comet goldfish, snail and out of control algea

[cspaccio]

Hi everyone,
My sister has a 6 gallon tank with a comet goldfish and a snail. The golfish is about 3 inches in length. I tried to tell her about the goldfish rule: one fish per 10 gallons, but she wont listen. Up until a few weeks ago, she kept the thing in a bowl for like 2 years. I swear, it's a bionic goldfish. Anyway, she told me that the tank has gotten tons of algea in it all of the sudden covering almost everything. She said the feeds the snail lettuce everyday and is wondering if that has anything to do with it. The tank is an acrylic eclipse 6 that is not in direct sunlight. I have no clue what her water parameters are. What are your suggestions to clean this algea infestation and for preventing it from future breakouts? Let me know. Thanks in advance!

 

[Guest]

How often is she changing the water? I'm not sure, but won't snails eat algea if she stops feeding it lettuce?

 

[ace1uno_00]

Get a Pleco. he'll eat the algea up.

 

[Guest]

Get a Pleco. he'll eat the algea up.

I was going to suggest that but even the smallest species would be overcrowded in that little 6g.

 

[ace1uno_00]

True. a 6 is small. but its worth a try. what about chinese algea eaters. how big do those get?

 

[Guest]

True. a 6 is small. but its worth a try. what about chinese algea eaters. how big do those get?

About 2-3" but they are also really inneffective. I was thinking maybe shrimp but I know nothing about them and if the goldfish would eat them.

 

[krap101]

... why dont u just scrape it off? it takes around a week for it to come back... until u get another tank of course

 

[Guest]

... why dont u just scrape it off? it takes around a week for it to come back... until u get another tank of course

It sounds like she just bought a brand new Eclipse 6 tank. Nice tanks, but too small to do much with. Maybe its still returnable and she could get the Eclipse 12?

 

[bzbee]

I was thinking maybe shrimp but I know nothing about them and if the goldfish would eat them.

Speaking from experience, YES, the goldfish will eat the shrimp if they catch them when they are moulting. It's kinda sad and funny at the same time, that my $0.09 fish ate my $0.60 ghost shrimp

That said, I'm getting a trio of cory's for algae control.

 

[jsoong]

True. a 6 is small. but its worth a try. what about chinese algea eaters. how big do those get?

About 2-3" but they are also really inneffective. I was thinking maybe shrimp but I know nothing about them and if the goldfish would eat them.

I thought the chinese algae eater gets to be 12" or more ... far too big for the 6! At any rate, CAE's are useless for eating algae, so the point is moot.

I am not sure if putting an algae eater into the tank is the solution. The goldy compatable ones like rubber lip pleco are really too big for the 6, & the small ones like shrimps or otos will get eaten ....

I would suspect high nitrate/phosphate level in such a small goldy setup. Increasing the amount & frequency of water changes will decrease the amount of nutrients for the algae & might be better all around.

 

[cspaccio]

I honestly think that another fish in the mix would be catastrophic! Should she keep feeding them lettuce? She changes water once a week about 30%. I know she can just scrape it off, but she doesn't want it to keep happening. Thanks

 

[jsoong]

What kind of snail? I was researching algae eating snails for my tank & apparently the only kind that is any good is Nerite snails. Others types might create so much waste that they make algae problem worse! <So you might want to limit the amount you feed them.>

Without knowing the tank parameters, it is hard to say if the water change is enough ... but for a small setup, 50% weekly is kinda the minimum .....

Another thing worth trying is limiting the light in the tank ... since there is no plants, you can keep the light on for only the few hours when someone is actually looking at the fish ... or skip the light altogether ... My 10 gal QT has no light & I don't seem to run into algae (have use that for up to 6 weeks straight).

 

[krap101]

yeah and keep the light out frmo the windows as well.

 

[czcz]

FWIW, my kid's ~2.5" ryukin hasn't eaten ghost shrimp yet, but there are plenty of hiding places too small for the goldfish in the tank.