Oscars Vs Algae Eater..

[Mollygirls]

Hi all,

My husband has oscars and a common pleco living happily in a 125 gallon tank.. Trouble is the pleco isnt keeping up with the amount of algae being produced. We help with an algae scrub when we do water changes every week however we are wondering if there is another type of algae eater that we could put in the tank that the oscars wont eat?

Are there any tankmates at all that can live with oscars where it wouldnt be a problem? Hubby wants to expand his tank size so I thought I would ask while we are on the subject of oscars...

Thanks in advanced

 

[bitteraspects]

the problem isnt the pleco. oscars are just about the messiest fish you could possibly keep. this results in more food for the algae. try feeding less, and cleaning more. algae is just a part of normal upkeep of the tank. you shouldn't rely on the pleco to keep your tank clear.
if regular upkeep is too much for you, you can look into a UV filter, which will keep your tank algae free.

 

[indigoj]

fish are not there to clean your tank - most plecs omnivorous will eat some algae but there are none that replae the need to scrape.

 

[shelaghfishface]

a quote from jenicilibee "a plec is for life not just for algae"
common plecs are your safest bet with oscars as they have a coat of armour so they wont get beaten to a pulp ( jambo used to beat the crap out of mine and never suffered any ill effets from it, he just saw him as a toy), try other things like cutting back on feeding and decreasing the amount of time the lights are on for

 

[minxfishy]

The algae is building up because of the amount of waste both fish are producing, plus longer periods of light will contribute.

In all honestly, common plecs, Ive found, do nothing to keep algae growth down, you would probably be better off rehoming it and leaving the oscar in the tank alone, then do large frequent water changes, after cleaning the glass sides to reduce the spores.

 

[Mollygirls]

Thanks for the input

But I am not rehoming George. My 1 year old loves him and gets way too excited over seeing him. Plus the oscars and the pleco get along just fine.. I didnt know if I could add anything else to the tank that wouldnt get eaten. The algae isnt all that bad as we do scrub it once a week along with a gravel vac and water change. We understand that they are messy fish hence the weekly routine. I know pleco's eat algae and george must have done a darn good job on the 55 gallon because we never had any extra that needed to be scrubbed off. Soo.. I was wondering if there was any other type of algae eater we could add.. I honestly dont expect george to clean its just a bonus that he does! They are neat little things to have in the tank and it would be great if we could add something else to it that not only is interesting but helps eat some algae.

I just bought otto's for my fry tank because of the algae but I dont expect them to do it all either.. No worries I didnt just buy the algae eating type fish to do the clean up work. My husband and I do weekly changes/gravel vacs and algae scrubs..

Perhaps I worded things wrong in my original post..

 

[catfish00]

you don,t need a fish get a moss ball the fish probably will not eat it

 

[shelaghfishface]

several moss balls ( 125 gallons)

 

[minxfishy]

Some fast growing plants, like vallis, hygrophilia etc would help use up the excess nutrients causing the algae, but I dont how plant unfriently your Oscar is!

 

[Mollygirls]

we have 2 live plants in the tank that the oscars dont bother with at all. I think we shall leave well enough alone and continue the way we have been..

I thought it could hurt to find out what is compatible with oscars as hubby does want to upgrade his tank eventually and build one into the wall/storage room.. I shall go do some surfing o find out..

Thanks