Currently have an Eclipse 3 gallon with the fish noted below. Will a Cory cat be a good addition to this tank for the purposes of cleaning the algae? The algae eater I had was too agressive and I think killed off 2 guppies. The neon tetras have been fine (although seem less timid now that the algae eater is gone)

My mother's algae eater is aggressive also.

Thanks!

no.. cory's do not eat algae.. they do however eat the leftover food the other fish don't eat that falls to the ground.. they are the clean-up crew of the fish world. as for a non agressive algaue eater i would recommend you getting an otto or 2. they stay under 2 inches and are very freindly fish.. actually it is almost like they aren;t there in the other fishes mind. very cool little agae eater

Ottos are schooling fish and should be kept in groups of at least 6. A 3 gal tank isn't big enough for more than a school of neons I'm afraid. For an algae eater consider a golden apple snail or shrimp, although your best bet is to keep the algae down with frequent water changes to keep the nitrate and phosphate levels down.

Ancistrus are good algae eaters (they're like dwarf plecs) and they can be kept individually, only grow to a few inches as well which is kewl

Apple snails are good -but they can get pretty big too, and breed like crazy - so only get one.


Colin

My albino cory eats algae almost all day from the filter housing, but the bronze cories don't. I think the albino is just an exception to the rule.

Don't you just love this hobby, nothing is set in stone

It's true, my fish must not read the books! I have a very gentle male betta housed with male guppies too. Maybe I just have neurotic fish