algae eaters and algae growth

vprgtsr001

Hi, I have a 10 gallon tank. It had 4 fish. Over the summer algae started to grow on all my fake plants and on the rocks and structures. It started to get very thick on branches of the plants towards the surface. Instead of taking out the plants and washing the algae off i picked up 2 algae eaters. Chinese Algae Eater to be exact. They're pretty small. After the first 2 days they not only ate all the algae off the plants and rocks, but sucked the bottom clean and have made my glass on all sides spotless. I'm worried now that they wont have enough food. Should i be concerned about growing more algae or is the food flake residue that falls to the bottom enough for them?

Byron

I would get rid of those two fish (the Chinese Algae Eater) soon. You will note that the name shaded, meaning you can click it to see that species' profile. In there it mentions their largish growth size and their nastiness. Also, as they mature they eat less and less algae and in so small a tank will likely be eating the fish, or trying to.

On the algae, if you have no live plants, I would leave it. I am assuming this is a green or red (actually looks more blackish) algae, and probably brush algae. It will occur in the presence of light and use the available nutrients. Without live plants it is actually rather useful, since it produces oxygen while utilizing some of the organic nutrients.

Byron.

vprgtsr001

Oh wow, i didnt know that about these. i just went to petsmart and asked for a good algae eater and this is what the woman suggested. It wouldnt be the first time they lied to me. Our first fish in the tank were 2 silver mollys and 2 tetra. They said they would all be fine together. One of the mollys turned out to be aggressive and it killed and ate one of the tetra. Thanks for the help though, its time to do some research.

Nemo the Clownfish

Here's a link to a good article to read and i.d. your algae. I think it says something about which fish are good for which algae. There's also the bigger snails, which also feed on the layer of microfilm on your tank surfaces. They may not eat bulkier algae, though. The link:

Aquarium Algae ID (updated May6th '10 Surface Skum)