anyone have a good name for an algae eater? :)

Sorry... I do not name my fish, however I'm sure Robyn has a cute little name to come up with. B)

Yeah, I don't know! Suckie pie?

When I feed my fish, the others (black molly, swordtail) go rushing towards the flakes. But my two Algae Eaters do nothing. Yet they are the biggest (4-5 inches). I only have a ten gallon tank and I don't think I have that much algae to support them.

What natural foods (ie spinich, lettuce, cucumbers?) can I add to the tank for the Algae Eaters and for the other fish to supplement their diet?

What species of "algae-eater" do you have? At 4 to 5 inches, there are plecostomus, Chinese algae eaters, Siamese algae eaters, and more. If they are plecos, I suggest feeding sinking algae wafers sold just for them and also cucumbers (2" piece cut, split, deseeded, and anchored to the bottom). If they are Chinese algae eaters, then as adults, they mostly eat fish foods and not much algae. If they are Siamese algae eaters, well mine also mostly eats fish food so I don't need to supplement his diet either but they should also eat the sinking algae wafers. You can also try anacharis, squash, romaine, etc. in addition to cucumber for fish that like to eat plants.

Thanks, I believe they are plecos. -I also have alot of snails that are multiplying more and more constantly. Are that many snails healthy for the tank or do they eat too much of the food that the plecos eat? The 2 plecos I have don't seem hungry however they are the biggest fish and seem to eat the least.

Plecos have a slow metabolism (after all, they mostly just sit there) and don't eat much. Snails can overrun a tank but usually are only a problem if they're eating all your live plants or if they die which would foul the water. My page on snails is at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snail.htm

I bought a few live plants once to add to my 10 gallon tank several years ago..the snails were in the plants... anyway they took over I hated to do it,but I started scooping them out and flushing them down the toilet... :huh:
I'm not a fish expert so I can't help you with your goldfish,maybe a friend and a bigger tank would make him/her happier...I'd listen to Robyn..she seems very knowledgable... :D
As far as a name...heehee
I could think of several.I had one (pleco)but never really looked into how they feed,do they actually suck?or do they have a tongue of some sort?
You might not like any of these but here goes...SuperSucker,Aqua-Vac,Vaccum,Dirt bag,Dirt devil,SpongBob,Clean freak,Foul hound,tank rival,algae addict,taken-in,barnacle,food gremlin,freeloader,scrounger,easy pickings,mug-pie,rip-off,scumbag,bottom dog,stuffer,mouth wide-open,tank sweep,Hoover,bodyguard,maintenance man,Steward,supersweeper,algae warden,custodian,claviger,abyss,dirt buster,scrubber,sanitizer,whisk broom,dredger,excavation,cavity,chasm,waste man,I don't know..lol..you could add super or any word you like to any of these Synonyms...I hope I helped,I probably made it worse.. :blink:

Plecos don't have a tongue. They technically rasp with a mouth that latches onto glass, ornaments, or rarely fish. When rasped on, they can suck like a little vacuum. Here is a link to a photo of my pleco that shows his mouth. The outer edge makes a seal to the glass.

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/photos/fish/catfish/plecy6.jpg

Great photo Robyn...Now I see how they eat..how cool...I never really watched mine when it ate...my son has a huge one about 15" inside in a huge tank...

A name for your pleco could be Munch.

Hello,
Please be careful of what you name your fish! My pleco was a very cute and tiny when we first added it to the tank and I humorously gave it the name of "Littlenessie" .... Now, it is about an 16 inch monster for real... and still growing! LOL!! Thankfully, they are only supposed to grow up to 24" long.... right???

In addition to the algae/spirulina wafers, it likes to go up to the top of the water and it will grab several large gold fish pellets in its mouth and munch away at them when they are soft. We tried feeding it a slice of zucchini and it rasped a big hole in the center and I didn't thing that was a good idea for it to eat that much at one time. It will also eat spinach greens, if the goldfish don't gobble it down first.
Have fun naming your algae eater and enjoy it while it is still little hehehe

Jennifer

Oops. I just noticed that first post was older. Maybe someone else will be searching for a name in the future?

My Plecy is 15" long. I've had him 12 years. He's not growing much now. Most common plecos grow 1 to 2 feet long. Plecy mostly eats cucumbers and some algae wafers. I also put in sinking shrimp pellets for a little "meat."

Good name and named mine (stole it from someone else) is dumpster (but lovingly) he is outside now but will be comming in for the winter. I will need a lot of help when that time comes. If he is still in the pond??? put him in and never have seen him again. I do drop the alpha waffers every other day or so and man do the pond fish go crazy i mean wakey to get to them not even sure if dumpster gets them but he is not floating and I do regular scapes around plants to make sure he didn't sink no signs yet. He does have a lot of work to do down there.

Thanks Christi

I dunno...I named my Chinese Algae Eater Shnood.

How about the name Scrubs?

I call my pleco Willy Maker cause he gives me the "Willies". My Mom had Peter Pleco; when he died she got PP2, which now lives at my place!! That name is silly and cracks me up but hey! I didn't name him!

What did you end up naming him?

Christina, good luck catching your pleco.

Do you have a rock/gravel bottom pond? I just want to warn you, that's the worst for catching a pleco, very challenging, if even possible. Start now before it gets too cold, believe they die at 49 F. I lost two plecos just because I couldn't catch them. Problem is; it takes no time for the pond bottom to stir up and cloud the water so bad you can't see. Plecos are fast when they want to be, and they blend in so well with rock, makes for very difficult catching. And Mother Nature won't wait for you.