so i have a 55g with a pair of breeding jack dempsy. i left the tank go for a couple of weeks and algee grew and then they layed eggs and i was told not to clean it cuz it would scare tham and they would eat there fry. now i have worms all over the side of my tank and on to of the gravel and all my aquascaping. i havew no idead what my next step is i can vaccumethe gravel and claen the sides and clean the decorations then do a waterchange to take out as much of the algee as possable from the water. thats my best idea but these WORMS!!!!!! kittle green things that move ever so slightly and the algee around them from the tank is gone. what should i do?!?!?!
Algee BAD!!!!! need sugestions!
- Thread starter Squiggles9059
- Start date
First off, congrats on the fry!! Second, limit your feeding, your fish will eat the worms and get rid of them. Third, if the JD are not too aggressive, get an algae eater. What types of algae do you have?? If it's green algae, then a Pleco will eat that quick, just make sure to watch the behavior and food supply for the Pleco. It shouldn't hurt your fry, but just be careful. You could try to get a Bristlenose Pleco, or something that's small.
Hello; Comments from others about reduced feeding to help reduce the worms seem correct and probably the best course except that you have fry. Fry will need a rich source of small food for a while. The algae bloom and green worms may not be an altogether bad thing. The algae will not hurt the fry and seems to me will support various tiny critters.
The big question is if the worms are any danger to you or the fish. I have had outbereaks of small white worms that caused no problems and in fact did go away. I suspect that your worms are green from eating algae. Good odds that they are not harmful.
You cannot siphon water aggressively with out the risk of picking up and/or damaging some fry.
80 watts seems like a lot of light for a 55 gallon. This may be part of the algae bloom. Perhaps leaving the lights on for less time each day.
One question. You say that there are live plants in the tank with the jack dempsies. Are they rooted? I went thru a period of keeping the aggressive cichlids and recall that they would dig up rooted plants.
I also recall that a fellow in Lexington KY had a jack Dempsy tank. It always had green water. Not every cichlid tank has green water. The big cichlids are messy eaters and creat a lot of what is now termed bio-load. I have been accused of that myself.
You may not be able to add much in the way of fish to clean up the algae. First because the fry will be bite sized for a time. Second because the adult JD's will not treat new fish with kindness.
The big question is if the worms are any danger to you or the fish. I have had outbereaks of small white worms that caused no problems and in fact did go away. I suspect that your worms are green from eating algae. Good odds that they are not harmful.
You cannot siphon water aggressively with out the risk of picking up and/or damaging some fry.
80 watts seems like a lot of light for a 55 gallon. This may be part of the algae bloom. Perhaps leaving the lights on for less time each day.
One question. You say that there are live plants in the tank with the jack dempsies. Are they rooted? I went thru a period of keeping the aggressive cichlids and recall that they would dig up rooted plants.
I also recall that a fellow in Lexington KY had a jack Dempsy tank. It always had green water. Not every cichlid tank has green water. The big cichlids are messy eaters and creat a lot of what is now termed bio-load. I have been accused of that myself.
You may not be able to add much in the way of fish to clean up the algae. First because the fry will be bite sized for a time. Second because the adult JD's will not treat new fish with kindness.
Hello; The fry will be on their own before long and my guess is that at about 1/2 inch, maybe less, they can be moved. They will still be bite sized to a lot of other fish so that should be kept in mind.
I may be wrong about this, but for some reason feel that at some point the adults may change from being caring parents to being aggressive toward their own offspring. The adults have established a territory in the breeding tank and most likely will not be into sharing.
You are facing a situation that many others have faced before. These bigger agressive cichlids will continue to spawn and you will have a lot of offspring. The offspring will require large tanks and not many can be kept in one tank as they mature. I would check, right away, with all fish shops within a reasonable distance to see if they will take any offspring. There may be fish clubs you can contact.
My guess is the number of fry surviving over time will be reduced by natural attrition. Some species, like kribensis, give a lot of care and seem to have somewhat higher survival rates. They also do not have so many offspring. While I have not raised JD cichlids, for reasons stated above, I have been around the process. My experience with other large brood species has resulted in something like 50 to 60 percent raised to maturity.
To answer your question, it may be best to leave the tank as is for a few days unless some serious problem shows up. Should you decide that a water change is needed, a mesh material over the end of the siphon tube may work. Good luck.
I may be wrong about this, but for some reason feel that at some point the adults may change from being caring parents to being aggressive toward their own offspring. The adults have established a territory in the breeding tank and most likely will not be into sharing.
You are facing a situation that many others have faced before. These bigger agressive cichlids will continue to spawn and you will have a lot of offspring. The offspring will require large tanks and not many can be kept in one tank as they mature. I would check, right away, with all fish shops within a reasonable distance to see if they will take any offspring. There may be fish clubs you can contact.
My guess is the number of fry surviving over time will be reduced by natural attrition. Some species, like kribensis, give a lot of care and seem to have somewhat higher survival rates. They also do not have so many offspring. While I have not raised JD cichlids, for reasons stated above, I have been around the process. My experience with other large brood species has resulted in something like 50 to 60 percent raised to maturity.
To answer your question, it may be best to leave the tank as is for a few days unless some serious problem shows up. Should you decide that a water change is needed, a mesh material over the end of the siphon tube may work. Good luck.
no pleco. i thought pleco were for just fish waste and extra food. im trying to figure out how to control it but now its kicking my ass. im gunna move the fry to there own 10g here soon i think they hatched about a week ago give a couple of day or so. then imma clean the sides and gravel then do a real healthy like 50% water change. and all i can find are common plecos unless ordering online and i haven't made that venture yet cuz of worry about the fish diying and the coast of shipping throws the fish price way way up there unless i order $300 worth or something along those lines. any help with a cool pleco they are just so ugly i want one no one else has like green or blue i got blue gravel so blue would be cool. but does that plan sound good? moving fry cleaning sides then gravel and doing a 50% water change. im using a canister filter with bio whells so im not worried about the ammount of water change.
Reduce the "super duper" lighting you list for this tank and algae will have more difficult time.
Reduce the amount and frequency of foods offered and worms will die off from lack of food.
Don't offer any live feeder fish (store bought) which may bring parasites to your tank.
Would not add a pleco to a tank with breeding Jack dempsey's, for all you are really doing.. is increasing the waste in the tank. Adult Dempsey's could very well kill the pleco, many of which are drawn by the scent of eggs to nesting areas that are fiercely protected by Adults.
Reduce the amount and frequency of foods offered and worms will die off from lack of food.
Don't offer any live feeder fish (store bought) which may bring parasites to your tank.
Would not add a pleco to a tank with breeding Jack dempsey's, for all you are really doing.. is increasing the waste in the tank. Adult Dempsey's could very well kill the pleco, many of which are drawn by the scent of eggs to nesting areas that are fiercely protected by Adults.