Best Cleanup crew for cichlids
- Thread starter TStone23
- Start date
ryansmith83;4549475; said:I'm not so sure, but I'll try splitting up the water changes. Before I moved here, I had the same tank, lights, filters, water change schedule, and a heavier bioload (more fish). That tank received sunlight about 6 hours a day and I left the lights on most of the time. I never saw algae then. Now it comes back after a few days and it just blankets everything. This happens in every tank in my house now. All that changed was my water.
Usually I don't mind scrubbing, but fry tanks + growout tanks + two big show tanks = full time job. I'll take any little bit of help I can get.
It's not a problem for most people, but it's possible you have silicates or phosphate (maybe both in Florida) in your water. In that case, probably nothing except installing an RO unit will be of any real help. I've been there, and done that in coastal SC.
hillbilly;4549507; said:It's not a problem for most people, but it's possible you have silicates or phosphate (maybe both in Florida) in your water. In that case, probably nothing except installing an RO unit will be of any real help. I've been there, and done that in coastal SC.
Yes, it's phosphates. There's also a hint of nitrates in the water right out of the tap. Those are the first two test kits I bought when I knew I was moving. Everyone told me the water here was awful for fish tanks. Everything spawns like crazy for me so they love something about it, but most of the time the tanks don't look pretty.
I have a tiger oscar and GT they're both quite smalle probably under 2.5" each, my main concern is waste and un eaten food on the bottom of my tank, I have my tank in my basement so the only light that my tank gets is from the light canopy (40 watts) so I don't think algea is going to be a huge problem for me.
A siphon hose was mentioned earlier and yes I do have one (love it) when I do water changes I siphon the gravel, but I know I'm not getting it all, I have live plants in my tank (yes I know they won't last long with an oscar) but they might have a chance if they root well enough.
A siphon hose was mentioned earlier and yes I do have one (love it) when I do water changes I siphon the gravel, but I know I'm not getting it all, I have live plants in my tank (yes I know they won't last long with an oscar) but they might have a chance if they root well enough.
I'm tellin ya, a few Siamese will make it purty. Idk if pyramid was confused or making a new suggestion, but Siamese are very different from ottos. They get upwards of 5 inches, which should be plenty big enough to stay out of your cichlids mouths, and if not, they're cheap.
TStone23;4549568; said:
I understand. That is why gravel is the worst substrate a person can use. There is no way to ever keep it completely clean, unlike a thin layer of sand, in which the debris ride on top of it and easily siphoned away. Good luck with that Oscar. My money says your plants will be destroyed by it sooner or later. It's equally tough to have a clean tank with a fish such as an oscar, that blows food out the gills. Any living creature you put in that tank for cleanup will eventually be destroyed by either the O, or the GT.
USFallingFire;4549591; said:
They will work for a while. The problem with them, is sooner or later they discover that fish food tastes better than algae, then they stop eating algae, and start competing for fish food. It's OK I guess if you don't have algae problems. What I'm saying is they are mostly "temporary" algae eaters at best.
I would be inclined to believe you're unfortunate experience most likely comes from the more common petstore lookalike chinese algae eaters, which like most plecos, stop eating algae as they grow. Shops very often mislabel them, either out of ignorance or to make them more desirable. You want the real deal, 1 set of barbels, all the imposters have 2.
