This fish blog will answer the major question, “Do fish eat algae?” we will also discuss the major algae eater fish, the suitable environment to keep such fish, and what you should do to keep your pet fish alive in the aquarium.
Do fish eat algae?
Yes, fish do eat algae. Many fishes like bristlenose pleco and various species of catfish are common eaters of algae. Besides this many varieties of snails such as nerite snails are excellent algae eaters. You need to know the exact requirement of algae eater fish before putting it in the fish tank.
What are the major algae eater fish for your aquarium?
Following are the major algae eater fish that you should include in your aquarium:
Bristlenose pleco is an algae eater fish
The first type of fish that is an algae eater is the bristlenose pleco. This fish grows up to 4 inches and it is mostly the bottom eater fish so your pet fish will not be disturbed due to its activity. Moreover, they mostly eat green algae and will keep the tank clean from the algae that are growing.
These fishes are small and you can keep them in a small tank as they do not create any mess in the tank.
They are friendly and peace-loving fish so you need to make sure that you do not add them to such fish tanks that are having large fish because these fish cannot defend themselves from large predators.
Siamese algae eater fish
The next type of fish is the Siamese algae eater fish which is around 6 inches in size. They are also friendly and peace-loving and love to eat all kinds of algae. They eat green algae, hair algae, cyanobacteria, brown algae, and also other varieties of algae.
They are an excellent choice for your fish tank but make sure the tank suits them. As we have discussed above, they love peace so it is important that you provide them with peace.
Moreover, they are suitable for small to medium size tanks and are bottom feeders so they will not disturb your pet fish. They are beautiful to look at.
Chinese algae eater fish
The next type of fish is the Chinese algae-eating fish. The young ones are peace-loving but some species of the adult can cause disturbance and are aggressive so make sure you choose the right fish for your tank.
Chinese Algae eater fish is not the best choice you have because they do not eat all kinds of algae. They mostly consume green algae. They can grow up to 10 inches and they are suitable for large tanks.
They are hard and resilient fishes and can survive in the harsh climate of an aquarium.
Otocinclus catfish is an algae-eating fish
It is a type of catfish and is one of the best algae eaters you can have. Catfish males have whiskers so they are called catfish. They are about 1.5 inches and they can be easily fitted in small community tanks. They love to be in groups so make sure you do not add a single fish to the community tank.
They can eat hair and beard algae which can be very hard for other fishes to remove from it. They are small bottom feeders and like other food, they won’t disturb your pet fish but make sure the balance in the aquarium is maintained.
What is the suitable environment required for your algae eater fish?
Following are the requirements of algae eater fish:
- The first thing is the temperature which shouldn’t be more than 70 degrees Fahrenheit because above that most algae eater fish cannot survive.
- The depth of the tank should be at least 1000 gallons so that the algae eater fish can survive in such conditions.
- There should not be any carnivore fish in the tank because they can disturb the algae eater fish.
- Please avoid any kind of bottom-feeder pet fish if you are having algae eater fish in your aquarium.
What precautions should you take to keep your pet fish alive with algae eater fish?
Following are the precautions you should take to keep your pet fish alive:
- The first is to not include any aggressive algae eater fish.
- The second thing is not to include snails if you are having an algae eater fish because it will increase the competition in the food chain for both algae eater fish and snails and will disturb the balance of the aquarium.
Conclusion
In this fish blog, we entertained our important question, “Do fish eat algae?” we also discussed the major algae eater fish, the suitable environment to keep such fish, and what you should take to keep your pet fish alive.
