African algae eater/ Are Garras nocturnal?

Quo Vadis

Gambusia
MFK Member
Apr 12, 2014
912
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Wisconsin
I have a 160g West African tank, that currently does, or will, house:

5 Elephantnose (may get more, I had 9, but parasites killed the others before I figured out a wormer that is safe for mormyrids... long story, but there is very little info about them online, and now thorugh trial and error I feel much more confident in how to treat them in quarentine.)
1 Pair Pelmatochromis ocellifer
2 Hemichromis lifili (supposedly, I think they are normal Jewels - they will be removed if they start to show even a hint of aggression to my ENs!)
1 Mastacembelus liberiensis (a larger west African eel)
1 Mastacembelus eth.. Fire eel (currently growing out for another tank)
4 Paretroplus dambabe (not West African, but close enough - they may not stay in the tank forever though.)

Planning to also add:
3-4 Ropefish,
a group of Buffalohead cichlids,
maybe a couple other rare West African cichlids and/or ctepnoma/leaf fish,
some Congo tetras.

What I have left to plan yet is some type of algae eater. I hate cleaning the glass, but don't mind doing WCs, so I always include an algae eater in each tank. As far as I can tell there are no readily available African algae eaters in the aquarium trade, however I have read there are African Garras, and am condsidering substituing an Asian Garra, like Garra Ruffa, to be as "authentic" as possible. What I am wondering though is if Garras are nocturnal, and if so are they aggressive eaters of non-algae food items? I am wondering because I don't want an algae eater that will outcompete my ENs, Ropefish, or eel if I feed after lights out. Thoughts on Garra in general? If not I have a BN pleco I could put in instead. Thanks!
 

JasonsPlecosCichlids

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Jan 23, 2010
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jasonsplecoscichlids.com
I had Garras, they did will but a Tropheus is a big time algae eater, If I think about it tonight I will post some photos of the rocks he cleans. I have a 265 with a single Trop and he rotates the rocks it seems like, one week he works on the left side and then he goes to the right, just as he is done with that side he goes back.
 

Quo Vadis

Gambusia
MFK Member
Apr 12, 2014
912
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Wisconsin
OK, thanks for the info, but wouldn't most Tropheus be too aggressive for what I need? Were your Garras very aggressive feeders when you fed the other fish? Did they seem to be diurnal or nocturnal?
 

Wrightt3

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 23, 2013
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England, United Kingdom
Slightly off topic but I personally would not recommend buffalo heads for that tank. They come from the rapids of the congo river and prefer a tank with a very strong current whereas your current stock all come from slow moving waters.
 
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