Algae Eaters

[TenaciousG_]

Hi, i feel like i'm starting quite a few different threads but i have so many questions! haha

at the moment I have a baby bristlenose pleco and he seems to dissappear quite alot in my tank and I havent seem him for a few days (he is in there though xD ) but he doesn't seem to be doing a great job of cleaning my ornaments so should I get him a tank mate? And if so what type?

Thanks in advance

James

 

[Ruskull]

Yo! I have a single Bristlenose female who's young, plus (2) Otos & (2) Mystery Snails in a 36 gallon. Combined they do a great job of keeping my algae in check. So much so that I have to add algae wafers to keep them happy.

Another note:

I have very good lighting which should make more algae than a standard light fixture yet they do a great job. If you train your Bristlenose, you can have her/him come out to the front glass waiting for you to drop algae wafer pieces! This is how I trained mine............

 

[TenaciousG_]

Yeah i think an apple snail? would be a good idea, saw them in my LFS last time but forgot to get them with the hard decision of what different guppies to get

 

[Ruskull]

The Golden Mystery or Apple Snails are my wife's favorite thing in the tank. Very active and pretty good cleaners, they eat flake that the fish miss.

 

[Fintastic!]

Can I ask off-topic if apple snails eat your plants? I saw a bright yellow snail at my lfs and I was told it's an apple snail and it eats away at the base of all the plants. Sorry TenaciousG! I would love it in my tank but the plant thing put me off.

 

[TenaciousG_]

Oh that would be great my step mum fed mine yesterday and over fed them a bit so did a water change xD how many should i get for a 56L tank?

 

[Ruskull]

Oh that would be great my step mum fed mine yesterday and over fed them a bit so did a water change xD how many should i get for a 56L tank?

Start with one or two & see how it goes. You should supplement their diet with bottom feeder shrimp pellets, algae wafers & maybe once a week add a slice of couregette, cucumber or zucchini. Those slices are also good for Otos & Bristlenoses.

Can I ask off-topic if apple snails eat your plants? I saw a bright yellow snail at my lfs and I was told it's an apple snail and it eats away at the base of all the plants. Sorry TenaciousG! I would love it in my tank but the plant thing put me off.

Mine glently clean the leaves although I have seen a few leaves floating here & there, mostly from the wisteria. Apparently there are 2 kinds of these snails & one eats plants & one doesn't. I don't know how to tell the difference either. Good luck!

 

[Fintastic!]

Thanks Ruskull! I'll look into it.

 

[TenaciousG_]

I bought 2 apple snails should help the problem for now xD got a dwarf frog whilst i was there too