anyone know of a good alge eater that stays small?

[Mikaila31]

Hi, I'm looking for a small alge eater to take the place of my SAE because he became too mean. I wood like something that gets around 3" to 4", the only other bottom feeder that I have are a 6" striped raphel and one corycat. I will be getting some more corycats once my LPS has them in stock again. Any sugestions?

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Otos? Not sure how big they grey, im sure google has the answer

 

[qwikimpss]

Ottos are great but grow to about 2 1/2" if youre lucky. Mine are barely 2 inches.

 

[Mikaila31]

Yah, i've been looking at ottos but i'm afraid that my striped raphel might eat them. He dosn't bother my corycat who is only 2", but ottos look slightly smaller. Dose anyone know if he really will eat them or not?, because I don't want to put them in the tank just to find them missing in the morning.

 

[Lisecw]

Hi Mikaila

I have 2 bristle-nose catfish. I'm not sure how big they will eventually be, but I've been told about 5". My sister had a pleco that grew very big and used to make so much noise when it moved around at night that it woke her. I'm very happy with the catfish, and they are funny to watch too when they "skate/glide" over the tank walls.

Regards,

Lisecw

 

[nino]

there are plecos available that do not grow past a few inches. be careful when buying though, most LPS and LFS have common plecos which grow to be up to 18''!

 

[Kopix Nation]

do gold nugget plecos stay small?? I don't know since I have only seen them 4" long at the biggest.

claire

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

gold nuggets can get to 14inchs+, so are not very small algae eaters at all and can get terotorial towards other bottom dwellers, particualy nasty towards their own kind.

 

[rdd1952]

Hi, I'm looking for a small alge eater to take the place of my SAE because he became too mean.

Are you sure it was an SAE and not a CAE? I have never heard of SAEs getting mean or aggressive. Now there are some SAE look-a-likes that will get mean as they get older. But true SAEs should be fine if you can find them. Here is a link that wil explain the difference. You can see the difference in the pics.