Aquarium Advice

[DanBerbs]

Hi All,

I just joined and am looking for a little bit of advice. Here's what I have for you all.

I have a 5.5 gallon fish tank. It has a few plastic plants and a couple of other decorations - nothing elaborate. I have a Whisper 10i filter system. In the tank are three GloFish, 2 Neon Tetras and a Cory Catfish. I feed the fish Tetra Color Tropical Crisps either once or twice a day depending on my work schedule.

Here is my problem: the tank collects too much algae. The plants are pretty much growing into real plants, and the algae is yellow/green in color and it grows like fluffy strands. Not to mention the glass sometimes has algae spots (which I wipe away from time to time).

Now, I know an algae eater would be a good way to control this issue, but I'm unsure the type I should get for such a small tank. I tried a couple of Chinese Algae Eaters, and they did the trick for a day, but they died the next day. I'm unsure why, but am chalking it up to perhaps the tank being too small for them? Or could they have over eaten the algae in the tank? Either way, I haven't tried any other algae eater for fear that they will die due to the small tank.

So, any ideas or suggestions to either get the right kind of algae eater or stop the algae from growing initially? If pictures of the algae on the plants would be helpful in determining the type of algae, thus leading to a proper solution to prevent it from growing, I could upload a couple (if that's even possible - I don't know how this forum works completely).

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[BlazedSaint]

Hi All,

I just joined and am looking for a little bit of advice. Here's what I have for you all.

I have a 5.5 gallon fish tank. It has a few plastic plants and a couple of other decorations - nothing elaborate. I have a Whisper 10i filter system. In the tank are three GloFish, 2 Neon Tetras and a Cory Catfish. I feed the fish Tetra Color Tropical Crisps either once or twice a day depending on my work schedule.

Here is my problem: the tank collects too much algae. The plants are pretty much growing into real plants, and the algae is yellow/green in color and it grows like fluffy strands. Not to mention the glass sometimes has algae spots (which I wipe away from time to time).

Now, I know an algae eater would be a good way to control this issue, but I'm unsure the type I should get for such a small tank. I tried a couple of Chinese Algae Eaters, and they did the trick for a day, but they died the next day. I'm unsure why, but am chalking it up to perhaps the tank being too small for them? Or could they have over eaten the algae in the tank? Either way, I haven't tried any other algae eater for fear that they will die due to the small tank.

So, any ideas or suggestions to either get the right kind of algae eater or stop the algae from growing initially? If pictures of the algae on the plants would be helpful in determining the type of algae, thus leading to a proper solution to prevent it from growing, I could upload a couple (if that's even possible - I don't know how this forum works completely).

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi Dan,
I am Fighting a little bit of an algae issue myself(mine is brown algae caused by new tank) however ive learned that reducing the amount u feed your fish will also decrease algae growth, also water changes will help, this is because changing water removes minerals and nutrients algae needs to thrive, feeding less means less for algae to thrive off of also.

Next u said ur fish have died, not implying anything but your tank is cycled correct? i can recommend platys to eat algae, i started doin more water changes and fed my fish a little less and added a few platys and my tank is nice and clear again. took about a week for the platys to eat all the algae.

 

[BlazedSaint]

sorry just re-red your post, if u have a 5.5 gallon tank and u added those algae eaters they could have died from overstocking/not enough tank space for the fish

 

[flitabout]

I would reduce feeding to every other day. Up your water changes and make sure that when you do that you get an algae scraper to get it off the glass. But your tank is so small that you really can't add anything else to it.
Blazed I have the same issue newly started planted tank The algae are using everything that make for a nicely planted tank LOL!

 

[Oohitsae]

Your tank is overstocked, so fish waste plus overfeeding is likely your cause.

You could add a mystery snail to it if you do more water changes and remove atleast the Cory.
Cories are shoaling fish and should have a minimum of 5 to a group, and unless you have dwarfs, you need atleast a 15-20g to support the proper amount of them.
5.5 gallons really can't hold much other than a trio of guppies, a betta, or a shrimp colony

 

[Fishperson]

None of your fish are suitable for a 5.5 gallon tank. I would recommend a betta, or a few guppies or endlers instead. Also, do you know about cycling a tank? If not, read these:
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html

Those are good articles about the 2 different types of cycling.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Dan...

Small tanks are a challenge to keep clean. Even the experienced water keeper is tested maintaining small tanks. There's just not enough water to dilute even slight mistakes in "tank management". I used to have a 10 G and gave up on it. I wasn't able to keep the water pure enough for my liking.

Anyway, get some floating plants like Anacharis and Pennywort. I swear by these plants for keeping the tank water cleaner and clearer. I like to keep some "Ramshorn" snails in the tank too. They're algae eating machines! Feeding is a problem. If you feed too much, the food dissolves in the water and the algae takes advantage. Fish are tiny, and don't need to eat more than twice a week. The rest of the time, they'll clean up the leftovers.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B

 

[DanBerbs]

Thanks everyone for all the help and responses. I'll definitely look into several of the suggestions that were made. I did a complete tank overhaul and it's clean as of now. Moving forward I'll try what was suggested. Thanks again!