Algae eating fish

[poconojoe]

Hi all, I've read here about the Chinese High Finned Shark that eats algae. They seem to be beneficial to help clean up things but are quite pricey. I really don't want to pay $20+ for each fish and hope they last the PA winters. Plants always seem to help with algae, but I figured all the help I can get will be beneficial. My floating plants seem to be growing really slow this year, so the water is not as clear as I wish. I assume it's the weather. It's been a slow warming and a lot of rain this spring here in Pennsylvania.
I do have trapdoor snails in there to help also.
So, here's the question: Are there any other fish or critters that eat algae that can live with koi, goldfish, shubunkin, etc? Aquarium keepers have sucker fish and other various catfish.

 

[bagsmom]

I don't feed my goldfish and they eat a lot of algae! I didn't realize they would, until I saw them doing it!

 

[poconojoe]

I don't feed my goldfish and they eat a lot of algae! I didn't realize they would, until I saw them doing it!

Yes, I've seen, and heard, my koi sucking algae from rocks. You can actually hear them sucking! Sticking their heads out of the water and sucking in the algae! Funny...

 

[Jhn]

The Hi fin shark won’t survive winters up here. I live in MD and have tried them twice. Both times didn’t make it through the winter, besides those fish get really ugly as adults.

I have 2 -16+” channel catfish that hang at the deep end of the pond and help keep too much detritus from settling there and get it in the water column where it can be removed by the mechanical filters. They probably keep my fish population under control as well.


Can’t remember how old your pond is, but proper circulation and once it gets well established you will cease to have algae issues.

 

[poconojoe]

The Hi fin shark won’t survive winters up here. I live in MD and have tried them twice. Both times didn’t make it through the winter, besides those fish get really ugly as adults.

I have 2 -16+” channel catfish that hang at the deep end of the pond and help keep too much detritus from settling there and get it in the water column where it can be removed by the mechanical filters. They probably keep my fish population under control as well.


Can’t remember how old your pond is, but proper circulation and once it gets well established you will cease to have algae issues.

Channel catfish...sounds interesting. I figured there could be some type of catfish that could be introduced.
Funny you mention circulation. I was pondering that idea. Ha! Pondering! That just popped out of my head....sorry! I have a waterfall, aeration and a submerged pail with lava rocks covering a pump which creates a fountain via a piece of PVC just below the water surface. But, I was thinking of adding one of my spare pumps to get a more circular flow going. In the past I have done this by using a couple of spitters. I have seen in the aquarium world, they use specific circulating pumps to move water. These pumps don't have hose connections, they are just basically a water version of a fan.

 

[qclabrat]

Haha, I opened this thread thinking there was a new species predatory algae which attacked fish....

 

[Jhn]

Channel catfish...sounds interesting. I figured there could be some type of catfish that could be introduced.
Funny you mention circulation. I was pondering that idea. Ha! Pondering! That just popped out of my head....sorry! I have a waterfall, aeration and a submerged pail with lava rocks covering a pump which creates a fountain via a piece of PVC just below the water surface. But, I was thinking of adding one of my spare pumps to get a more circular flow going. In the past I have done this by using a couple of spitters. I have seen in the aquarium world, they use specific circulating pumps to move water. These pumps don't have hose connections, they are just basically a water version of a fan.

My 220 gal saltwater tank has 2 of these pumps, one cranked all the way and the other running about half throttle. Probably about 35-40x the tank volume being turned over per hour. Those pumps can really move water.

 

[poconojoe]

Haha, I opened this thread thinking there was a new species predatory algae which attacked fish....

Funny! After reading my title again, I see what you are saying!