Guppies, Algae, And Many Questions.

[Kara31191]

Okay so here is my fishtank:

GUPPIES.

So 5 years ago, I got 11 guppies from my younger sisters friend. Keep in mind I'm going into my junior year of high school, so that's like half my life ago. Well, I get them in a VASE! =0 So, I gave them a week in the vase, and I got a ten gallon tank. Well, what do you know, I woke up one morning and a few of the bloated fish had had batches of guppies because I woke up, and found like twenty. The next day, I found more, and more the next. Soon I was up to like fifty fish in a ten gallon tank.

Now, my family has about seven people who tend to leave the light on. Well, guess what... Green algae appeared.

So I went to the pet store, and got a chinese algae eater. So that goes into the fishtank, and eats a lot of algae. Well, a little while later, it seemed to just "disappear". Great, the other fish probably ate him! Later, I hear they can get quite aggressive!

Well, I just recently added a common pleco algae eater. ((I think that's what I added... I'm again trusting the person at the fish store)). Well, turns out they grow HUGE! That's probably why my other one died. So here I am, battleing algae, battleing breeding guppies, and I'm VERY worried about killing my algae eater from the tank size being too small. AND my natrate levels are throught the roof from too many fish being in there!

So here's what I was thinking.

1. Upgrade to a 20 gallon tank (with a whole new setup, but the same water, fish, etc...)
2. Give the algae eater back to the store... They MIGHT take him back.

There is no possible way that I can go bigger than thirty gallons... Maybe a 40 gallon tall, if they come like that. But I really don't know what I can afford

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

I agree with getting a bigger tank...
I also agree with taking the common pleco back...
I'd also recommend finding out what size young guppies the store will except, and try to unload as many fry and females as possible. Otherwise you'll just keep ending up with tons and tons of guppies.

 

[branjie]

I know it sounds harsh, but see if you can get rid of all the female guppies (give them to the LFS). The boys are the colourful ones, and they won't breed without girls in the tank.

Is the algae on the glass, or changing the colour of the water?

P.S LFS is short for local fish shop.

 

[Pimp]

I agree with getting a bigger tank...
I also agree with taking the common pleco back...
I'd also recommend finding out what size young guppies the store will except, and try to unload as many fry and females as possible. Otherwise you'll just keep ending up with tons and tons of guppies.

no return the pleco .. there arte many other algea eaters out there. i have algea eaters (forgot name) that saty under 2 inches.
You could also get snails or shrimp to clean the algea.

 

[Kara31191]

Thank you for the fast replies!

I think I should maybe search Craigslist for a 50 gallon. Maybe I can convice my parents to go for that. So, I never mentioned, I'm down to about 10 adult guppies... and many little guppies... that hide until feeding time. I'm guessing somewhere around ten little ones.

The algae is not affecting the water, however it is allover the glass, gravel, decor, fake plants, etc...

So do you think it would be wise to add LIVE plants to my new aquarium? Maybe to kind of balance it out more? (If so, how would I go about that? Do I need special gravel, or anything to "plant them"?

I feel so bad about the algae eater! =0

 

[divisible by zero]

a bunch of ghost shrimp would be fun with guppies.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Plants can sometimes help out compete algae for nutrients, and no you don't really need any special kind of substrate unless you are planning to get into some serious aquatic gardening. Plants won't totally prevent algae mind you, but it may help slow it down.

 

[JamieBailie]

If the algae is bad, Get a big towel or something similar, Drape it over the tank so there is NO light getting in at all, Turn off the tank lights and wait for 3 days without feeding the fish or peeking!

I like to give the fish a good feed before I do this, They will be fine for 3 days.

The tank should be spotless if you do this

 

[Kara31191]

Thank you for all your help!

I found a store that said they'd take ALL of my fish, including the pleco, and help me choose another smaller algae eater when the time comes =D (YES!) So I'm going to redo my ten gallon, unless I can upgrade! =)

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Thank you for all your help!

I found a store that said they'd take ALL of my fish, including the pleco, and help me choose another smaller algae eater when the time comes =D (YES!) So I'm going to redo my ten gallon, unless I can upgrade! =)

Hm, i would be wary about asking petshops to advise you what fish to buy- half the the time they know nothing on the fish they sell, or sell you fish knowing they are probably unsuitable for you but do so none the less because petshops are essentially buisnesses there to make money. If they can sell you fish, they will sell you as many as they can.



Anyways, for a 10gallon tank pretty much the only effective algae eater which will stay small enough for a 10gallon is a fish called an "oto", more specifically called Otocinclus vittatus- for more info on them see this link;

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=107

However oto's do best in established tanks and also do best in groups of at least 3-4 or more of their own kind. If you decide to get rid of all your current fish in your 10gal, you should only do this on the same day you get your new fish as otherwise, if you leave the tank with no fish in it for many hours or day or more you will lose all the established beneficial bacteria in your filter (as it needs a constant ammonia source, usually provided by fish poop/urine, to survive).
If this happens then oto's will not be suitable fish for your tank any longer, as it will no longer be considered to be an "established" tank, and any new fish introduced to the tank after this will have to endure the stress of unstable water quality conditions- while guppys are quite hardy fish when it comes to water quality, oto's are notoriously sensitive/fragile fish when it comes to such things.
To understand more on how the water quality in your tank works, this is a good article on such things in the link below;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

Also remember that there is a buy/sell section on the foroum too as another option for rehoming fish (fish like guppys should be very easy to get rid of on it, however common pleco and chinese algae eaters will probably be difficult to get rid of on the buy/sell/swap section, as many people are always trying to rehome them but there is a glut of such fish in the market, so not many people want them etc) .

 

[Colonel Mustard]

you were right to get an algea eater not just pump such a small tank up with chemicals.

i would not advise getting an unussually high aquarium as this makes the amount of surface area ( oxygination space) decrease while the volume of water to oxygenate increases therefore making the amount of oxygen in the water rather low. However this may not be your biggest worry.

Oto's ussually prefer to stay in groups so you could get a group or mabey go with another species. when i set up my first tank i bought 3 oto's and after about 2 months two had died


hopw this helps...

 

[Kara31191]

Thank you! Are otos hard to come by?!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Thank you! Are otos hard to come by?!

Depends, most large lfs stock them on a regular basis, but in small family run petshops they may not be so readily available. Most good petshops will stock particular fish if you ask them nicely to specially order the fish in question in for you though .
If your petshop stocks oto's, avoid buying them on the same day they arive- its best to ask the petshop to put them aside for you for a couple of days after getting them in, as most oto's are very stressed and underfed by the time they arive in petshops. So letting them settle in a bit in the petshop tank for a couple of days can help them recover a bit from the transport stress before you buy them, which will increase the chances of them acclimatising well to your tank in the long term .

By the way, do you know what type of algae/s you have in your tank (if not, can you describe it?)?

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Thank you! Are otos hard to come by?!

you may need to ask them if they stock them as i have rarely seem a tank full of oto's, they usually have a couple here and a couple there, and as they are "shy" they may not be instantly visible

 

[loachman]

For algae control, amano shrimp are also a good option for a 10 gal if you dont' get ottos.

Ottos are pretty easy to find at most shops.