Algae eater
- Thread starter steelsquid
- Start date
Bristlenose plecos only get to about 5" and eat a good amount of algae. Otos are another small option, but I've never kept them.
Siamese algae eaters. I didn't think they really did that much to be honest......until i took them out of a tank and put them in a new one......the old tank was a right mess within a week. A lot of articles i've looked at online have siamese algae eaters as the number 1 algae controller. From my experience they certainly do what their name suggests. They are long lived too and are easy to keep.
I've not had the same experience with SAEs. I've had 3 of them in my 55g for about 4yrs now. They're like 6" sausages that gobble the majority of any fish food put in the tank. They are fun and entertaining buggers for sure, but they get big and prefer fish food.
Otos are probably the smallest algae eating fish with the least bio load. Bristlenose plecos are good, but get 4-5" and are poop machines.
I wouldn't specifically add more fish to deal with algae. Manually remove it, or stop why it's happening. Reduce lights on time. Reduce nutrients, etc..
Otos are probably the smallest algae eating fish with the least bio load. Bristlenose plecos are good, but get 4-5" and are poop machines.
I wouldn't specifically add more fish to deal with algae. Manually remove it, or stop why it's happening. Reduce lights on time. Reduce nutrients, etc..
Flying foxes are great for cleaning hair algae, as mentioned otos and sae are great for cleaning glass and hardscapes. If your looking for smaller algae eaters I'd stick to snails at a nano level. I'm not sure how big your tank is though. A little more info on your current set up is required to give you sound advice. There's also numerous smaller plecos out there like bristlenoses already stated and clown plecos.
75g male convict, fire mouth, 6 black phantom tetras
I think your firemouth and convict would eat anything besides a pleco, the other fish aren't armor and would either be food or harassed.
SAE / Silver and Regular flying foxes all lose their appetite for algae when older i find...
Otos are the best small algae eaters other than some of the smaller plecos...
Otos are the best small algae eaters other than some of the smaller plecos...
I had a real problem with the brown algae in my tanks. I added a 2" clown pleco to my son's 10 gallon because it was pretty well covered in algae. It was bare bottom and had algae on all of the sides, the bottom and all of the decor was covered. After about a week of him getting used to the tank he started to go to town on the algae and everything was clean within about 2-3 days. Sadly, we lost him when the heater stuck on and cooked the tank.
I like algae on all glass, and decor, except the front, so a razor blade and a water change with siphoning to suck up the refuse is my algae eater.
Algae help control nitrates, and offers food for grazing fry.
Bristle nose plecos will probably work in your tank, but they often don't eat the algae where I want it eaten. And they are poop machines, so siphoning and water changes are not reduced, but increased when they are in a tank.
Many times LFSs can't tell the difference between SAEs of the Chinese type that don't eat algae, so unless you do a lot of research you end up with something aggressive and attacks fish, instead of algae.
Algae help control nitrates, and offers food for grazing fry.
Bristle nose plecos will probably work in your tank, but they often don't eat the algae where I want it eaten. And they are poop machines, so siphoning and water changes are not reduced, but increased when they are in a tank.
Many times LFSs can't tell the difference between SAEs of the Chinese type that don't eat algae, so unless you do a lot of research you end up with something aggressive and attacks fish, instead of algae.
