Guppy Eating Habits

[flippajh]

I have recently added 3 male guppies to my community tank (65ltr), rest of the fish are all tetras.

I've suffered with a bit of algae on my plants, mostly hygrophilia and a few java ferns, they've all have had stringy algae on them, I noticed last night two of the fish nibbling away at the plants, but when I went to inspect, there's not a bit of algae on any of the plants, would the fish have eaten it, will it do them any harm? Is this just a guppy trait, as my tetra's won't go near the plants!

Thanks

Flippa

 

[helterskelter]

Guppies will eat some algae not loads of it though.

Still good to see a local here.

 

[twilight_angel]

it's just ok for those fishes...

don't worry about it...

 

[ThePiggy]

Maybe I'll employ some guppies to get rid of my algae

 

[twilight_angel]

nice idea...

 

[OldMan47]

If you want a fish to help keep the algae down, the Ameca Splendens is a great algae eater. It is a bit large for some community tanks and is not readily available at many pet stores. I have a species only tank of them and even though I leave the lights on long enough and bright enough to grow lots of plants, there is never any algae in their tank.

 

[twilight_angel]

Oldman47, can you post a picture of your Ameca Splendens...

 

[helterskelter]

here is a photo

 

[twilight_angel]

thanks for the picture...

but that fish is not present in the store where i shop my fishes...

i'll try guppy...

i have one in my tank but she's not eating algea as i look at her...

maybe because she is still small...

l----------l

like that...

what do you think...

 

[helterskelter]

to remove algae pleco's are better

 

[twilight_angel]

i don't know what algea pleco are...

what are they...

do have picture of them, if ever...

 

[tyyrlym]

Guppies might nibble on the algae but they are not going to clean a tank for you. Plecos are a bad idea as well. Some get huge, others don't, few actually continue to eat any significant quantity of algae after they start to mature. If you need to control algae you're better off dealing with it on your end rather than trying to find a fish to do it for you.

 

[twilight_angel]

so I will put guppies on my tank...

another question...

will a molly and guppy mate...

moppy or gully...

lol...

so I will put guppies on my tank...

another question...

will a molly and guppy mate...

moppy or gully...

lol...

 

[helterskelter]

yes they can cross but it rare to get viable fry so do not worry about that.

 

[OldMan47]

A good algae eater that has almost no negative impact on a tank is otocinclus. When I have a bad algae problem in a small tank, 40 to 60 litres, I put a small number of otocinclus and in a week the effect is obvious to anyone who looks.