Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I just want to know if anyone has algae eaters in there AP set up.

I mean we are allways looking at ways to harness the suns energy to do work eg. move the water around.

But why not let the sun into the fish tanks (a little) and let some algae grow and the fish to graze on it. Its just a tought i know that algy messes up ph and stuff but i think there could be a balance found.

And its another way to harness the suns energy

I hear that plecostamus are good eating.

good post Caribean-grower.

i am breeding daphnia as seen in avatar, which are tiny crustaceans that feed on algae. i plan to have a tank for green water culture which consists of overfed goldfish. i will then have another tank which i will culture the daphnia in and feed them periodically with the green water from the goldfish tank. i will then top up my fish tanks with the daphnia culture as a feed source. i will then top up the green water culture tank with water from the fishtanks and hence close the loop. this way i wont be messing around with algae in the main fish tanks. also when the daphnia are put in the fish tanks they will probably clean some of the algae up and more then likely help stabilize the water.

i'm thinking perhaps i may also put a few algae eating fish in the green water culture tanks to add to the diversity and perhaps use them as a food source for larger fish.

i look forward to others ideas.

I have a chinese golden algae eater in my system, with the silver perch. The main reason i did this though was because my old 30L system was dismantled and it needed a home. Hes been there for 4 monthsish now and its still alive.

i have bristlenose and a sailfin pleco in my systemand they are all fat and happy.

Are any algae eaters good for food??????

plecostamus are algae eaters, and are eaten by people in their native land.

A bit expensive for a meal here in Australia! - I guess that is why we have no idea as to how they taste

I just bought a Chinese Algae Eater for my indoor set up. The guy at Petco told me to save my receipt when he found out the other fish in the tank were gold fish - "too dirty" he said.

I told him I had an aquaponic system so I generally have no more than a small trace of ammonia. He kind of looked at my funny when I explained the whole idea.

Still, It may be a little too chilly for the fish. The tank stays around 65F during the winter.

put 3 chinese algae eaters in big pond... 2 made it through with trout and all.. and they have grown about 3 inches since being in.
got 2 plecos in the small pond $50 for the pair, not cheap but the tank is spotless between them and the yabbies.

You mean during winter?? Can the chinese algae eater take the winter cold waters?? And plecos as well??

Plecos die in colder waters. I am sure it depends on the species but in my experience they seem to go just about the same time as Tilapia (50-55). We have them wild in our lakes and streams around here (I don't believe they are native though). In some places like the Wekiva river you can look down in the crystal clear water and see thousands covering the entire bottom of the river. And...they're all 1-2 feet long!

I've done some electro fishing down your way Ryan with Florida DNR. The local biologist said they were introduced, most likely as pets. We shocked a few, up North of Ocala. I was told they bury themselves in the bottom mud during the winter. We shocked one up that was nearly 24 inches long. Interesting animals. I have grown some here in MS that reached 12 inches (overwintered inside).

I have floated the Wekiva River, awesome place, but that was years ago. Plecos probably overwinter in some of the relatively warm springs. I have experienced death of plecos in the same temp range. Don't know anything about chinese algae eaters.