Algae eaters

[Cristinna]

I have a 20 gal tank an we have in all 9 fish in it. 6 mollies an tetras. A frog. An two albino catfish. But I don't think they are cleaning the tank like I thought they would. I know I have to clean it out myself. Which I do. But I'm wondering if I should get another algae eater? What are yalls thoughts?

 

[Fresh2o]

What are your expectations? Are you referring to fish waste or algae or both? I would not rely on fish to deal with either of those. Gravel vacuuming during water changes and an algae scrubber for the glass.

 

[Cristinna]

I vacuum out the gravel An also scrub the sides of the tank. But much of the gravel has algae on it that's hard to get with the scrub or vacuum. (Small gravel) Just doesn't seem like there cleaning the gravel I guess like I thought they would I guess.

 

[Toad]

If the albino catfish are cories, they won't clean the tank from algae like that. How long do you have the lights on for?

 

[sa1nt02]

Chinese algae eaters or snails or japanese algae water shrimp I use all three for my 120g but u will still have to Clean it just helps maintain. Also if u want to be lazy about it use a algae remover and vacuum up the dead algae and scrap glass

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[Cristinna]

I'm not sure if they are cories or not I'll post a picture. Maybe you can tell me. I'd say we have the lights on most of the day but I do turn them off at night. Maybe I should leave them off longer. What are Japanese algae water shrimp!? I may look into that! Thanks for your suggestions!!

 

[sa1nt02]

The are amano shrimp very low maintenance

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[Cristinna]

Here is the albino catfish I have.

 

[Toad]

Yeah. Those are cories. I'd leave the light off longer, or have a gour hour break in the middle of the usual time you'd leave it on for

 

[Cristinna]

Yea I'm ganna try that n see if that helps. Thank you so much

 

[Viccy]

I would suggest you add one type or another of dwarf pleco i.e. Clown , rubberlip or a bristle nose pleco . This will not solve your problem completely but it will help . You should not have to vacuum tank every water change but it wont hurt and your catfish are albino cory cats who do better since they are schooling fish in groups of 6 or more but with limited space I would add 2 more . You will find the tank being kept quite nicely .

 

[Viccy]

A second thought with algae eaters be wary of the size they will reach and some become very aggressive