tank cleaners plecos and snails

[BPags52]

As mentioned before, Vampire plecos are carnivorous (though some veggies in their diet is good), and don't typically graze on algae. Plecos will scavenge for uneaten food at the bottom of the tank (some more actively than others). But the bio-load they produce outweights any benefit from "cleaning" I would say.

I keep plecos because I like them not because I expect them to do anything.

No experience with snails...but I believe Vampire plecos are leporacanthicus, which specialize in eating invertebrates if I remember reading right (from the pleco dietary thread in pleco forum). So, those snails might just end up as increased bio-loads from your plecos

 

[SemperFish]

I love my pleco but as far as tank cleaning or health goes, his contribution is long stringy unsightly poo.

 

[SteveR]

Once again someone is mislead about this. Dude, - listen to everyone one here. Plecs don't clean tanks - they ain't janitors. They eat SOME algae, and most eat less and less as they get older. And they produce a TONE of poo and waste. Hardly cleaning is it?>

Roll up your sleeves and do the job the fish require of you - clean your tank with a vac and water changes!

 

[SoDakJeep]

I leave my light on quite a bit and have algee that grows on my glass. I mainly want something that eats algee off the glass. I still clean the tank every 2 weeks and I just would like something to keep the glass clean. Would a pleco or snails do this. Also with snails is there a certian kind that is better and doesn't over populate?

 

[abarilot]

Mag Float scrubers are the best for cleaning algae on glass! Otocinclus do a better job at cleaning algae than most plecos but you still have to do normal maintance.

 

[TwistedPenguin]

I leave my light on quite a bit and have algee that grows on my glass. I mainly want something that eats algee off the glass. I still clean the tank every 2 weeks and I just would like something to keep the glass clean. Would a pleco or snails do this. Also with snails is there a certian kind that is better and doesn't over populate?

As already stated-your plecs are carnivores. So no-your plecs won't touch the algae on the glass. I'll go so far as to say you'll never find any Plec big enough to live in an Oscar tank who won't make even more mess than the algae and the Oscars. Also as already stated-snails will only be a nice snack for the Oscars (and Vampire Plecs). There's nothing except elbow grease or a mag-float thingie that's going to work in your tank. I don't think you'll get a different answer no matter how you word it

 

[81Pantah]

I have a 100G planted tank and have found that the best combination for keeping the tank healthy is plain old diversity. I use Japonica shrimp to keep some of the algae types down. They seem to do a good job on hair algae, better than any other shrimp type. I use Malaysian trumpet snails in my substrate to keep it "moving" as they tunnel and multiply like crazy, so start with only a few. I have found that my plecos don't do much in the way of keeping the tank clean. When I bought my common pleco he was about 2" long. Now he is about 12" long. All he does is sit on the wood and dig up my plants.

One of the best all round "cleaners" I have found are farlowella catfish. They like being in groups, aren't disturbed by other fish in the tank (maybe because they look like twigs) and do an amazing job of keeping the plants and tank algae free. Best kept in pairs, or definitely more than 1.

Nerite snails are also great for getting algae off of smaller areas that the farlowellas can't get to, and they don't multiply. This is a plus with snails.

Otocinclus catfish are great little cleaners too. I have 6 or so.

Other than that, a good gravel cleaning is essential in a closed-loop system, but I have found my tank to be quite healthy and clean for longer periods of time with the right inhabitants in there!

Good luck.

Ryan
Boston, MA

 

[SpeshulEd]

My oscar thought my otocinclus was a nice snack...lasted about 2 days.