If you ever get a freshwater Platy tank, the tank will most likely grow algae at some point. Algae growth makes your tank look ugly. Not to forget that algae will destroy your aquarium’s ecosystem. But, the good news is: Your food-loving Platy will not mind the sight of algae. In fact, your Platy fish will gladly eat the algae growing in the aquarium!
Yes, Platy fish eat algae in the aquarium when they are underfed or hungry. But, there are only certain algae that Platy fish eat. Platy fish eat Hair/Thread Algae, Staghorn Algae, Brown Algae, Black Beard Algae, Surface Algae, green slime, and fuzz algae. While algae are not harmful, it doesn’t provide them with complete nutrition either. So, you need to provide a variety of meals like blood worms, brine shrimps, flakes, pellets, veggies, in your Platy fish’s diet.
You might think that since Platy fish eat algae, letting algae grow in your tank is alright. But, algae grows really quickly. And, your Platy fish won’t be able to finish all those algae. Instead, the algae will deplete the nutrients and oxygen in your tank which will harm your Platy. As the famous saying goes: Too much of anything is harmful.
Today, let us understand the types of algae and if they affect your Platy in any way. I’ll also tell you if you can use platyfish to control algae in your tank and many more queries. Let’s start.
What Is Algae?
Before I get into whether your Platy fish eats algae or not, you should know about the term Algae.
You may think of algae as plants. I mean, algae do contain chlorophyll which gives them the ability to photosynthesize. The Chlorophyll also gives algae the characteristic green color like plants.
Most of the time people think Algae as plants, and yes Platy fish eat plants. But, as a matter of fact, algae cannot be classified as a plant. It’s because algae lack flowers, leaves, stems, roots, and a vascular system.
So, Algae will grow in your tank because of spores. Spores are the resistant structures formed in adverse conditions to let the algae spread. And almost all freshwater tanks, sooner or later, will develop algae due to these spores.
You may have heard of scums, seaweeds, and such names growing in the tank. These all are types of algae.
So, Do Platy Fish Eat Algae?
If you already have a platyfish in your tank, you must already know how they love food. And yes, these fish don’t mind eating overgrown algae here and there. To answer your question, yes, platyfish do eat certain types of algae. In fact, I’ve heard that plants in a platy tank go missing or are nibbled to no recognition.
Platy fish, in the wild, eat algae too. It provides protein supplements in their diet.
But, although platyfish do like to munch on some algae for their diet, too many algae are harmful to their health. And trust me, no fish owner likes algae growing in their tank. For too much algae growth will deplete the nutrients and oxygen in your tank. And, your platy will not be able to breathe in such a tank. This impairs their health badly.
If you want to provide an algae diet to your platy fish, there are algae wafers available in the market. And, there is much food that comes added with algae. You can provide your platy with such algae.
But, heaps of algae infesting in your tank is not a diet for your platy fish! Instead, it is parasitic. And Platy fish is too small of a fish to consume so many algae! Also, algae alone can’t benefit your platy fish’s health.
Types Of Algae That Your Platy Fish Will Happily Eat
Among the hundreds of algae that will grow in your tank, there are just a few that your platy fish will happily eat. And they are:
Hair/Thread Algae
Hair algae are called so because it feels like wet hair when taken out of the tank water. These algae are long thread-like and green in color. You can see hair algae floating along with the current of the tank water. Hair algae grow rapidly and stick on different sides of your tank. Platy fish will gladly munch on these algae.
Staghorn Algae
This algae literally looks like the horn of a stag and grows from the floor or decorations in your tank. These algae belong to red algae.
Most aquatic animals don’t munch on staghorn. Of course, the exception is our platyfish who don’t mind munching on these stag horns.
Brown Algae
Brown algae look like a fine dust-colored light to deep brown. They thrive by both photosynthesis as well as phosphorus, nitrates, silicate, etc. When brown algae grow in your tank, it means that your tank parameters are imbalanced.
Since brown algae infest your tank quickly, it’s better to remove them. Fish and snails like Otocinclus Catfish, Plecostomus, Yellow Tangs, nerite snails, and so on readily eat brown algae.
Black Beard Algae
Black beard algae also called brush algae, looks black as in their name because of phycoerythrin protein. And this algae is really common in a platy tank. So, platy fish fondly eat black beard algae.
In the consistency, it is patchy beard-like, and slippery, soft. It attaches itself to the hard-edged surface and rough plants. That’s why it is hard to remove from the tank.
If a black beard grows, it means there is abundant CO2 and imbalanced water parameters in your tank.
Surface Algae
Surface algae mean the algae floating on the top of the tank. These algae will keep your Platy engaged for days. And, if you want to remove them, you can just scoop them out. It’s that easy.
Spirulina Flakes or Spirogyra
Filamentous green algae is a spirogyra. These are slippery and will spread throughout your tank in no time. There are also spirulina flakes that are available in packaged form. Many fish owners provide their fish with these flakes and wafers.
Your platy fish won’t mind feasting on this filamentous goodness.
Green Slime
Green slime is quite a popular algae in a tank. But, these algae are munched up by your platy really quickly. It is also quite a common fish food. So, you won’t get to see green algae quite often.
Fuzz Algae
Fuzz algae, like its name suggests, has a fuzzy appearance. It grows on an individual filament. When CO2 levels of your tank have increased, fuzz algae start growing. Small amounts of fuzz algae don’t create any complications in your tank.
Your Platy will happily eat the fuzz algae up.
Algae Your Platy Won’t Eat
Now that I have talked about what algae your platy loves to feed on, let me also tell you some algae to avoid infesting in your Platy fish tank.
Blanket Weed
Blanketweed is like the name suggests, blanket-like, tough, and green. It envelops the entire thing whether it be substrate, plant, your tank, or decoration. And attaches very tightly to things. So, blanked weed is difficult to remove.
Your Platy won’t enjoy eating blanket weed.
Green Water
Green water algae will make your entire tank look pea-soup green and horrid. I personally prefer a clean tank with no green algae floating around. And I’m sure you want that too.
Green water isn’t toxic to your Platy fish. But, green water is just plainly ghastly and grows quickly. So, you need to remove the entire water from your tank to remove green water algae. It is honestly a headache!
Green Spot/Dot Algae
Green dot algae are just that: tiny green dots. They multiply really quickly in your tank and are attached really tightly to decorations, plants, substrate, and your tank.
Not many fish love these green spot algae. That includes platyfish too. It’s because these are hard to eat and stopping their growth is difficult too. Some Sun snails and Nerite Snails eat green spots though.
Blue-green
Blue-green algae just float around in your tank because they can’t attach to surfaces. And as the name suggests, it is blue or green in color. Technically, this is a cyanobacterium but you can call it algae too.
Blue-green algae are difficult to remove. But, this isn’t why I told you not to let your platy eat them. It’s actually because blue-green algae are toxic to your Platy fish.
Can You Use Platy Fish To Control Algae?
You can’t actually use your platy fish to control algae. This is because algae growth is exponential. Yes, platy do eat algae. But, Platy fish are slow eaters to nibble away all that algae.
If you’re thinking of keeping platy fish in your tank to control all that algae, it’ll be your wishful thinking. Just use algae-eating fish if you want all that algae to disappear.
The exception is when you treat Staghorn or black beard with hydrogen peroxide. Platy fish eat that up voraciously. Also, thin algae growth will be removed by your platy fish. But, as I mentioned earlier, platy fish can’t be used to control algae.
Is Algae Beneficial For Your Platy?
Algae has benefits like it can fulfill some protein, vitamin A requirements for your platy fish. And certain algae will make your tank look beautiful. A small number of algae will engage your platy fish into variety in the diet. And algae also removes nitrates, phosphorus, and silicates in your tank.
But, too much algae growth is literally parasitic for your platy fish. Algae are exponential breeders, meaning they will grow rapidly in your tank. And, this will deplete the nutrition and oxygen in your tank. And your Platy fish will suffer severely due to oxygen deficiency!
As the saying goes, too much of anything is harmful.
Is Algae Sufficient As A Diet For Platy? If Not, What Else Do Platy Eat?
Algae alone can’t be a sufficient diet for your platy fish. I mean, algae do provide protein and vitamin A to your platy fish. But, that alone can’t give energy and glow to your platy fish.
So, you need to provide high-quality flakes and pellets to Play fish. If you have time to prepare meals in your home, you can give brine shrimps, blood worms, insect larvae, invertebrates, carrots, peas, zucchini, and so on to your platy fish. This is how you can give varied nutrition to your platy for their growth.
FAQ
How Do I Get Rid Of Algae In My Fish Tank Naturally?
The best method to get rid of algae in your tank will be to manually remove them with your hands.
Other methods are using a razor blade, algae pad, filter media, filter brush, bath towels, etc.
What Algae Eaters Can Live With Platy Fish?
The algae eaters that can live with a Platy fish are:
- Suckermouth Catfish
- Otocinclus catfish
- Bristle nose Plecos
- Siamese algae eaters
- Hillstream Loaches(Borneo Plecos or Butterfly Plecos)
- Amano Shrimp
Conclusion
To sum up, yes, Platy fish do eat algae in your aquarium. But, the types of algae that platy eat are very limited. Moreover, too much algae growth will eat up oxygen in your tank. And your platy can’t breathe in the algae-infested tank. Which results in ill health for your Platy.
If you want to provide algae for your platy, you can do so by providing algae flakes or pellets containing algae. I hope you got some information about algae and platy in this article. Happy fishkeeping.