siamese algae eater.

These fish relish hair algae, and mine was all gone withing a month.

Now if it is that plain old cyanobacteria or green spot algae on the sids of the tank, that can be removed pretty easily, getting a fish to eat it is pretty pointless. Remember, that algae doesn't just "disappear" when a fish eats it. It comes out of the other end of the fish and pollutes the tank. Removing it by hand does not pollute the tank at all. So, in this case, GreenMonkey, I agree with you. Getting an algae eater is just another excuse for laziness or to get another fish.

BTW: Here is a picture of what hair algae does to your tank (or my tank, in this case):

[/font]

[span class="edited"][Edited by Cory Addict 2004-07-14 20:47][/span]

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I don't NEED an algae eater, but I do like to have one. The ten gallon is sufficiently taken care of by the algae-grazing guppies and the low light doesn't produce much in the way of algae in the first place. The twenty gallon, however has high light and none of the fish there like to add algae to their diets.

Could I clean the algae up myself? Yes, with a lot of work (porous rainbow rocks and detailed decor aren't easy to clean) and effort. It could be done, but I adore plecos and algae eaters in general. Why should I throw out algae that a fish would love to have? Besides, then I got to stare in fascination as my plec plastered himself to his favorite treat - zucchini.

To my sadness, my BN plec swam on to that big fish tank in the sky last weekend. I miss him, my tank misses him, and there's algae growing for the plec who comes to pick up his job where he left off.

I do agree that the poor common plec is one of the more abused fish, though. I remember back to the time when my mom was keeping fish, about a dozen years ago. Those silly plecs that the fish store swore would only get to three or four inches were eventually 11 and 13 inches before they moved on to a friend with a much bigger tank. Which was good, considering that by that time, they stretched more than halfway across the tanks they were in. I'd like to travel back in time and slap some LFS employees.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I think rosy barbs will eat hair algae.

my BN plec swam on to that big fish tank in the sky last weekend

Kitten I didn't know about that. I'm so sorry, I know how much you liked your BN

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

my hair algae was and is still a moreb brownish-black. Your's looks green. My problem is a 7 inch Jack Dempsey that wont let anything that isn't its size in the tank because it still has inch long fry in the tank! I have a common plec that is around 6 inches in there with it now. IT has auctually been doing an okay job at getting rid of it. That and my lighting only being on 5 hours a day...

EDIT: It also appears in "tufts." It is the most annoying thing that satan could have put in a fish tank.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Robofish 2004-07-15 09:57][/span]

i have a Clown Plecostomus and he seems to do a very good job with keeping the algae down. he has not reached full grown yet(3-5 inches long) and is good for a 20 gallon but probably not anything bigger. he mainly likes to clean when the lights are off during the night.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
20 Gallon Album
5 Gallon Album

I have to say that 1. The Hassle of cleaning out the algae yourself 2. The algae that is near impossible to get rid of 3. The time it takes to remove algae, is not worth it. Going out and buying an algae eater is a quick fix, just make sure you are purchasing an algae eater that will not outgrow your tank and that you can care for. For example, don't go out and buy a common pleco for a ten gallon. Know what you are buying first.

I think sometimes it is easy to accuse people on this message board of incorrect fish care and incorrect knowledge. It is easy to sit at home and type away at all the things that you think is wrong yet you know you have done yourself at one point in your fish keeping life. Let's try to help people learn the proper way insted of jumping on everybody everytime they post a comment that we know is wrong.

Theresa -

Yeah, I found my poor lil BN almost a week ago... sad, sad day. My sister took care of him as I sat on the bed attempting to absorb the fact that he was gone. I loved that little guy.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

kj fishy, clown pl*cos don't eat algae seehttp://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loricari/panaque/734_f.php they are a wood eating pl*co

cfd

--------------------------
Billy was a scientist, Billy is no more. For what he thought was H20, was H2SO4

Personally, I think algae eating fish are cool...just because....

I love my Hillstream Loaches, they're a really cool fish. They do a great job at keeping algae down