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Re: Starve a cold -- feed your plants



Chuck H  said that not feeding your fish, to get them to
eat algae was not going to solve a bad algae problem.


I think that's right.  Lots of times I've sen people post
that they avoid ffeding their, e.g., SAEs so that they will
concentrate on eating algae.  I don't know if this works as
far as changing fish behavior.  SAEs are probably a bad
example because the older ones learn to scavange well for
processed food, live food, all kinds of food besides just
hair algae.

Bristlenose cats (bushy nose plecos) are very good at going
after the algae the kinds of algae that they eat -- much
better in my experince than any other fish.  And they will
eat other foods, but behaviourly they seem disposed towards
grawing surfaces and, in that way, consuming algae.

While any of the planted tank algae eaters, bristlenose
cats, otos, SAEs, are good at fine tuning algae levels, I
don't think they'll cure an ill tank or put one back in
whack.  That's more a matter of nutrient levels, iyam.

However, if you starve your fish, you are noticeably
reducing the amount of nitrogen, etc. that you are adding
to the tank.  Will the plants endure this better than the
algae.  Maybe, for a little awhile.  

Scott H.

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