Will Royal Plecos actually clean my tank of algae?

[davo]

True; and most large plecos can't even be considered herbivores. They do eat algae, as well as plant detritus and pieces of driftwood, but they're scavengers through and through. They'd just as soon eat a worm, shrimp, or tiny fish as they would a zuccini. They're just not as specialized as the aquarium hobby has made them out to be.

Very true of some species... although at the same time they have been made out to be tank cleaners... cleaning up after algae and fish waste... which of course isn't true. Many of them are in the main insectivores, eating small inverts and crustaceans. They all have different diets.