Algae question

[Hannibal]

My father-in-law has a koi pond in the front of his house. Because it gets hit with a lot of direct sunlight there is always algae present. When he squirts off his waterfall chunks of the algae come right off. Is this something that I can feed my mbuna? If I had to guess it would be hair algae as it gets pretty long.

 

[zackcrack00]

I wouldn't want to risk the health of my fish. You really dont know what kind of possible diseases are in there that may not be noticeable.

 

[verbal]

I would start with a small amount and see if they go for it.

 

[Avatar]

Diseases?

Anything infectious generally has to come from a host, i.e., another fish/organism. If the goldfish seem healthy and Mbuna like algae, what the hey - try it. It's not like the wild strains (or any other) come from sterile habitats.

Sounds like your fish pond could use a major water change, and sun-blocking is more complicated than decreasing nutrient loading...

 

[festaedan]

I feed hair algae to my fry when they are real little, I don't see a problem feeding it to mbunas.

 

[Tony]

Before I hooked up a small UV sterilizer on my pond, I would bring in hair algae for my Tropheus. They would tear it up.

With the outdoor pond (especially a glass tank), I found that no amount of water changing could stop the growth of nuisance algae. Within 3 days of plumbing in a small Turbo-twist unit, the water was crystal clear.

 

[Hannibal]

Thanks guys I will give it a shot to see how they like it.

I will pass along the information about the UV sterilizer to see if its something he would want to hook up.

 

[Hannibal]

Update...
They loved it! I put in one of those clip feeders you suction cup to the side of the tank, went back downstairs before lights out and the whole feeder had been pulled off the side of the tank and the algae was pretty much gone. Looks like I have a new free snack! Thanks for the advise all.