What Will I Add

[maxy]

I want to add some algae eaters to a tank with 2 true heros severus. I dont want anything too big as any I have seen so far are really ugly(sorry to any fans out there but they are sooo ugleee). Would be great if you could also post some photos

 

[star4]

Question is what sort of algae eaters are you after, I gather from saying ugly you have been looking at plec's, there are some gorgous plecs out there, I love my little gold nugget, but so rarely seen There are also siamese algae eaters, snails even the large apple snails (from what I have read) are pretty good with algae. Personally I prefer to just use a sponge and clean algae off myself, less mess than having a plec.

 

[RustedKnight]

What about Zebra otocinclus??

And I prefer just washing mine out, whereas my missus uses Oto's.

 

[maxy]

At the moment there are real plants in the tank which they have,nt started eating so far so it would be quite difficult to keep them clean with a sponge,(If they last)

 

[maxy]

The otos dont look too bad.

 

[star4]

I would save your money and buy plastic plants instead

 

[Verminator89]

Garra Flavatra (Rasp up and down your arm during maintenance)
Small(ish) Plecs (GORGEOUS!)
Mollies are proving good algae eaters in my gf's step-dads tank


Personally plecs are the most robust and reliable algae eaters. As Lesley mentioned, Golden Nuggets are smaller and competent eaters. I've recently bought a Magnum plec that again is small(ish) and is proving amazing at eating algae. Theres many more also to choose from.

 

[maxy]

We,ve been lucky so far with plants.The rotkeils in another tank seem to leave theirs alone as well.They seem to go for the duck weed floating in the tank.Dont know the scientific name for it.

 

[maxy]

The panda garras are nice.We bought 2 at the weekend but within 24 hours one had dissapeared so not sure if it got ate. They were about 1 1/2 inch

 

[star4]

That is the only trouble with otto's they only get around 2"

 

[Verminator89]

They also have a tendancy to jump from the tank if its uncovered. Thats how i lost all 3 of mine over about 12 months. One by one they decided to leap to their deaths. Amazing fish to keep though. I have collected another tank this weekend, and plan to put a 'shoal' of about 8 in it

 

[BethK]

how about bristlenoses or bulldog plecs?