What eats algae and not eggs?

[drewby23]

I recently took my abnp out because I have a breeding pair of convicts and jacks that both had eggs at the same time. I've never had an algae problem before and now am getting green algae all over the glass. What type of "algae eater" will not eat eggs? I've heard apple snails but they are illegal here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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[Kaosu]

snails love eggs.

oto cats don't eat eggs but might not stand up to those type of fish.

rarely is it wise to add a fish to fix a problem, I would suggest one of those magnetic algae scrubbers for the glass.

 

[Jrob]

most snails will still eat eggs
plecos will eat eggs...
some chinese algae eaters don't eat them... but it's a gamble

 

[Azedenkae]

Red Cherry Shrimps. They'll eat spoiled eggs, but leave good eggs alone. Though I have heard of stories of them resorting to good eggs when they completely run out of food (algae and stuff).

 

[quicklynx]

An algae scrubber filter system!

 

[drewby23]

I've been using an algae magnet but would rather not disturb the parents as much as possible. Not to mention it'd be less work for me and a reason to buy something else for my tank lol. Thanks for the suggestions I may try the shrimp, just not sure if my jacks would eat them or not.

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[Pomatomus]

Cons and JD's would probably eat cherry shrimp. Amano shrimp (aka japanese algae eating shrimp) are larger and cheaper, and also have heartier appetites, but they'd probably be food too. Plus the shrimp mostly eat hair algae and not algae film.

I would try to treat the cause as opposed to the symptom. What are your nitrates and phosphates like? How strong is your lighting? How about adding some plants to compete with the algae? Do you tend to overfeed?

Out of my 8 current tanks 4 grow algae. 2 of which are reef tanks which have strong lighting, but also snails which get rid of the algae as fast as it's produced. All of my tanks used to grow algae but I've either reduced the amount I feed them, reduced the stocking density, increased the water changes, or added more plants to reduce algae. I use no chemicals, chemical filtration, protein skimmers, denitrification chambers, etc... to improve water quality.

You'll figure it out! Just monitor your tank's water quality and see what makes a difference!

If you want your fish to breed though they might enjoy the extra security they'd feel from an algae blanket. I just ignored cleaning the tank when my salvinis bred since they're kind of shy.

 

[Jc1119]

Your hand


kinda goes with the turf if you're trying to save a eggs as any fish will eat anything that is available. African cichlids will eat bloodwroms till they die from eating them.

Fish in aquariums are opportunistic ......

 

[drewby23]

I actually haven't tested water in about a week but I did add three plants a few days ago and plan to add more soon. I have 4 48" t5 bulbs on my tank but usually only have one white and one blue on. I have 1 white, 1 purple actinic, and 2 blue actinic bulbs. I feed once at night during the week due to work schedule and twice a day on weekends. Also only have light on for about 3 hours a day during the week and 6-8 hours during the weekend.
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[Pomatomus]

Twice a day is kind of a lot unless you're trying to grow them IMO, and skipping a day per week is usually recommended. My fish eat once a day for about 4-5 days per week. At the marine lab where I used to work we fed most of our fish 3 days a week. At the fish farm where I currently work we are trying to grow the fish as fast as possible, so the fish eat a small amount of food approximately every 5-15 minutes. But we still skip a day of feeding every week.

This may not be enough to fix your issue, but it might save you some money and improve your water quality over time. It's good that you got the plants. My favorites for cichlids are anubias, java fern, and java moss. The latter two are great because you'll be selling it back to the store in no time! You have a good about of lighting so you might be fighting algae anyway, although running 2 bulbs isn't that bad. HO t5's are still pretty strong, but if they're standard output then I wouldn't worry too much.