Fish Eating Algae Wafer? Dangerous?

[HollieDahhrlinn]

Hello,
I feed algae wafers to my sucking loach3 out of 7 days a week,
My fish sometimes peck on them,
Is this dangerous for the fish??

HollieDahhrlinn x

 

[mfdrookie516]

no, fish eat algae too, just not as a main source in their diet... alot of fish, goldfish in particular, love eating algea. my platys usually peck around on them when i throw them in the tank, no worries

 

[StarryEyedTiGeR]

My goldies LOVE algae wafers! Everytime I put one in the tank for my pleco, they just HAVE to have some too lol. (they also get frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, flakes, and pellets too...I try to mix up their diet as they need different things than my pleco does). A little algae wafer here and there shouldn't be an issue for your fish though! Now worries!

Even my tropicals & cichlid occassionally pick at the wafers as well. I use the algae wafers for my plecos (1 15yr old common & 2 hi-fin spotted plecos). I've had aquariumsfor years and have never had an issue with algae wafers/fish.

 

[blackomen]

If you read the ingredients on the back, at least on the Wardley's I bought, it's got some algae in it along with vegetables that are ground up with it. Nothing at all harmful. All my fish go for these things now, the pleco doesn't usually get a chance. When he does get to it, someone tries to knock him off. It's pretty good comedy to watch.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

Hello,
Thank you for all your replies.
I use the 'King British' Algae Wafers,
BUT
My sucking loach doesnt touch them!
He 'ditty' as he's called as he's spotty and small hahaa,
just sucks my tank, rocks and artifical flowers?

What else could i feed ditty?
Thanks HollieDahharlinn x

 

[jsoong]

"Sucking loach" - that would be a hillstream loach, aka Borneo sucker?

Hillies don't eat algae. They live off the microscopic critters living on the glass & surfaces. They will only survive in a well established tank with a good biofilm. I don't feed mine anything. I leave the back pane of glass relatively untouched so there is a good film of stuff growing & my hillies had lived for over 3 years now without any feeding from me.

If your glass is very clean, you might try smearing a bit of the algae wafer on the glass & see if he will go for that. However, their natural diet is "animal" - micro organisms - so I am not sure if dead algae is really that suitable. <Living algae will have the critters living in them which is the hillies food source.>

 

[thuffman03]

My pleco loves them. So do my kissing gourami.