my algea eaters keep dieing :(

[yvez9]

Ok
I bought a rubbernose pleco two weeks ago and he died yesterday
last week i had added 3 otos and they all died within a day but i guess it's because they didn't like their new water!

i also have a whiptail catfish for the past week but he doesn't participate too much in algea eating. He basically cleans up his pipe where he spends most of his day and eats the algea tablets i feed him, along with little bit of bloodworms the other fish don't eat

my ammonia and nitrites are at 0 right now, tank has been cycled for past 2 weeks. I do regular water changes, weekly, of about 20-25%

the only other fish i have lost were during cycling.

All my guppies, besides one, survived cycling, even the fry.

I removed the guppies though and have had the rams in there for a few weeks and they are showing awesome color. the female bettas have been there for a week and are looking good too.

anyway, all this to say i need a hardy algea eater for a 20 gallon planted tank.
would a bristlenose be good?
I'm fearful that otos will die again as they are quite snesitive to varying water paramsters

 

[Sanj]

Is your tank fairly new?

otos are notorious for dieing off if the water is not mature and if they dont have enough algae in the tank. Also otos in dealers tanks are often pretty malnourished when they fisrt come in, if they have in there for weeks they stand a better chance.

Bristle nose may be a good idea, they tend to be able to tolerate a wider range of conditions than many other 'algae eaters' .

Also remeber not to treat these fish as scavengers, you need to feed them sinking pellets.

 

[yvez9]

my tank is quite new, been done cycling only for the past few weeks, when i introduced my rams

i feed my catfish algea pellets every other day or every day. he does eat the leftovers but i don't rely on that for food for him

the otos did have a lot of algea, they did eat some of it before they died!

i'll be on the lokout for a bnose now! they look funky with there little barbs in the face!!