Best Fish To Clean Algae From Sides Of Tank

[Faythee]

I get brown algae and planaria and I clean it but re-appears a day later

All I see in the stores are the regular Plecos that get HUGE.

Anything a bit more attractive that doesn't get huge and cleans the glass really good ? I would likely need to order it and don't mind spending a bit more.

Tank is 75 Gal. with 1 Severum, 1 Opaline Gourami, 3 Tinfoil Barbs, and 1 Pictus Catfish I never see...LOL

 

[Marshall..]

Try ottos they are very small but if you get a few they work tirelessly cleaning algae off glass,plants,wood etc.

 

[chibi]

I would say ottos, but you have such a big tank with such large fish, I'm afraid they'd eat them. Umm, there are some plecos that don't get huge.

This thread may help. It's a list of 30 plecos under 8 inches.

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Plecos-a...Under-8-Inches/

 

[Marshall..]

hmm yes I suppose the otto may make a tasty snack to a tinfoil barb,how about a few bristlenose plecs they don't get too big just create seperate territories for them with bogwood.

 

[Faythee]

Thank you. I did see that link Chibi and thought I had chosen the Gold Nugget but turns out they aren't that great at cleaning the sides so back to square one. I was just wondering if someone had experience with a particular one for the glass. I don't mind if they poop alot as I vacuum gravel every week but scrubbing the sides daily is ridiculous !

I would get a normal Plec but I hate returning or rehoming my fish when they get too big. As it is I will have to rehome my Tinfoils one day

 

[Talleyrand]

Bristlenose do a great job cleaning tanks, but they seem a bit more fragile than you run of the mill plec.

 

[Snooks1!]

Get a bigger tank, then get a common plec

 

[crazyaussie]

maybe a golden algae eater its a catfish and it goes right to work on eating algae on anything in your tank including your glass

 

[Gill]

Yep aggressive tank, get soem GCAE they are just as aggressive, or try some larger species of plecs or panaques

 

[shroob]

I think by far most people would recommend a bristlenose plec, they do a fantastic job on a wide variaty of algea, don't get huge, eat algea all their lifes (some common plecs stop after a certain size) and have a unique appearance. BN all the way for me. (They shouldn't cost alot as well).

 

[pastabake]

I believe though I maybe wrong that a golden algae eater is actually an albino Chinese algae eater. I say this because I have what I thought was a golden sucking loach, the lfs had two varieties one was golden and the other was what I now know to be a CAE. As it is he is less than 3" long and already overly aggressive, especially with fast moving fish which seem to wind him up something chronic.

They aren't too great at cleaning algae either, sure they clean the bottom reasonably well but as for everything else they don't come close to the efficiency of ottos and I hear that as they get older they slack off.

How big do BN's get and what is the minimum tank size?

 

[crazyaussie]

pastabake you are wrong

the golden algae eater is a peacefull fish and does not harm anything and is great at eating algae wich is why it has the name '' algae eater ''

 

[stang1]

If the golden algae eater is the species on this link, then it would be best in a species only tank:

Golden Algae Eater

While they are efficient at cleaning algae when they are young, they become aggressive when they reach 3"-4". They may become territorial and start attacking slower moving fish in the tank.

 

[chibi]

Yeah, my CAE only eats fish food.

Let's not try to get in the aggressive debate over them. I've never had an aggressive one, in fact I have a large one in with my pygmy cories and baby guppies, but there are many people who have had bad experiences.

 

[pastabake]

@ Stang, yes that's what I've got and as soon as I get a new tank set up its moving.

@crazyaussie - it seems that a few fish are called Algae eaters when in fact they do very little of it.

@ Chibi - I had thought of putting mine in the breeding tank but was worried it might eat the fry.

I just bought 3 SAE's they do eat algae sadly they also like to jump so now I only have 2.