Fish waste

[Medx]

I have a 55 gal african cichlid tank with about 8, 2-3.5 inch fish. I just bought an albino Chinese algae eater for the brown algae I have. The algae eater is about 6 inches long. It keeps kicking up fish waste from my gravel and making the water a little cloudy. Will this harm my african cichlids if there is fish waste floating everywhere?

 

[mattlll]

I had the same exact thing as you have... For me it was no problem but I'm no expert... Just as long as your tank is fully cycled then I think it should be fine...

 

[Medx]

Thanks! And yes it is fully cycled.

 

[mattlll]

No problem! And by the way those Chinese alage eaters are great! I had the same problem with brown alage in my tank and went to get an alage eater! Tht fish took care of the problem in no time! They're great!

 

[sixtyfou]

That's nice to here something positive about the Chinese algae eater. I got one on a whim, and haven't heard great things.

 

[mattlll]

He's gone well with my cichlids too! He can be quite aggressive so the mbuna don't really mess with him! I'll jus say it's been great for me...

 

[mistersprinkles]

Careful with that CAE. They can be utter jerks. They attack other fish, especially when they are a large size like what you have here.

If it's a Mbuna tank, which it sounds like, why do you care if there's algae? You likely have no live plants, so why would algae matter? I think algae makes a Mbuna/hap/peacock tank look nice and natural.

 

[Medx]

I herd they are pretty aggressive but I have a 3.5 inch mbuna that is super dominant and bites the cae when it goes in its hiding place and I know I like the algae too but not on the glass .

 

[Dubs1281]

Careful with that CAE. They can be utter jerks. They attack other fish, especially when they are a large size like what you have here.

If it's a Mbuna tank, which it sounds like, why do you care if there's algae? You likely have no live plants, so why would algae matter? I think algae makes a Mbuna/hap/peacock tank look nice and natural.

Brown algea. I like the look of green. I have brown. Got a pleco for my african tank and there is no algae of any kind after a week.

 

[mistersprinkles]

I herd they are pretty aggressive but I have a 3.5 inch mbuna that is super dominant and bites the cae when it goes in its hiding place and I know I like the algae too but not on the glass .

Why not just wipe the glass off every couple of days? You can get a Mag-float and do it without getting your arm wet. No need to put a fish in there to do work you can do yourself.