Algae Eaters

[joeyoii]

Hi,
i have a two feet tank that has been running for about ten months now, and from time to time i have bought many algae eaters for it as im kinda crazy about them, i am thinking about getting a Loricaria L14 for the tank for some time now...what's your advice on this fish and should i get it?

i have these algae eating fishes in my tank now: 2 red whiptails, 6 otos, 1 figure 8 hillstream loach, 2 borneo suckers, a longfin ancistrus, a tiffany whiptail, a albino bristlenose, a normal bristlenose, a sailfin plec (he's about 20 cm lang and im gonna have to sell it soon...sobs.. )

 

[edgun88]

i think you are overstocked and plus all you need is otos.

 

[LisaLQ]

Wow, you are very overstocked, you might want to look into either rehoming some of those or getting a bigger tank. How big are your bristlenoses? I'm asking because if they're only youngsters, there is a chance you'll have two males in there, and if so - you'll have all hell on in a 2ft tank.

The sailfin needs to be rehomed asap - he shouldn't really have been in there for a while now if he's 20cm. How old is he? There's a good chance his growth and health has been affected by being in such a small tank - these guys can get to 2ft, and need a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft at the bare minimum, preferably bigger.

I'd either reduce down to one pair of bns, or two whiptails, or the otos and one whiptail - not all of them together. Lose the loaches/suckers as they (I believe but may be wrong) need different water conditions (cooler highly oxygenated water). And even that plan depends on what other fish you have in there besides your bottom feeders.

Is that the only fish you have in there, or do you have others too?

With regards the algae problem - the only way to get around algae is by cleaning it yourself. Most plecs make more mess than they clean up so wont help at all, your other options are snails and shrimps - but you really dont have room for even them. A 2ft tank cant be that hard to keep clean with an algae scraper, surely?