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Hiya,

I am having a algae problem, though not to the detriment of my tank - it's just unsightly.

So I am looking for a good algae eater species to go in the tank.

It's 50 g. It has an angel, 2 small clownies, 6 columbian tetras and 10 cardinal tetras.

Any suggestions what algae eaters might go with this mix?

What type of algae do you have? Can you discribe it to us?

For your size tank I would say you can use either Otos or a Bushy Nose Pleco or a smaller pleco. If you find something localy that you like check out planetcatfish.com to see how big they get and what they eat.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Hi,

I have similar stocking in my 75G: Angelfish, CL and Congo Tetra with two SAE. They go well together. My SAE were tiny when I got them - about 1.5 inch long. The Angelfish were trying to prey on them on the first couple of days. But the SAE were very quick.. so they managed to survive ..
They also grow very fast, now 2.5 inches just after a few weeks of algae munching. The Angelfish are no longer a threat. They eat all kinds of algae - including the black hair algae, which I had a lot in my tank

Hi there,
if you have either green algae or brownish spot
algae, I recommend one of the following:
Farlowella Catfish #1 algae eater
Siamese Algae Eater #2 algae eater on the market
Bristlenose Pleco #3 algae eater

Any of these will be good.
SAE's should be kept in groups of 3 minimum, though
a pair will suffice if its all you can find.
Farlowella need a minimum of 25g of algae to themselves,
so not more than 2 in your tank. Do not mix these with the other algae eaters - they are timid and shy and will not compete for food. They will die of starvation if there is another algae eater in the tank.
Bristlenoses will clean about 10-15g of space each,
so 2-3 in your tank would be sufficient.


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The 5ft tank has plenty of SAEs, and BNs, the Betta tank has a small SAE and two ottos. I had a lot of a thick green moss growing on a rock 6ins x 2ins and within one week it was all gone thanks to the SAE.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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Keith

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For small sized aquaria, I recommend Otocinclus. Diligent, peaceful, only grow to 1.5 or 2 inches max depending upon species, and will coexist with a wide range of other aquarium fishes. Because of the abuse some of these unfortunate fishes receive at some wholesale outlets, they DO require careful acclimatisation and some care in feeding up back to full strength if they are among the unfortunate ones, but once acclimatised, they can be long lived and hardy. I had one that lived for over nine years.

Larger aquaria are suitable for Siamese Algae Eaters - the TRUE Siamese Algae Eater, Crossocheilus siamensis, is a veritable nuclear powered algae destroyer that will go to work straight away and start devouring every last scrap of algae in the aquarium. I bought two tiny 1 inch specimens to deal with a hair alga problem in my aquarium in 1999, and within about a week, they had utterly exterminated the hair algae - not to mention removed quite a lot of algae from other places in the aquarium too. However, they grow FAST. Mine went from 1 inch long to 4 inches in six weeks. So I wouldn't recommend Siamese Algae Eaters for long-term residence of anything smaller than a 55 gallon aquarium.

Those two fishes are your best choices among the more readily available fishes. There are some rarer fishes that also do the job quite nicely - Limia livebearers were very popular here in the UK for the purpose prior to the appearance of Ancistrus Bristlenoses, but I gather they're very much off the radar at the moment.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

It's good that Sneaky mentioned:

Farlowella need a minimum of 25g of algae to themselves,
so not more than 2 in your tank. Do not mix these with the other algae eaters

I was trying to get one of this fascinating fish for my 75G.
Looks like I have to get a third SAE or a BN instead.

Personally I'm a big fan of SAE and BNs.

What sort of lighting is the tank getting, how old are the fluro tubes/globes, and how regular are your water changes? Sometimes tweaking those can reduce the amount of unsightly algae

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Farlowella are not for the well-seasoned fishkeeper. They are amongst the more difficult of the non-ancistrinae to keep in the home aquarium and require cool, flowing water.

As for algae, I'll just say it like it is; if you have algae in your tank in sizeable amounts, you are doing something wrong. In a well managed tank with well balanced parameters, algae just isn't a problem; nothing a simple downy sheet won't wipe right off, at least. However, given an algal invasion, no amount of scraping and/or algae eating fish is going to rid your aquarium of said mess, not to mention that almost all reputed algae eaters are either limnivores or omnivores and will turn towards meaty or prepared (perhaps both) foods over algae. I suggest you find the root of your algae issues, manage that, then think about getting an algae eating fish to help out just a bit with whatever minimal amount of growth comes in every few days. Don't, however, expect a fish cure-all for your algae issues.

Hi everyone and thanks.

The algae is green and is mostly on the walls of the tank. It grows in spots. The stuff that grows on the plants is black though.

I have two 18 W white tubes, but I only have them on from the afternoon on as the tank gets sufficient natural light of the morning.

The water parameters are good, though when I do check the pH it can be on the acidic side. That always prompts me to do a 25% water change which I do fortnightly anyway.

The algae is not distastrous. It cleans off easily. I just thought if I had something in the tank to help me cleaning the plants it would be good.

I take all of your comments on board,

Thanks

If its the flat green stuff on the glass, the BNs seem to be very good at cleaning that up, and snails also do a great job. I've yet to find something that likes the black stuff (I somehow have that through my tanks too, I just prune and hit it with bleach regularly)

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I've had alot of luck with a tiger pleco and a zebra pleco and they do not get that big. a bit pricy, but worth it.

if price is a worry, as RickyM and keithgh, the SAE and also chinese algea eaters work great and arent that much.

snails would also work, but small ones would be a waste of time as the clowns would take them out in no time. that is unless you got a larger snale, like an apple snail or something to large for the fishes

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