# Algaefix Deaths



## Fathoms (Feb 20, 2008)

I dosed my 15 gallon tank with 1.25 ml of Algaefix yesterday because the algae was getting out of control. It says to use 1 ml per 10 gallons. Today all of my 3 month old ocellatus fry are dead  . It says right on the front of the bottle "Will not harm fish or plants". The parents look and are acting normal. I tested the water and everything tested out normal except for 0 Nitrates which I thought was odd. Should I do a big water change? This really sucks.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

From what people tell me any chemical for removing algae can do this...*** heard quite a few stories on hear of ot happening as well ...im sorry for your loss


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I've never seen anything but problems arise from using any of the algae products, snail removal products, or ph enhancing products that LFS sell.

Fry seem to be especially susceptible to these things.

I wish they would just pull them off the shelves. :?


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## webgirl74 (Jan 30, 2009)

I've heard the same thing. Yes, do some big water changes to get your quality back up to what it was. If you have algae issues, get ahold of a bristlenose plecostomas and it will literally clean your tank overnight. Although, not sure if a 15 gallon is a bit tight for one. But if you have another tank, you can switch the fish between tanks...that's what I do and it works out great.


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## Fathoms (Feb 20, 2008)

Update:
I contacted Aquarium Pharmaceuticals the makers of Algaefix. The representative I talked to seemed knowledgeable and was confident that it was not Algaefix that caused the fry to die. He did acknowledge that if you overdose your tank it will kill fish and in that case the parents would have probably died also or at least shown distress. He suspected a disease such as Velvet. It would be nice to get to the bottom of this but I am not sure how. He told me I could send in the bottle of Algaefix so they could test it and see if there was anything wrong with that particular one. I may do that.

When I discovered the dead fry they had lost all color and were white. It looked like they had been deceased for awhile. They were slightly bloated looking. The parents seemed to ignore the corpses except for one floating. The Mom gently nibbled at it and lost interest. I think she thought it was a mysis shrimp because they both acted like it was feeding time which makes sense.

For the record I don't have 100% proof that it was Algaefix so I shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Fathoms said:


> Update:
> I contacted Aquarium Pharmaceuticals the makers of Algaefix. The representative I talked to seemed knowledgeable and was confident that it was not Algaefix that caused the fry to die.


The rep you talked to is dependent on sales to keep his/her job. :roll:

Coincidence or not, there are alot of aquarium disasters that follow the use of these products.

That's enough for me.

And what good would it do to send the bottle to the company that manufacturers it for analysis? I'm sure it's "perfect". I wouldn't waste my time.

There's just something about this stuff and other products listed above that fish react poorly to.


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

Yeah... lots and lots of threads come up on fish forums about algaefix wreaking havoc with a tank.

The real fix for algae is eliminating excess nutrients through water changes and not over feeding.

-Ryan


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

WHy did he think it could be Velvet? Are the fish flashing excessively? Is there a rust colored talc like coating on the fish?

You really can't tell much about what killed a fish from a fish's dead body. They start to break down almost immediately upon death.

Have you tested your water recently? Could be the sudden death of the algae caused an ammonia spike. I would do daily partial water changes (30%) for the next few days using a good quality declorinator. The dead fry in the tank may also have upped the ammonia.

The presense of too much algae doesn't hurt your fish but it may be an indication that you're not performing the proper maintenance and care in your tank. Overfeeding your fish will help algae grow as will too much sunlight. Performing weekly partial water changes and gravel siphonings will help keep algae from getting out of control. If your tank is overstocked then this too will cause (too much) algae to grow.

I've always found the people at AP to be knowledgeable and helpful but that doesn't mean they're always right. I'd stay away from algaecides--period.

Robin


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## cindylou (Oct 22, 2008)

I would just clean anything off that had algae on it when I do a WC I do the tank in sections and remove the decor , clean it and put it back...And I have also heard that a tank to close to a window will cause algae problems.. :fish: :fish: :fish:


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