Algae eater in a tiny little tank?

[JustAnotherDogLover]

I just bought my daughter a fish tank for her birthday and it's been awhile since I've owned fish (um...several, several I think I was single and kidless years ago since I owned fish).

It's just a small, plastic tank. I think it's 1 1/2 gallons maybe.

We put two tiny little algae eaters and 4 neons in it and they were all dead within a week.

I let her buy a fish the other day. I'm not sure what it is....he just said a fishpond goldfish. I guess it's one of those that could grow to be huge that eventually you'd put outside in a fishpond. He's only about an inch long now.

Anyway. Should I get an algae eater or plocostimous (sp?) to put in with it? Or would that maybe be too much crowding? There really isn't a lot of algae in the tank though. I want something that'll eat the poo and maybe the flakes that sink to the bottom (I know sinking flakes could mean I feed too much so I have cut down on how much I put in).

So what do you think? What's the best thing to put in with it, if anything at all?

[Arazante]

Why did they die?

For a tank that size, you don't really need any algae eaters. Some fish eat flakes off the bottom of the tank. I had a few that did. A tank that size won't be hard to clean, either. So, I don't think it's a real big problem if you go without a live cleaner.

[JustAnotherDogLover]

I don't know why the first set of fish died.

And thanks for your thoughts on this new fish. I went to feed it this morning and he was floating.

Maybe my city-water is nasty for fish. I'll get some bottled water next time and see if the fish live longer than 2 days.

[SalemWitchChild]

You should have a product called de-chlorinatory to add to your tap water to make it safe. If you didn't do that then you know why they died. Lots of things are added to our water so it is a must to use de-chlorinator. Also did you let the tank cycle before adding fish. Lots of people just want to buy a tank fill it up and add fish. You can't do that. You must wait for it to cycle through. That means the water's ph needs to be around 7.0 and your temp needs to be around 75-80.

Also look for some fish forums. You'll get lots of advice there. :)

[celtechfarms]

If your worried about algee, try a snail, unobtrusive, small and no need to worry about care.

[theemailman03]

I had two janitor fish and it prolongs the waters cleanliness.

[Bopo]

Just buy some algae eaters like suckers, their relatively inexpensive

[duckyboy1975]

Your fish probably died because you had too many fish in that small of a tank and the water became poison. For that small of a tank algea shouldn't be a problem. If it is just wipe it off the inside of the glass yourself with a paper towel.

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[entirelyskin]

I suggest a plocostimous it is a great cleaning fish.

[Heijerman]

If you notice small or large green spots, or even some hair algae in your freshwater tropical aquarium, you usually try to remove them manually.

I think you should try putting some snails in your tank. They usually eat algae. Their help is significant when there are many snails in the tank. Ramshorn snails are very helpful for this purpose.

Don’t use chemicals for removing the algae. Use algae eaters instead. Otherwise chemicals could cause serious damage to fish or plants. Chemical use is recommended if only there is no fish in the tank.