Clarification Of Suckermouth Catfish

[stackem evs]

Hi, site I was looking at talking about good algae eating fish (my tank is currently empty, just finishing its cycle). It states that Pleco's and other Suckermouth Catfish are a good answer.

Looking at the Fish Index under Catfish there is the common pleco, which I believe is what I've seen in other peoples tank that just doesn't stop growing, "was small and cute when I brought him".... Other pleco mentioned is the zebra pleco, which is somewhat smaller, looks lovely, but my lfs says hard to get hold of and very expensive (they reconned probably about £300).

What other plecos / catfish can I put in to do the job. I like the look of the Bristlenose my missus hates it!

Is Suckermouth just a generic term for most catfishes, or more specific?

Answers on a postcard please (only joking, phones and webs soon killed that off. If you remember then your showing your age...).

Thanks

 

[bennett418]

I am new to this too, all i would say is dont buy the common plec like i did.

I bought 2 'sucking loaches' as the lfs called them, they are chinese algae eaters, mine have been excellent at eating it! would advise.

 

[Breeze7050]

Check out the pleco section and there is a list of a bunch of plecs that stay under 8 inches. Surely you can agree on one of those lol!
Im not to sure what size your tank is, please let us know. The rubberlip stays very small and would work in a smaller tank.
In another direction, ottos are widely used for algae control - they are pretty small at about 1.5 inches and do a great job of eating algae.
Plecs on the other hand don't all eat algae or do "clean up" work! So please keep that in mind. They are also poop machines!
Keep in mind too that if you "run out of algae" you will need to feed the ottos or plecs with sinking algae tablets sold at your LFS. Check out the pinned topic and do a little research before deciding on a purchase.

 

[stackem evs]

I bought 2 'sucking loaches' as the lfs called them, they are chinese algae eaters, mine have been excellent at eating it! would advise.

Good listing site found "thetropicaltank.co.uk", says good algae eaters when younge, but not suitable for community tank as tendency to become aggressive when older, also eat less algae as grow.

Other people agree?

 

[stackem evs]

Im not to sure what size your tank is, please let us know.

Keep in mind too that if you "run out of algae" you will need to feed the ottos or plecs with sinking algae tablets sold at your LFS.

Tank is a 45gal currently finishing its cycle, 2 large 1 small bogwood, fairly thick planting across back. going to add more mid height/tank plants when decided.

Hadn't thought about the running out of algae....

Livebearers like platties are also seen as algae eaters, no?

 

[highfire]

Good listing site found "thetropicaltank.co.uk", says good algae eaters when younge, but not suitable for community tank as tendency to become aggressive when older, also eat less algae as grow.

Other people agree?

I most certainly do. Having had four algea eaters in the past, the last two fairly recently, three have been taken back to the shop because they became agressive and the fourth one was killed by one of the other algea eaters.
I would say steer clear - the idea seems good, but spoken from experience I'm afraid it doesn't work, not in my case anyway.

 

[SuperColey1]

Don't buy a sucking loach. It is a 'shop' name for the Chinese Algae Eater. If you read the articles in the Fish Index its not just a tendancy to be aggressive as in chasing the other fish. They suck the other fishes slime coats and eat eyebaklls, so definately a fish to avoid.

Try pitbull plecs. extra small and excellent algae eaters. quite pretty and cheap at a tenner or so each.

 

[stackem evs]

Don't buy a sucking loach. It is a 'shop' name for the Chinese Algae Eater. If you read the articles in the Fish Index its not just a tendancy to be aggressive as in chasing the other fish. They suck the other fishes slime coats and eat eyebaklls, so definately a fish to avoid.

Try pitbull plecs. extra small and excellent algae eaters. quite pretty and cheap at a tenner or so each.

The pitbulls look nice, best go out and get myself some more algae

 

[Breeze7050]

Ottos will eat algae and stay fairly small - about 1.5 inches. Depending on your stocking you could have about 5 in your tank for algae control. As stated the CAE tend to get a little nasty as they age (don't we all! ) For a strictly algae eating species, it would be the otto. They stay small, eat algae, and are mild mannered. If I were you I would wait a bit before adding them as they are very sensitive to water conditions and a brand new tank shouldn't have much algae anyway.
Keep in mind plecos are good for pooping ALOT and some don't ever touch algae!! BN is one of the few that will eat it! Not sure about the pitbulls, but I do like the little guys!!
Good Luck and keep us updated.

 

[dwarfgourami]

A bristlenose will be good for a tank of 20 gallons or over, but not really for a smaller tank, as they grow to 5-6 inches and poo a lot. If your other half objects to their looks, how about getting a female, they don't have the bristles.

For a smaller tank otos are good, but need a mature tank, and you need to check that they have full bellies when you buy them. Or there is the pitbull plec. Amano shrimps are also good algae eaters.

Zebra plecs don't eat algae anyway, so they wouldn't fit the bill.

 

[crazie.eddie]

What type of algae do you have? Certain fish, shrimp, etc. eat different types of algae. There are some types of algae that cannot be eaten by any type of fish/shrimp/snails that it must be removed manually.

There is a large variety of plecos (plecostomus) and they all have different diets. Some will eat algae, unlike the zebra pleco (L-046 zebra pleco) will not eat algae.

Here are some links regarding algae information:
http/www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/
http/www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm

 

[stackem evs]

What type of algae do you have?

Actually I don't have any algae at the mo (damn!). The tanks just finished cycling and first are going into tomorrow. Fancied putting something in from the start that would keep on top of any from the start.

So we think some platties or other livebearers would be enough to start with?