Will walmart algae eaters keep my plants clean?

true algae eating fish such as plecostomas get too big for the average aquarium. No matter the size of the tank they will keep growing until the pollute the water enough to die. I would avoid these fish. While it is true that algae grazers are less harm to broad leaf plants algae eating fish are still herbivores/omnivores and will eat your live plants.

Chinese Algae Eaters are more like pests than fish IMO. They prefer to eat prepared foods like flakes and will often suck the slime coat off other fish in the tank. They only resort to algae eating if there are no other options in the tank. They also get quite large.

Otocinclus are great little schooling algae eaters and will cause the least amount of damage to your plants. However they still may eat a few. These fish are a favorite of plant hobbyists.

About walmart fish... No one at walmart takes care of the fish properly. They are almost always starved when you get them, especially the algae eaters which are NEVER fed veggies of any sort. The fish are diseased and come from poor sources. The fish are often neglected and abused. Please do not support the sale of live pets at walmart.

add: If you have a community tank mollies may help. They too like to eat live plants but will also gently graze on algae.

If you use your fingers to gently rub the leaves of the plants it will remove the algae without the need for additional fish.

Test your water. A planted tank with good water quality and balanced nutirents shouldn't become over run with algae.

Perfect answer from Lemon. Please listen to her, and tell us what size aquarium you have!

EDIT:

OK, so the only fish you could even think about adding would be a Common Pleco, since you have Goldfish, which are incompatible with any other fish.

Still, I don't think a Pleco will do you any good, (and they really should be kept at higher temperatures,) as they tend to do a great job on glass, but not on leaves. I'd suggest, (as others have,) that you clean the plants by hand, and read these tips on Algae conrol:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat...

These are geared toward outside ponds, but I don't see why they wouldn't work indoors as well.

Good luck!

BTW, I boycott Wallmart because of the disgusting way they treat thier fish. Target may not be perfect, but at least they don't sell abused, sickly creatures.

EDIT # 2:

Sorry for the confusion. Target doesn't sell fish, or any animal for that matter. That's why I shop for other things there instead of Walmart.

I really just suggest that you buy your fish from aquarium stores only, and skip Walmart, Big-Box stores and the like.

Anyway, I doubt that any fish is going to help you with your algae problem.

How long have you had your pond set up for? Do you happen to know what kind of algae you have? if not, is it green, brown, stringy, etc.?

I'm guessing the first fish you had was a betta. The other fish you bought were tiger barbs. The plant you bought is not a water plant..you can't just stick any plant in water and expect it to live. Betta's require a 5 gallon TANK with a heater and filter. Tiger barbs need a minimum of a 30 gallon tank and need to be in a group of 8+ with a heater and filter. Platies require at least a 10 gallon tank with a heater and filter. Algae eaters need at least a 20+ gallon tank depending on the type with a heater and filter. NO fish can live in a vase or bowl. They're living things and need an actual tank with a filter and heater (if you go tropical..which all of the fish you had were). Please do some research on fish. Don't trust pet store employees they really have no clue about anything. Like I said do some research and return the still living fish before they die. Vases are good for fresh cut flowers and bamboo not living creatures. :]

Goldfish are coldwater fish, so no you can not add any of the fish you said b/c they need warmer water.

You just have to scrub, its what you gotta do when you commit to getting a pond or aquarium.

Plus, algae eaters(Im assuming your talking about chinese algae eaters?) Once they get big will suck the slime coating off your fish, eventaully killing it. If you can find one on the internet, try a chinese hillstream loach.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/HillstreamLo...

They might eat your plants, you can take your plants out and wash them, especially the broad leafed ones, I'm not 100% but Im sure my algae eaters never touched my plants, to clean them or eat them.

Gyrinocheilos aymonieri-algae eater if this is species ur talking about id say a plcostomus would be better addition

you should clean them first. then get the fish. if you get the fish now he'll be in over his fins in work! just clean them off with a soft sponge and the plants will be fine

yes they will