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I would like to get an algea eater for my 10g, but one that will not grow massive that i will have to move it to a bigger tank.
any suggestions on one?!?! I have a chinese algea and he's not tooo too big, but big enough that my cories dissappeared, although i am now told it could have been my sneaky angels.....but any way ....
the tank has 2 cories, 10 neons and 1 male betta

ottos or apple snail

Your best bet would probably be ottos. They are small (two inches), and most likely the best algae eaters out there. They are best kept in groups, so three would be good for your tank. The only problem with them is that they can be delicate, and special care must be taken to acclimate them to your tank.

Problem is though, that ten gallon is already overstocked. Since cories do best in groups of six or more, I'd remove the two that you have, to make room for any new fish. Do you have any other tanks? Perhaps you can move the cories into a different setup, and give them some friends to hang out with.

Last edited by sirbooks at 21-Nov-2004 21:02

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

i had the cories in my 30g tank but then i noticed they were starting to dissapear...so i removed the last 2 and put them in the 10g... i also have moneywort in the 10g will the otto eat this?

Last edited by Angel at 21-Nov-2004 21:43

How many ottos do you have? I doubt a single otto would be able to do significant damage to your moneywort.

malaysian trumpet snails are the best algae eaters in a 10g, but it takes them a little while on serious algae problems. plus they don't have the stigma of being tough to keep, and once you have a couple you will soon have many ...although they are not a "pest" snail

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Green spot gold hypostomus. Best 10 gallon algae eater. Evar. Or amano shrimp.

Angel,

What type of algae do you have or what are you trying to avoid? Platies are good for some types of algae, otocinculus is good for soft green and brown algae and mollies will pick at other types. Some of the plecostomus, hypostomus and ancistrus species will be excellent when they are juveniles but they often grow too large for the aquaium or develop a taste for meat.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Green spotted gold hyps are a dwarf species which only reach three inches, maybe four max. There are also a handful of ancistrus species that can fit in ten gallons. There is no genus called "plecostomus".

Cup,

Absolutely right, unless you are shopping in a LFS where you have labels for any number of L-whatever sucker mouth fish including a tank full of the "common" plecostomus.

I use the pleco as a common term much like tetra or cichlid.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

the algea i have is soft and somewhat stringy, i had a chinese eater in the tank and he did a wonderful job but he got TTOOOOO big so i moved him to my 30g, where he still does a great job, but has taking a liking to my cories, i am looking for something that will stay small enough to stay in the 10g.
i heard snails multiply like CRAZY and are hard to get rid of after....

the mts aren't a pest snail though. plus they will only live on what they can eat, and they won't harm your plants. they don't do the best job on stringy/hairy algae though, so if that's what you've got you might want to try ottos instead.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman