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hey guys,ive got a bn in a 89gal,witch im taking out because in the last month all he has done is chomped on my plants,so i was after something to put in there instead of the bn,something to take over cleaning dutys,i have 2 small texas and 2 small blue acars in there too...

What do you feed him and what are your plants? I have a Royal Pleco which is a bulldozer with fins; in the wild it's also adapted to eating wood! However, even though it might swim through my plants and rasp on them a little, as an 8" herbivore it STILL doesn't eat my plants. I've got Crypts, Anubias, Java Fern, Java Moss, and Wisteria. Anubias has some evidence of some rasping but I didn't catch the fish in the act. On the other hand, I saw it on top of my wisteria, but haven't seen actual damage to them, and even after a week or so they're not gone yet. I feed algae wafers as well as regularly give pieces of vegetables, which may help distract the fish away from veggies.

And the Royal Plec doesn't even eat algae, so it's not like I get that added benefit.

I am surprised your bristlenose is behaving this way. They are a great algae eater and I'm pretty sure that they are often kept in planted aquaria with little to no damage to the plants. This is in direct contrast to my Panaque, which is a type of plec specifically recommended NOT to be kept in planted aquaria, though I did it anyway and it's worked fine so far.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

he gets fed all sorts of stuff,lettuce,blood worms,peas,vegie waffers,all sorts of sinking pellets,shrimp pellets,plus he also gets to snack on what eva the cichlids miss,he just never stops eating,the plants are a huge anubias on dw,he dont touch that one,but the 2 amazon swords,i can see where he has been rasping on the leaves,1 is ok,but the other,hes slowly killing it,and the other plant,i think its called purple something,that is just about dead,he has rasped it everywhere,then i think he gave my male texas the idea,cause i caught him for the first time today,pulling at the leaves aswell,i just cant win,the 1 plant everyone had comented on ,they have just plane trashed it...yeah so what do u rekon,as you can see he is well fed..plus i know its been the bn,because the plant im telling you about,it was in there for like 2 weeks b4 i put him in,and i could see new shoots coming off it,and the next day after i put him in the new shoots were gone,these must be tasty to him,because i also can see rasp marks on the new shoots of anubias.....

I've always had luck with SAE in my planted tanks. They never harm my plants, even when munching on the hair algae growing on the leaves. If you're just looking for an algae eater they may work.

Best of luck.

I bought a Gold Algae Eater (cousin I think to the CAE) to clean the brown diatoms off my plants (without eating the plants themselves) and keep the rocks and glass clean. I have him in a 20g with Tiger Barbs, Dwarf Neon Rainbows, Rummynose Tetras and White Cloud Mountain Minnows. So far, he's been a one fish vacuum cleaner!

Golden Algae Eaters are Chinese Algae Eaters, just a different color morph.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

if you are truley worried about it try an apple or mystery snail they do some great duties of clearing up the algae and left over foods... i recently purchased some ramshornsnails and they also help to clear up all decaying matter... if you want a fish to do it try a SAE or a CAE... they are great!`

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Are you sure its not the cichlids have a munch on the plants? Do you have good lighting for the plants to grow in? I have kept many bns and none of them have destroyed the plants. Maybe he is cleaning up the damaged parts of the plants?

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

well i mite try a sae,they look pretty cool,and yes it is my bn,the little t###,there is rasp marks on everything now,he is getting worse,he been chopping into to my huge anubais on dw,that has new shoots coming from it everywhere,im watching him rite now rasping on my amazon sword,hes just a greedy pig..as for the chilids to be honest,i have seen the male texas have a pick,but that was 1 time,and i havent seen him do it since,im postive its the bn....i think ill chuck him back in the 55g,and grab the sae...then see how that goesand yeah ive got good lighting,i use a powergrow light,its been great

will the SAE be ok in with the 4 cichlids i have in there too...