Why swap? Just add a couple bristlenoses, you've got an 8 foot tank, surely two 4" fish aren't going to suddenly make it overcrowded.
Bristlenose plecos VS SAE
- Thread starter Sinister-Kisses
- Start date
Why swap? Just add a couple bristlenoses, you've got an 8 foot tank, surely two 4" fish aren't going to suddenly make it overcrowded.
I'm interested in how panda garra compare to SAE or bristlenose.
I had 6 panda garra in my QT tank and there wasn't a spot of algae in it (other than in the HOB tube where they could not go) so they must have been eating it. I have some fish in QT now and algae is starting to grow on the glass.
I put them in my main tank but there so much algae that I'm not sure if they are even putting a dent in (had two full grown panda garra left in there). I guess they are eating algae as I seem them sucking on the lava rock and glass where algae is growing).
I had a common hypostomous (sic) pleco. Though they are said to not eat much algae when they grow up, I noticed he kept the lava rock clean. Id seem him suck on it often and when he died, I noticed there was a build up in algae on the rock.
Maybe in the future I will get a bristlenose. I guess for sure if I ever do this new tank I have talked about for a few years.
Personally, I think I like their look but everyone's taste is obviously different. I mean I like other species of pleco better but the ones I seem to like apparently don't really eat algae.
I had 6 panda garra in my QT tank and there wasn't a spot of algae in it (other than in the HOB tube where they could not go) so they must have been eating it. I have some fish in QT now and algae is starting to grow on the glass.
I put them in my main tank but there so much algae that I'm not sure if they are even putting a dent in (had two full grown panda garra left in there). I guess they are eating algae as I seem them sucking on the lava rock and glass where algae is growing).
I had a common hypostomous (sic) pleco. Though they are said to not eat much algae when they grow up, I noticed he kept the lava rock clean. Id seem him suck on it often and when he died, I noticed there was a build up in algae on the rock.
Maybe in the future I will get a bristlenose. I guess for sure if I ever do this new tank I have talked about for a few years.
Personally, I think I like their look but everyone's taste is obviously different. I mean I like other species of pleco better but the ones I seem to like apparently don't really eat algae.
Because I don't particularly like the SAE so they're eating up space and resources if they aren't doing their jobs
They're okay, but just taking up space in a tank otherwise full of pretty rainbow fish. Not a fish I'd ever buy just because.
Do any of your rainbows pick at algae? I have a female millennium rainbow that really likes to pick at algae on my fake plants. I see a few others doing it but not as much as this one does and some of the same species rainbows I never see eating algae.Because I don't particularly like the SAE so they're eating up space and resources if they aren't doing their jobs
I know they can't make a dent it in really but just amused me. When I've fasted the tank for two days a few times, that particular rainbow has long poop from eating more algae.
Oh, no, I didn't mean actual rainbow fish. I meant rainbow coloured fish - mostly the heterospila and the school of congo tetras. There IS one "rainbow" in the tank, but the cichlid type 
I've been collecting Chaetostoma (rubber lip plecos) lately in the Mamoni river, and although not much to look at, they are serious algae eaters.
And because my tanks are outside, get enough intense sun to require algae assistance.
These Chaetostoma even climb above the water line in my tank to go after algae above the water line, in the splash zones.
The one above, is entirely above the waters surface.
Being a biotope fanatic I'd only keep SAEs in an Asian themed tank, never with New World cichlids.
I go so anal, as to only keep fish found in the same river, or lake in the same tank, so take my blather with a grain of salt.
The ones above, were caught in a trench, along a rock wall, where the current was swift.
And because my tanks are outside, get enough intense sun to require algae assistance.
These Chaetostoma even climb above the water line in my tank to go after algae above the water line, in the splash zones.
The one above, is entirely above the waters surface.
Being a biotope fanatic I'd only keep SAEs in an Asian themed tank, never with New World cichlids.
I go so anal, as to only keep fish found in the same river, or lake in the same tank, so take my blather with a grain of salt.
The ones above, were caught in a trench, along a rock wall, where the current was swift.
My other favorite clean up guys, found in the same river (but everywhere from Florida to Brazil) are the Awaous gobies.
I've never seen then eat algae off the glass, but scour the substrate like Hoovers, and are also quite animated, and oddly attractive.
They even sift sand like Geophagines.
I've never seen then eat algae off the glass, but scour the substrate like Hoovers, and are also quite animated, and oddly attractive.
They even sift sand like Geophagines.
