posted 12-09-2003 11:09 AM         

Your problem should be handled by good tank maintenance. Feed your fish twice a day, but only as much as they can eat in under 5 minutes and then remove remaining food. It will spoil and foul the water. You should do a 20-25% water change weekly, especially with the problems you are experiencing. Mine sometimes goes two weeks, but I have oversized filters and understocked tanks. When changing water, siphon from the bottom of the tank to clean the gravel.

As for algae eaters, chinese algae eaters are not the best choice. They are marginal eaters at best and have a tendency to prefer other foods to algae as they get older. If you like the fish, get a Siamese algae eater. They look similar but are better algae eaters and will also eat red algae if you ever have such a problem. The difficulty is in actually getting the real thing. I had a fish store owner actually tell me that the chines and siamese algae eaters were really the same fish.

My preference for algae eaters is ottocinclus for small tanks or plecostumus for larger.

The cloudiness, if algae, can be controlled with good mechanical filtration and tank maintenance. I am concerned that it may be due to high ammonia levels causing bacterial blooms. This would also relate to your fish dying at a higher PH, as ammonia becomes more toxic as the water becomes more basic (less acidic).