Best Algae Eater?

[knewby]

What is the best algae eater for a planted tank that will eat multiple types of algae. One that is also not aggressive and actually looks attractive.

[Ardan]

Hi,
A bushynose pleco eats a lot of algae, doesn't get too big (5 to 6 inches max) and isn't usually aggressive.

hth

[knewby]

Are shrimp good ones? I've also heard Ottos are great. Are these good for battling all types of algae?

[yippy]

I agree with Ardan, I have 2 in one of my tanks, theyre great - i have mine in one of my bb's and its made a heap of difference.

Kerry :)

[paniza]

If I'm mistaken there is a type of algae that no fish eat... I believe it is the blue ones... the ones that look like hair.

I have 2 yellow algae eaters on mine... not plecos. I read in somewhere that plecos might suck the discus' body which is not good. I'm not sure if this is true or not but just in case I'm not taking the risk.

These yellow guys of mine are really friendly.

IME, when I have a planted aquarium the best number I've found for these yellow guys is number of gallons divide by 10 minus 1. So in a 50 gallons I have 4 of these guys.


HTH

[M0oN]

I like gold nugget pleco's myself :)

Otto's eat certain types of algae off of plant leaves...

[knewby]

Does that mean ottos are good for planted tanks??

[yogi]

It's a trade off your not going to get good looks and eats algae to. Otto's will bother your discus once they eat all the algae. Like Ardan and Yippy said the bushynose are the best plecos for eating algae in a discus tank. The dark ones reach 5 or 6 inches. But the dwarf albino bushynose are prettier and only reach 4 or 5 inches. Bushynose plecos are very slow growing.

[April]

I agree on the bushy noses. most discus people have them as opposed to the others.

[knewby]

Where's a good site i could order a brushynose pleco? Cheap too.

[JMIZ16]

HI,
IMO, the proper way to atack algae is not to have it to begin with. But that is hard to do. The best way to get rid of alge is to have a couple of different kind of aglgae eaters as they each preffer a different type. This way you will have all forms covered.
OTTOS should not harm any plants!!! One in a thousand might like to nibble but they are tiny. ALL PLECOS GROW LARGE!. and that includes bushy nose. The albinos do stay smaller but expect the dark natural ones to hit 10". Golden nuggets a.k.a sailfins get to be a foot and a half in no time. STAY AWAY. I preffer SAE's, they do a great job and are more active than Ottos. max size 5" and slender not chunky like plecos.
Keep in mind plecos create the most amount of waste of any fish. A piece of wood in the tank is also needed for plecos( they munch on it).
In my tank I keep a combination of SAE's and Ottos. I also have 2 clown loaches for food that falls to the bottom and keep smails in check.

[Wahter]

ALL PLECOS GROW LARGE!

This is simply not true. There are several smaller sized species - including the zebra (Hypancistrus zebra). Of course that species is one of those, "looks pretty, hides a lot and doesn't eat a lot of algea" varieties.

http://planetcatfish.com/cotm/1997-11.htm

Goldnuggets are NOT also known as Sailfins.

Goldnugget:
http://planetcatfish.com/cotm/2000-12.htm

Sailfin:
http://planetcatfish.com/cotm/1997-07.htm

There are several species of bristlenoses/ bushynoses - some do stay small:

http://planetcatfish.com/cotm/1998-12.htm

Siamese Algea Eaters (SAE's) will grow larger than 5" (~13 cm); although this article says maximum is 6", I've seen a few slightly longer:

http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html

I think it would be better to address specifically which type of algea eater eats which type of algea; for example bristlenoses won't touch that black/ red brush algea: (picture #6 on this page)

http://www.sfbaaps.com/Gallery.aspx?galleryid=15

(but this will be eaten by SAE's). Conversely, if you have that long green hair/ stringy algea, neither SAE's nor bristlenoses will touch that - however, I've seen shrimp (caridina japonica):

http://suiso.com/ebi.htm

and flag fish (Jordanella Floridae):

http://www.floridadriftwood.com/images/products/FFFmale.jpg

eat this stuff up. (Flag fish can be aggressive though and the shrimps can be eaten by some discus - I've not had this happen yet, but my local friends tell me their discus enjoy eating the shrimps). Also SAE's are good scavengers.

Ottocinclus are best for eating brown/ diatom/ silicate type algea.

Here is a good article about algea eaters:

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/algae/algae_eaters/algae_eaters1.html

If you want to see a poop machine in action - get one of the Royal Pl*cos and stick in a piece of driftwood with it.

http://planetcatfish.com/cotm/1999-05.htm

Hope this helps. There's also information in the "Showtanks" section of this forum. :)


Walter

[April]

great information as usual walter. thanks.

[JMIZ16]

Fine let me rephrase-- ANY PLECO THAT IS GOING TO BE USEFULL TO YOU WILL GROW LARGE! AND BE A POOP MACHINE!

[yogi]

The real correction is not all plecos get large, useful or not. Like I said the bushynose pleco only reaches about 5 or 6 inches and takes a few years to reach that. Dwarf albino bushynose plecos only reach about 3 or 4 inhces and also take a long time to grow.

On a side note if you change your diet to 100 percent vegetable see what happens to your poop.