Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: GersBantamJR on October 29, 2015, 07:12:46 PM
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Hello, my tank is almost 2 months old and I am in desperate need of an algae eater. The community creator doesn't tell how good the fish are at eating the algae (if that makes sense)
I have assassin snails so that means I can't have other types of snails
Tank measurements 61 (long), 31 (wide), 45.5 (tall)
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And with the fish you have I wouldn't recommend shrimps either.
Most of the fish that eat algae grow to big for your tank.
The smallest plec (bristlenoses) need a longer tank.
Otocinclus don't eat that much algae, preferring just one type. And you'd need a shoal of those.
I usually recommend nerite snails, but as you say that's not an option with assassins.
Do you have a lot of algae? Since there is a shortage of suitable algae eaters it could be worth looking at why if you do have a lot.
Do you have live plants in the tank? If you don't, the lights could be too bright/on too long. This could apply if you do have live plants.
And with live plants, for them to out-compete with algae you need to get the light-nutrient-CO2 level balance right.
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I have some live plants and plastic plants and the light is on 6 hours a day because the tank has some natural light from a small window behind it. The algae is mainly a light brown and is on the bog wood and plastic plants. I also have a some hair algae on the edge of my live plants.
I was thinking of Pygmy Cories or is my tank too small?
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Cories aren't algae eaters, they are omnivores. I have some pygmies and habrosus (salt & pepper in the profiles on here) and I've never seen them touch algae. They need to be fed small sinking pellets with meat (fish) content.
But if you like them as fish, they will fit in your tank no problem. Mine are in a 60 x 30cm tank. My only concern would be if your bolivian rams are a male and female and they decide to spawn. Cories never learn to stay out of other fish's territory and can be picked on by spawning cichlids.
If your tank gets sunlight that, in addition to tank lights, could be the source of your problem.
Brown algae is usually diatoms, and this is often the result of ammonia in the water. Do you test for ammonia and nitrite? The good news is that it is easily washed off decor. The green algae on the plant tips is trickier. I've learned to live with it.
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My nitrite was 0.0 this morning and ammonia was at 0.6.
I always thought that cories were algae eaters because of the way they look to be cleaning the bottom. However I now presume that they are foraging for good. I learn something new about fish everyday.
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If you can get them you should look out for Stiphodon, another forum member started a subject a while ago and I was fortunate enough to get three.
They eat all kinds of algae, voraciously, even the Blue-Green (which isn't algae but bacteria)
http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,1917.0.html
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/search/Stiphodon
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I should have remembered about those from your thread.
Make sure you look at the smaller species as the bigger ones need a tank longer than 60cm.
If your ammonia was 0.6, you may need to do something about it - meaning water changes to get it down. But first, look at this calculator (https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/FreeAmmonia.php). Ammonia exists in 2 forms in water - toxic ammonia and much less toxic ammonium. But our test kits test for them both combined so we can't tell from the test results if we have too much of the toxic form. That's what the calculator is for. Enter your ammonia reading, temp and pH on the left, and set salinity to 0. After you've clicked calculate, you want the bottom figure on the right hand side, the one labelled NH3 concentration. If it is below 0.02 that's fine. If it is above 0.02 you need to do a water change to get it below 0.02. The volume of water change depends on just how far above 0.02 it is.
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hi guys...
how easy are these to get hold of ?
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Sounds like you're being given some good suggestions here.
Incidentally, I may have posted in the past about my pygmy cories (RIP) eating algae, so, if you did happen to read about that, that actually only lasted for their first few months when they did a brilliant job of cleaning up the algae from the silk plants and devouring algae wafers - but then suddenly stopped. It sounds as though this isn't usual cory behaviour, though, and, for a variety of reasons, I'd suggest you go with these other suggestions.
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I agree with Extreme_One, Stiphodon are exceptional algae eaters for the smaller tank. Since putting mine in I have had to actively encourage algal growth in order to keep it fed! My lights are now on 12 hours a day! They are often marketed by Maindenhead Aquatics as Indonesian Rock Gobies and cost anything from £4 to around £20. The males are usually brightly coloured, whilst the females are relatively drab in appearance. I also have 3 nerites and a few remaining shrimp in my tank and I now barely have any algae at all.
On the note about assassin snails and nerites, I have both in my tank without problem. You just need to ensure you buy large nerites and not the small horned varieties. I got a great deal on ebay by searching 'neritina' where I got 5 for £6 delivered! At that price you may as well have a go in my opinion...
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I just remembered, stiphodon require a high oxygen content. Don't keep them in an overstocked or tank with little surface agitation or small filter/low turnover as they won't do well. They ideally like a river type setup with a turnover of at least 10x volume per hour and pristine water.
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Also, they can climb up glass so you need a well fitting hood!
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On the note about assassin snails and nerites, I have both in my tank without problem. You just need to ensure you buy large nerites and not the small horned varieties.
That's good to know.
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:-( kind of a shame,i don't have the right set up,just the algae.
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I haven't got a river setup, but a huge filter with a turnover of at least 10x an hour. The tank is around 60% stocked and my Stiphodon does fine. I think turnover is more important than flow if that makes sense!
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I haven't got a river set up either.
I have Stiphodon Ornatus and they live in slow-flowing streams in nature, so I don't need a flow in my tank.
Good quality, well oxygenated water, along with a plentiful food source seems to be the key to keeping them happy.
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i don't suppose any of you guys have got any pictures of
them in your aquariums that you would share do you ? :fishy1:
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would a powerful airpump and air stone oxygenate the water enough?
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i don't suppose any of you guys have got any pictures of
them in your aquariums that you would share do you ?
- See more at: http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,2157.msg20503/topicseen.html#new
It might also help to google videos of fish you like, to see how they behave/move around and the different set-ups they're in - lots of people have put videos of their fish on YouTube.
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Good quality, well oxygenated water, along with a plentiful food source seems to be the key to keeping them happy.
Hit the nail on the head there.
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i don't suppose any of you guys have got any pictures of
them in your aquariums that you would share do you ? :fishy1:
http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,1917.msg20321.html#msg20321
would a powerful airpump and air stone oxygenate the water enough?
I reckon so. FWIW I don't run an airstone.
I have a fair bit of surface agitation created by my filter outlet.
I also run a tiny 2nd filter at the opposite end of the tank which I keep cycled ready for use in a quarantine tank, and whilst in my main tank produces a little extra circulation and surface agitation.
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thank you all for your help and taking the time to post the links:-)
wow,what a beautiful colour,was he like that when you bought him,
or after he settled in ?
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Ahhh, that 'blue' one is directly beneath a blue LED light on the front glass. ::)
The other photos show their natural colour.
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well they're very nice.
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well they're very nice.
Thank you. I'm fairly sure the three I have are all females as they're not showing the stunning colours a male is capable of.
However, I really like them and it's a bit of an event in my house when we are able to spot all three at the same time. Sad I know lol !
I've asked my LFS to reserve me a striking coloured male if/when they get one in stock.
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maidenhead aquatics in wembley have some.
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No idea where everyone lives, but MA in Bordon near Farnham has a huge variety and at the best prices I've seen.
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Hmmm, bit far for me. Now if you'd said the MA in Stokesley, I would have been off to have a look ;D
I've just looked at MA's website and the one you mention looks huge compared to the Stokesley branch, and my nearer one in Stockton is the smallest MA I've ever been in.
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No idea where everyone lives, but MA in Bordon near Farnham has a huge variety and at the best prices I've seen.
Not very far from me, but, unfortunately since the car was written-off and we have to rely on public transport, it is too far too travel to.
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Sorry to hear about the car, but if you get a chance to go it's worth a visit.
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my nearest MA (Wakefield) do Indonesian Rock Gobies for €10 each (I mean pound sterling but that button doesn't work on my PC)! I don't know if that's good or bad.
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my nearest MA (Wakefield) do Indonesian Rock Gobies for €10 each (I mean pound sterling but that button doesn't work on my PC)! I don't know if that's good or bad.
I'm not sure which species this is, it's not on Seriously Fish.
The thing is, sometimes it seems in the aquarium trade, fish are sold under names that you wouldn't usually associate with that species.
I wouldn't be surprised to see one Stiphodon species in one LFS sold under this label, and another species of Stiphodon in a different LFS going by the same name.
If you do a Google Image search (https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Indonesian+rock+Goby&safe=off&prmd=ivsn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMI2PrpsKaByQIVxBw-Ch1AZwdq&biw=600&bih=960) you see all different Stiphodons coming up.
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It'll probably be Stiphodon semoni, though they're often mis-sold as they're not the easiest fish to identify.