J&K'S Fish & TiPS - Best Algae Eaters
Algae! It’s not always a bad thing...
In fact, it can be good for your aquarium too (some fish love it).
One thing we can all agree on though is most of the time it doesn’t look very nice!
Algae gobble up excess nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate, and silicate within the water column. In most aquariums, much of this is consumed by plants, especially the faster-growing ones.
But what if you don’t have plants? You may have a coldwater Goldfish tank with plastic plants or a Malawi cichlid set up which rarely have them either. What can you do?
Key things to check if you want to avoid Algae:
One thing we can all agree on though is most of the time it doesn’t look very nice!
Algae gobble up excess nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate, and silicate within the water column. In most aquariums, much of this is consumed by plants, especially the faster-growing ones.
But what if you don’t have plants? You may have a coldwater Goldfish tank with plastic plants or a Malawi cichlid set up which rarely have them either. What can you do?
Key things to check if you want to avoid Algae:
The DO NOTs!:
- Do not place your aquarium in direct sunlight, try to keep the sunlight off it altogether.
- Do not have the light on for more than 12 hours per day.
- Do not overstock the aquarium with fish (stick to recommended guidelines for your chosen species).
- Do not overfeed, even if you think you are being kind.
The DOs!
- Place the aquarium out of direct sunlight.
- 8-10 hours of aquarium lighting per day is a good starting point for most setups.
- Regular partial water changes (10% per week/20% per fortnight) and water testing will help you keep the algae at bay.
- Always feed the best quality foods. Whilst these are more expensive, you generally feed less to give the fish the required sustenance and therefore they excrete less which means less food for the algae. There's a bit of a chain reaction there.
Need some help? maybe these fish will be useful...
If you can't do all of the things above, adding some algae-loving fish or invertebrates to help.
*Please remember you can't expect them to survive on just algae and scraps within the aquarium, they will need their diets supplementing with the appropriate foods too to ensure that they live long, happy, and healthy lives.*
Coldwater/Goldfish aquariums
- Hong Kong / Chinese Plecs
- TC039 Borneo Suckers / Hillstream Loach
- TC033 Zebra China Sucker (Sewellia Lineolata)
Tropical Community Setups
- Otocinclus - Perfect for peaceful small tropical/nano communities.
- Black Mollies, Platies, & Guppies - We always think of types of catfish for grazing on algae. Some ‘normal fish’ eat algae too. These popular livebearers love algae also, often found nibbling away on plants and rocks, doing their bit!
- Clown Plecs(Peckoltia vittata) - When it comes to suckermouth catfish, most people buy the common pleco which is cheap, but it gets very big very quickly, destroys plants and soon needs rehoming. The Clown Plecs are one of the best choices for small and medium sized aquariums. They are easy to keep, stay small (growing up to 7.5cm) very peaceful, will not harm fish or plants.
- Bristlenose Catfish - Bristlenose / Ancistrus Catfish is an old favourite. These guys eat lots of algae and are easy to breed too. There are now lots of different colour variants of these too making them very popular.
- Shrimps - For very peaceful setups and aquascapes you can not go wrong with some Shrimps. Most species are effective at this, mostly helping to stop it growing by eating the detritus that algae feeds on. Japonica, Cherry, and Armoured Shrimp are just a few to look out for.
Cichlid aquaria:
- Sucking Loach - These are quite tough, and they take no nonsense off any tankmates whatsoever!!! From personal experience and once settled I have found them to be very good algae grazers especially in African cichlid aquaria. A good choice with medium sized fish.
- Pleco’s - In large aquaria, especially with Central/South American cichlids, the ‘standard’ Pleco (Hypostomus Plecostomus) or the Sailfin Plec (Gibbiceps) are often chosen to do the job and they do it well. You won’t see much action during the day, they tend to get stuck in after dark.
Pond:
- Grass Carp - Whilst I have never tried it myself, some Koi keepers find these very useful in their ponds. Most Koi set ups do not have plants to take up nutrient created by the fish, they often rely on high-tech filter systems and a couple of Grass Carp to do the job.
- Recommended for large ponds only, these beautiful torpedo shaped fish (available in green or albino form) do grow quite big and are known ‘jumpers’ too!
If you think some of these fish will benefit your customers' aquariums see what's on the fish list HERE!
J&K'S Fish & TiPS - Best Algae Eaters
Algae! It’s not always a bad thing...
In fact, it can be good for your aquarium too (some fish love it).
One thing we can all agree on though is most of the time it doesn’t look very nice!
Algae gobble up excess nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate, and silicate within the water column. In most aquariums, much of this is consumed by plants, especially the faster-growing ones.
But what if you don’t have plants? You may have a coldwater Goldfish tank with plastic plants or a Malawi cichlid set up which rarely have them either. What can you do?
Key things to check if you want to avoid Algae:
One thing we can all agree on though is most of the time it doesn’t look very nice!
Algae gobble up excess nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate, and silicate within the water column. In most aquariums, much of this is consumed by plants, especially the faster-growing ones.
But what if you don’t have plants? You may have a coldwater Goldfish tank with plastic plants or a Malawi cichlid set up which rarely have them either. What can you do?
Key things to check if you want to avoid Algae:
The DO NOTs!:
- Do not place your aquarium in direct sunlight, try to keep the sunlight off it altogether.
- Do not have the light on for more than 12 hours per day.
- Do not overstock the aquarium with fish (stick to recommended guidelines for your chosen species).
- Do not overfeed, even if you think you are being kind.
The DOs!
- Place the aquarium out of direct sunlight.
- 8-10 hours of aquarium lighting per day is a good starting point for most setups.
- Regular partial water changes (10% per week/20% per fortnight) and water testing will help you keep the algae at bay.
- Always feed the best quality foods. Whilst these are more expensive, you generally feed less to give the fish the required sustenance and therefore they excrete less which means less food for the algae. There's a bit of a chain reaction there.
Need some help? maybe these fish will be useful...
If you can't do all of the things above, adding some algae-loving fish or invertebrates to help.
*Please remember you can't expect them to survive on just algae and scraps within the aquarium, they will need their diets supplementing with the appropriate foods too to ensure that they live long, happy, and healthy lives.*
Coldwater/Goldfish aquariums
- Hong Kong / Chinese Plecs
- TC039 Borneo Suckers / Hillstream Loach
- TC033 Zebra China Sucker (Sewellia Lineolata)
Tropical Community Setups
- Otocinclus - Perfect for peaceful small tropical/nano communities.
- Black Mollies, Platies, & Guppies - We always think of types of catfish for grazing on algae. Some ‘normal fish’ eat algae too. These popular livebearers love algae also, often found nibbling away on plants and rocks, doing their bit!
- Clown Plecs(Peckoltia vittata) - When it comes to suckermouth catfish, most people buy the common pleco which is cheap, but it gets very big very quickly, destroys plants and soon needs rehoming. The Clown Plecs are one of the best choices for small and medium sized aquariums. They are easy to keep, stay small (growing up to 7.5cm) very peaceful, will not harm fish or plants.
- Bristlenose Catfish - Bristlenose / Ancistrus Catfish is an old favourite. These guys eat lots of algae and are easy to breed too. There are now lots of different colour variants of these too making them very popular.
- Shrimps - For very peaceful setups and aquascapes you can not go wrong with some Shrimps. Most species are effective at this, mostly helping to stop it growing by eating the detritus that algae feeds on. Japonica, Cherry, and Armoured Shrimp are just a few to look out for.
Cichlid aquaria:
- Sucking Loach - These are quite tough, and they take no nonsense off any tankmates whatsoever!!! From personal experience and once settled I have found them to be very good algae grazers especially in African cichlid aquaria. A good choice with medium sized fish.
- Pleco’s - In large aquaria, especially with Central/South American cichlids, the ‘standard’ Pleco (Hypostomus Plecostomus) or the Sailfin Plec (Gibbiceps) are often chosen to do the job and they do it well. You won’t see much action during the day, they tend to get stuck in after dark.
Pond:
- Grass Carp - Whilst I have never tried it myself, some Koi keepers find these very useful in their ponds. Most Koi set ups do not have plants to take up nutrient created by the fish, they often rely on high-tech filter systems and a couple of Grass Carp to do the job.
- Recommended for large ponds only, these beautiful torpedo shaped fish (available in green or albino form) do grow quite big and are known ‘jumpers’ too!