Algae eating fish needed

[trevo878]

Hey everyone,

As you can see in my sig, I Currently have two honeys,two bloivian rams, and 4 otos in my 20 gallon. Everything is going along fine, but the otos aren't doing a great job of getting rid of the algae. I'm thinking of returning them and getting something else that eats algae for my 20 gallon. Any suggestions?

Thanks Everyone,
Trevo

 

[Torrean]

don't know about stocking levels but i'd go for a small plec. Rubbernose or bristlenose. You could also look into SAE's and american flag fish.

 

[Angel Lady]

I have had chinese algee eaters that done very well in my tanks. But nothing beats a pleco they are just so messy.

 

[trevo878]

I can get a bristlenose for my tank!?!?!?!?!?

I heard they grow quite large and would be unsuitable for my tank.

Guess not though!

Any othe suggestions?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

a bristlenose would be an ok size for your tank.

but what kind of algae do you have? not all algae eaters eat the same types (for example, otos won't touch hair algae.) there's some great links pinned at the top of the Plants forum; you should check them out for non-fishy alternatives.

 

[Nospherith]

The 4 oto's should be fine. I've got 7 of them in my tank, maybe you just need more but careful not to overstock. B-noses would work, but I've got 3 SAE's as well and I kindof regret getting them as it they'll outgrow the tank and the benefit of what they do eat is less than the cost of what they don't eat. I've seen them competing with the other fish for brine shrimp as of late too. Anyway you could always get some algae shrimp.
Caution: chinese algae eaters eat algae in their early stages but later some develop an appetite for slime coats and most just stop eating algae.

However, it doesn't really matter how many algae eaters you get there's always going to be algae if the source isn't treated, be it overfeeding, sunlight, poor maintainence, nutrient excesses, high ammonia, ect. My advice is try to experiment and find out what's causing the algae and try to treat that instead of the algae itself.

 

[Jo and Gra]

i have a 21 gal........

what sort of plec would i need??..

i've heard of dwarf plecos?

 

[rdd1952]

I've got 3 SAE's as well and I kindof regret getting them as it they'll outgrow the tank and the benefit of what they do eat is less than the cost of what they don't eat.

Are you sure you have true SAEs? They shouldn't get any bigger than about 4" and although a 20H may not give them as much swimming room as they like, They won't get too big for the tank. Also, true SAEs will eat a wider variety of algae than any other AE and are generally considered the best AEs other than common plecs. Just in case you don't know how to tell the difference between SAEs, flying foxes and false SAEs, on a true SAE, they have one stripe down their side that extends through the tail. On flying foxes, the stripe extends through the tail also but the have another stripe down the top of their back. False SAEs only have the stripe on the side again but the stripe stops at the tail and does not extend through. Here is a page that explains a little more about all of them.

As for the original topic, a small dwarf pleco like a bristle nose would work great.

 

[leedham]

a hong kong pleco would be good ive got 2 and they do a great job of the algae and only grow to about 2 " long so they would be ok for your tanks i dont know whether you can get them where you are but i can get them for about 4 pounds each so theyre not expensive

 

[daudy_dojo]

some ottos will be great they are cute and you can get 3 and they will school

 

[pica_nuttalli]

a hong kong pleco would be good ive got 2 and they do a great job of the algae and only grow to about 2 " long so they would be ok for your tanks i dont know whether you can get them where you are but i can get them for about 4 pounds each so theyre not expensive

hong kong or butterfly plecos are fish from cool streams with high oxygen contents. since warmer water contains less oxygen anyways, i would not suggest these fish unless your tank is lightly stocked and/or has high aeration levels.