I have a tropical tank with three butterfly loaches who are like 24-hour algae lawn mowers. I know they're getting something to eat, because they're very spunky and I see them poop, but here is my dilemma. I want to get more algae to grow in my tank so that they will have more food, because they will not come down to the bottom to eat anything, ever. I have some brown algae finally growing on a couple of decorations, and a teeny bit growing on the silicone sealant on the joints of the aquarium, but is there any way to get more to grow? Especially since they won't, for some reason, ever latch on to the decorations. I have my aquarium light on for about eight hours a day, and have recently added two live plants, which I have heard might help algae grow. I am wary of putting any sort of aquarium plant fertilizer in the tank. Does anyone know a good way to at least help what I have to grow and proliferate?
How to get algae to grow?
- Thread starter Ammy
- Start date
Yeah, I've definitely tried the discs and even some sunken frozen krill, but to no avail. These quirky little guys won't come down off the glass even when they're just chillin'. I read up on them before I bought any and it sounded much easier to feed them, and it was my understanding that they would eat sinking food. But in their defense, they do a good job obliterating any algae that might have ever taken root on the glass..
Most algae is actually on the glass, rocks, etc and you cannot even see it. Most likely they are eating it before you can visually see it growing, so they are doing their job. I wouldn't try to force algae. Just let nature take its course and everything should be fine. 10 hours a day with the light on will create plenty of algae for your fish to munch on.
For hillstream loaches, you can take smooth rocks out of the tank, put them in a jar of tank water on the windowsill (a sunny one), then swap them out with clean ones from the tank. It's the easiest way to provide algae for them. If you have aquatic plant fertilizer, you can add that to the water in the jar to help with algae growth.
For fertilizers, most would be fine. If it's only for growing algae, the cheapest would probably be the one I'd pick. You'd really only need a couple of drops of it in the jar/container. I usually use the Seachem Flourish (comprehensive fertilizer) for my tanks, just because I like it.
If you keep three or four stones going (three in the jar, one in the tank), you should have a nice constant supply of algae for the loaches.
You'd really only need a couple of drops of it in the jar/container. I usually use the Seachem Flourish (comprehensive fertilizer) for my tanks, just because I like it. If you keep three or four stones going (three in the jar, one in the tank), you should have a nice constant supply of algae for the loaches.