# Lake Malawi cichlids with goldfish



## Wyoming_Reptiles (Sep 9, 2016)

So I've run into an algae issue and I have left the lights off for a week. My water parameters are all good and I understand mbuna and peacocks are way more aggressive than a goldfish. And I also know goldfish are cold-water fish but the feeder goldfish are pretty tough to kill. So I'm wondering if anyone has tried putting about 2-3 larger goldfish in for about a week to clear up algae.

And it is a 55g tank with 17 total fish.

7 mbuna
8 peacocks
2 bristlenose plecos


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## Aaron S (Apr 4, 2015)

Goldfish get murdered.

Your mbuna should pick at algae on the rocks and the pleco picks at it on the glass. Of course, the fish will not get it perfectly clean so you get to scrub some too. You need to find the right balance of light the tank sees as well as nitrates in the tank. Here are a few questions:

1. Can you post a picture of the state of the algae you dislike?
2. How long has the tank been set up?
3. What are your water parameters at?
4. Tell us about your lights. Type, number, position above the tank, do you have a glass pane before you get into the tank or are you lidless, etc.


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## Wyoming_Reptiles (Sep 9, 2016)

I dont know how to post pictures on this forum tho. But its black and green algae on my rocks. I scrubbed as much off about 4 days ago.
2. My tank has been setup for about 6 months and I never had an algae issue till about 2 weeks ago. 
3. 0 ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, 10 ppm nitrate, and ph is 8.2
4. My lights are the finnex planted plus 24/7, i had these on my old planted tank but use it with just the white lights now.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Welcome to C-F!!!

Click the Posting Pics link in my signature for instructions.


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## Wyoming_Reptiles (Sep 9, 2016)

I re-ran my tests and there is actually 0 ppm nitrate, which I don't know how that is possible after only 2 days.


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## velenc (Jan 16, 2013)

I have had algae eaters with my mbunas and never had a problem. You may want to pick up a couple.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

A tank with nitrate=0 is either not cycled or it has so many healthy plants that they are eating all the nitrate. I've never tried goldfish in a African cichlid tank, no.

Nitrate test can be zero in error if you do not shake enough.


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## Aaron S (Apr 4, 2015)

How long are the lights on for in a day?


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## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

I'm extremely surprised that you have any algae at all with the bristlenose pleco's. I have 3 juvenile BN plecos in my 150 which has 2 LED fixtures and lights are on 10 hours a day. There is no visible algae anywhere including in the java fern which is normally a prime spot for algae. I have only 1 juvenile BN pleco in my very lightly planted 75 gallon and it is also completely algae free. I used to manually remove a golf ball size portion of green hair age from the 150 twice a week prior to the pleco's. 
My point is are you somehow overfeeding the pleco's? I would bet you are dropping in algae wafers regularly and the pleco's are stuffed. I feed only two types of NLS and an Omega shrimp pellet along with brine shrimp. Nothing gets left behind for the pleco's so any and all algae is decimated. Stop feeding whatever the pleco's are eating and you'll never have an algae problem again. My pleco's are obviously very well fed as I just rescaped the tank last night and found a clutch of eggs.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I think the young ones are better at algae than the older ones. Little half inch guys keep my tanks spotless but the 2" and larger ones...not so much.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Wyoming_Reptiles said:


> But its black and green algae on my rocks. I scrubbed as much off about 4 days ago.


Difficult to say for certain what type of algae it is with out a picture, but based on the description, it sort of sounds like Black Brush algae. 
I like the stuff. Grows very well in my tanks. Even keep my lights on longer to grow it better.
From reading on the internet, I have learned that it is possibly the most difficult algae to eliminate. Even black outs of over a week often have little affect on it. Contrary to what many people will tell you about nitrate levels, seldom is Nitrogen a limiting nutrient for algae growth in an aquarium. No shortage of nitrogen in an aquarium and water changes probably accelerate the growth of many types of algae by replenishing the limiting nutrients!
Does it look anything like this:


http://vid192.photobucket.com/albums/z116/Bern-C/027.mp4
If so, my advise is learn to like the stuff! :lol: IMO, decor with algae certainly looks more 'natural' then decor with out algae. It also provides some of the same benefits as plants, taking excessive nutrients out of the water column. Contrary to what you will read on the internet, fish do eat the stuff including most cichlids. They just prefer new growth, so none will completely eliminate it. Common plecos, CAE's, and BN plecos will eat huge amounts of it....but none will eliminate it.


DJRansome said:


> Little half inch guys keep my tanks spotless but the 2" and larger ones...not so much.


I found the opposite. The very small ones are pretty much useless in controlling algae. The fact of the matter is, a 2-3 gram fish won't eat that much. Especially slow growing fish like BN's. 
I suppose if there is not enough algae, the fish will learn to utilise other sources of food and begin to rely on it more and more.... a lot less less energy expenditure then making a living as an algae eater.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

I think Goldfish may be ignored depending on the situation. Even act as dither fish.

Not sure why they would clean the algae any better than the Mbuna... the Goldfish will fill up on fish food same as the cichlids. Maybe if they were hungry, same as the other fish thou.


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## CeeJay (Aug 16, 2016)

Cutting light won't do any thing with that stuff. Normally I would recommend floating plants to cut your lights but I have seen that algae grow in very low light. Are you sure the goldfish would eat it? How are you cleaning it off? I recommend spraying it with excel and letting the rocks sit for 5 min and then rinse with water. It will turn the algae red and then it will die. I have slowed it down by keeping the tank as clean as you can. It's getting some kind of nutrient whether that's over feeding or your water has something in it. Fine the source and the problem and it will go away. How long has the tank been set up and running?


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## mbargas (Apr 19, 2009)

noki said:


> Not sure why they would clean the algae any better than the Mbuna...


I certainly would not pick goldfish as algae eaters. They have relatively soft mouths compared to the mbuna that have teeth designed for scraping algae of the rocks. The various Tropheus species from Tanganyika can also be used for this purpose.
Non-cichlid fishes that are good algae eaters include the American flag fish (Everglades killie) and the Siamese Algae eater. They will gobble up tough hair algae very quickly.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Here are some reasons that you don't want goldfish.

1. Not very good at cleaning up algae.
2. Feeder goldfish often can carry diseases, or aren't very healthy and can infect your fish.
3. They will outgrow your Mbuna, and are heavy polluters.


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