PENEJANE Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 on the suction cups of my heating rod is this slimy looking white stuff. It is also on the cord comming out of the filter (power cord) and on the wooden bits of the ship wrek. I have noticed it before but the fish must of eaten it as it had dissapeared with out me doing anything to it. But its back and I just wanted to make sure that its ok and not something nasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 It's normal, no idea what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted April 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 cheers. Thanks for that Just wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing something wrong lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazz Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 I've got this on my heater fittings as well. Its good to know that is normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 I don't know about 'normal' but it is quite common Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 I get it in the cichlid tank a little bit, however I find with more regular water changes it doesn't build up so often.. My golden Algae eaters get it these days and keep the suction cups all clean and shiny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Hey...I noticed white "stuff" on the suction cup...first I thought it was just air bubbles until a closer look, yup "white stuff"...glad to hear that it is "normal"? I check my aquarium everyday and yesterday was the first time I noticed it. Nothing heavy duty...water change due tomorrow...will be interesting to see what happens. Does this mean I need an algae eater? Would like to hear opinions on algae eaters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Algae eaters are good because they aren't just algae eaters. They eat any uneaten food that your fish miss and any algae or whatever that grows in the tank. A general 'clean up crew'. The most common and best all-around (in my opinion/experience anyways) one would be the bristle nose catfish. It doesn't grow too big for most aquaria, eats algae all through it's life cycle (which some don't), gets along with most anything and will get any uneaten stuff that floats to the bottom. The only down side to them, if there is any, is that they're not particularly colourful and some people find the male's bristles/mustaches unsightly. I'm not one of those people though and you can get golden versions of them that're more colourful but also usually more expensive. Normal Bristlenose Golden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 No offense...but I think both are scarey looking! I haven't read anything on algae eaters...didn't think I would need one yet. I'll have to do some reading on them. So...what should I know about algae eaters? - 10 gallon tank...only need one? - I've heard that if you don't have enough algae, they will die (heard this from a lady who was buying her third one, first 2 died) -do they go on everything in the tank & eat algae, ummm, the suction cups, plants...basically everything in the tank? -are there many different kinds? -different sizes? -compatible with all fishies? Oh...and having this "white stuff"...does it mean I need an eater? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newtman Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 hey caper, you can get quite alot of plecos,bristlenoses,and flying foxes...which all will eat algae, but they should all eat food if it can get to them however...crumble,pelets..ect.(spiralina disks are a fav for the plecs an bn's). so no need to wory abt them running out of food and yea, most plecs and bn's go great with other fish, not sure abt the flying foxes tho....the only other thing to worry abt i can think of is that some plecos can get quite big but not all of them, there are some realy nice dwarf plecs out there Newt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 For algae eating in a 10 gal tank i'd recommend a couple of Otocinclus, nice small peacefull fish that do a good job on the algae plants and all. The B/Nose are cool and very peacefull, would be interesting to know what sort of price the Golden Blackeye Ancistrus (bristlenose) are in Canada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Yeah I was gonna mention Oto's because I've heard good things about them, but I haven't had any experience with them so I decided to just stick to what I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Okay...that's it...I'm moving to New Zealand! I just love you all...you ARE so helpful, kind, funny,etc., etc. Oto who? How on earth do you remember all these extrememly hard to spell names Off work today...still sick with bad cold...so I'm going to look these fishies up. Snowman...I don't know about the Golden (bristlenose). As I've mentioned on other posts, locally we only have 2 places that sell fish (and they certainly DO NOT seem to know as much about fish as you all do). The department store that sells fish hasn't had any fish at all in a few weeks...they were having trouble...I wonder if all the dead fish was their first clue :evil: It was disgusting, I'd go everyday just to see and everyday...more dead fish. Anyway, Snowman I'll see if I can find out how much a golden would cost here, if you can get them that is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Hi Caper, If you are "still" hungry for some reading material, try aquarticles.com in Canada. I believe there's a list .. plus write-ups of the local stores in the Vancouver area. Couple of links here might help. http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/peo ... index.html http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/tra ... r_Map.html Oopss.. Just had a look at the map. Might be a bit off the beaten track for you to go there. Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Yup, Pegasus...would be a rather looooonnggg drive :lol: Vancouver is on the west coast of Canada, while I'm on the east coast. Cool that you were looking at a map...if I had known I could have waved to you Can you recommend a good place to get pics and right up on New Zealand. Back to fishie! Did some reading on algae eaters today. What I have read so far, from what I could understand :-? , it looks like maybe a bristlenose? Please have patience...remember newbie...don't :evil: with me This is what I've got so far, IF I'm understanding correctly: - pleco's might get too large for my small tank - oto's seem to be good size, but read "may suck on goldfish", need more than 1, will attack other fish if hungry - "putting algae eaters with goldfish not a good idea", don't remember if it said why So...leaning towards a bristlenose...ummmm...various kinds as well???? DECISIONS...DECISIONS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 :-? :-? Oh...getting more confused. Are all catfish algae eaters? Are bristlenoses, pleco's? System overload...need to reboot my brain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 no, most catfish aren't algae eats. Not even all suckermouth cats are algae eaters. Plecos and bristlenoses are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 realy nice dwarf plecs I'll have to check that out. Am I getting this at all... 1) not all catfish are algae eaters...true 2) bristlenoses are catfish (algae eaters)...true 3) otos are not catfish...mmm...true 4) pleco's are catfish...true Oh shoot...have to go do some more reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Sounds like a venn diagram in the making to me :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 hahah indeed. I don't think Oto's suck onto other fish though - that's Chinese algae eaters. A very similar looking species. There's oto's, chinese algae eaters and Siamese algae eaters... with the chinese ones being the ones that will suck onto other fish. It's confusing because they look so similar and pet shops often sell one type as another. I've got some (I think) Chinese algae eaters that were sold to me as "Standard Algae eaters" and they definately do suck onto other fish. Two of them are currently sentanced to death in my Axolotl tank and my other one's in with my oscar - the moment I catch him trying anything funny I'll dice 'em up and feed him to the oscar though. He used to be in a tank with some corydoras and they were always really timid and I rarely saw them, then one day I caught him sucking onto one of them. That was a couple of weeks ago, now that I've moved him out of the tank the corydoras are much more active. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 Mismona...what is a venn diagram???? In both our cases, this catfish when larger has attached itself to the bodies of its tankmates This I quoted from the "oto" site you sent Hummingbird, not the site I say it on today though. But I'm going to read everything there! I am correct in saying that chinese/siamese are NOT what I want? I'm going to what else I can find on the bristlenose! I did my 25% water change this evening, didn't do a major vacuum, more of light vacuum, going to save the heavy duty stuff for the monthly, unless the need arises. Oh...and rinsed my carbon filter in the water I removed. Checked my water beforehand, pH 7.2; ammonia 0; waited a while after the change and tested again, same readings. Was trying to get the "film" off the front of my aquarium, couldn't figure out what the heck was going on since I only wipe with damp cloth (cloths that are only used for tank). DUHHH....the "film" is on the inside of tank...algae???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 Caper, Otos are a catfish and are in fact in the same family as bristlenoses and plecos (but plecos don't tend to be good as algae eaters). The various Chinese/Siames algae eaters aren't catfish. They are more closely related to loaches (and barbs and goldfish and danios - i.e. cyprinids) than catfish. Yes, it is confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 Spooky said: (but plecos don't tend to be good as algae eaters). The Pleco (Plecostomus).. is one of the best algae removers around. There are "Catfish"... and there are "Catfish".. Some will tend to remove "certain types" of algae.. whereas others won't touch it. The same goes for "Algae".. there are so many types, and there are few (if any) Catfish that will remove all types. Last week I dropped one of my larger Plecos into a four footer that was so green with algae I couldn't see the back of the tank. The tank gets a fair bit of bright daylight, but I like it that way 24hrs later there were just a few patches of algae left and the tank was crystal clear. Had this been blue/black/ or brown algae, then the big fella probably wouldn't have done such a good job... but it was fresh green algae.. so it went pretty quick. Hair algae is one that is particularly hard to erradicate.. so the story is... "Don't let the algae get out of hand.. and if it "does".. then get the right Cat for the job" Also remember to "feed" your catfish, and not just rely on the scraps that other fish have left. Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 bristlenose oto dwarf pleco Hummingbird...you said you had goldfish before? Did you have algae eaters in with them, and if so, what kind? Again, my concern with the bristlenose is size, from what I've read so far the smallest (exculding the dwarf) are 4", so in your opinion Hummingbird doesn't that exclude him for my 10 gallon? Snowman you have oto's right? I was leaning towards the oto because of its size. But again I found a site that said "can't live with goldfish". Attach to other fish: "more likely this behavior is a manifestation of food debrivation". So, that would lead you a person to think that as long as they have algae with supplemental feeding (e.g. algae wafers) they will leave other fish alone??? Newtman, have been reading up on dwarf pleco's. Any comments on these?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newtman Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 i quite like the golden ansistrus (sp)('bristelnose' gold form)above^ and also the normal variety..... i have kept otos before and they were sweet as, i had no probs with them and they even produced a few offspring.....i started with three and ended up with 6:D.... as for the drarf plecos mabye try asking in the catfish section as i kno there are a few being kept by thos ppl who chat in there and im sure theyd be happy to clue you in abt them...not sure who tho sorry i jus like the 1s i have seen around, but ive got no idea on the names of them...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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