Algae-eaters

Question
We have recently lost several algae-eaters and are not sure what is going on.  We have a 75 gallon aquarium and have 10 goldfish (ryukin) and 1 striped catfish.  My husband does the water changes every month and adds aquarium salt. The goldfish like the salt; but do the algae-eaters?  The fish eat "goldfish basic floating pellets".  The algae is growing all over the tank and we need the algae-eaters to live.  I bought 5 last week and the did not live one day.  They usually live a few weeks to a week, but everything else is healthy.  The fish are several years old.  Thank you for your advice.

Answer
It is possible that the particular type you are getting does not like salt, and also possible that the group was just breed poorly. First, I think you should take care of your algae. Some good ideas are: remove any excess from the glass or decor, get an algae gone treatment and treat the tank, instead of algae eaters get snails. Snail are much better at keeping a tank clean than algae eaters and almost always survive longer. Also, if you get more alage eaters, do not buy small ones, buy ones at least 6 inches long. Sometimes the small ones are just not healthy and do not survive. It is not necessarily anything you did or could have do not prevent it but the small ones are difficult to keep alive. I suggest attacking the algae from the above ways, not buying small algae eaters, getting some apple snails, and treating the tank with algae gone. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything else.