i am woundering how many pleco's and other cleaning fishi can get in my new 40g tank ? what do you sugest?

You shouldn't place fish in to clean. They help, but they can't replace water changes and you should feed them special food (i.e. vegetables, algae discs, etc.). However, corys and ghost shrimp are good bottom feeders. You might want to try a plec that won't get really big if you have an algae problem, though not overfeeding is the best preventative measure.

Also, the majority of plecs are not content on feeding on algae alone or for a long time.

I suggest you get an algae cleaner and scrape it or prevent it to start with. I also, like tempestuousfury, don't think you should put an animal in your tank just to clean.

If you need a fish to clean algae get 10-15 ottos and that will do the job but don't buy them to just clean. Read up on them and find out what to feed and how to look after them.

I disagree. What's he/she going to feed them when the algae's gone. What'll he/she do when they begin polluting the water when they get to their maximum size? What'll he/she do when the pet stores won't take them back? Didn't mean for this to be some sort of diatribe, but it does sound like it, doesn't it?


By the way, is there a problem in your tank, or is it just so you can be a bit lazy? (It'd be the latter for me if I ever decided to solve algae problems in that way )

This post has been edited by tempestuousfury: Feb 13 2004, 08:59 PM