The Puffer Forum

I have a 45 gallon tank with 5 Goldfish *Two fantails, three comets.* I know, tank space isn't ideal. Temporary, water changes are done weekly. The tank has quite a bit of algae. I was curious if there was a clean up crew. Tank stays about low 70s. Occasionally goes below 65. Looking for any options. Snails, Shrimp, etc. Thanks, everyone.

I would be hesitant to add another creature with 5 goldfish in there already, they just put out so much waste.

Some of the best options for a clean up crew would likely be fairly sensitive to water parameters

Have you thought of other way to control the algae first?

The goldfish themselves may even be contributing to this problem.

snails will work, possibly Amano shrimp. I have a feeling the GF will pick on any shrimp that are in there though.

For snails get the Nerite snails, they will do the cleaning and not breed. As PC said, you have to fix the underlying problem or else it will come back to haunt you.

Manually remove it. That tank doesn't have room for new inhabitants. You cause it, you remove it

Flutter wrote:Manually remove it. That tank doesn't have room for new inhabitants. You cause it, you remove it

I agree. A "clean up crew" will not do anything. A bristlenose pleco will probably take care of some algae, but the fact is, the water parameters are the issue. There are excess "nutrients" (for lack of a better term) in your tank that is causing the algae. Increase water changes (more than once a week, since your bio-load is so big, maybe every 3 days?) and cut back on lighting. Should help you out.

Algae is a symptom. Try to fix the problem, not the symptom(s). The tank is seriously overstocked.