Plecosmus Replacement

[mopedman]

I have heard, and seen pictures, of Plecosmus getting 2-3 feet long and know that it will outgrow my 55 gallon eventually. My question is what other fish can I get that won't outgrow and will clean up my tank? Thanks

[Obsidian]

A common plecostomus will get that large, however there are several pleco's that will not get that large. Some common ones are the rubber lipped pleco and the bristle nosed pleco. Both of those will stay 4-6 inches. I would go to planet catfish and start looking through them, there are several that stay small. The bigger problem will be finding one that you may like as some of them are very rare.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/core/

[jones57742]

Originally Posted by mopedman

I have heard, and seen pictures, of Plecosmus getting 2-3 feet long and know that it will outgrow my 55 gallon eventually. My question is what other fish can I get that won't outgrow and will clean up my tank? Thanks

In one word "bristelnose". They are not absolute cleaners but based upon my experience they will really hustle bottom debris as well as algae on the walls of the tank. Please ref:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...?species_id=49

mp: in addition I have recently inadvertently procured MLBs (Malaysian Live Bearers aka Malaysian Trumpet Snails).
These little devils are beyond 1st class in cleaning bottom debris as well as algae on the walls of the tank but will also bury into the substrate and clean it as well.

TR

[mopedman]

Definitely good to know and to look into. What about fish that are not Plecosmus's? How about snails, shrimp, crabs, other fish that clean up the tank that don't get too big? Thanks

[Ricker]

yellow algae eater chinese algae eater

[jones57742]

Originally Posted by Ricker

yellow algae eater chinese algae eater

Ricker: please excuse me here as you obviously have way more experience than I but you have really lost it here.

mm:

Siamese Algae Eaters will help with the algae removal and minimal bottom cleanup.

Yoyo Loaches will eliminate visible snails as well as perform some bottom cleanup.

Sterbai Corydoras will perform significant bottom cleanup.

Bristlenose Plecos will work for algae removal and significant bottom cleanup (note that this comment is based on only several months of experience).

If we get beyond fish then MLBs (Malaysian Live Bearers aka Malaysian Trumpet Snails) are way, way better than any fish with which I have had experience.
These little devils are unbelievable in my experience. They will clean rock, wood, glass surfaces of algae. They will also clean the surface of the substrate. They will also burrow into the substrate and clean the substrate but please note that the maximum burrow depth has been approximately 2".

TR

[Obsidian]

I have a blue mystery snail and it does a decent job at clean up. It does not get it all the way down to the surface on the glass, but it keeps it at a minimum so wiping the excess off is easy.

[jones57742]

obs:

As you read, IMHO, all posts on the Forum you are aware that I had a meltdown of my bottom feeders several months ago.

I just somehow knew that the meltdown was caused somehow by the substrate (obviously no qualitative or quantitative evidence present here).

My current best guess is that due to several months of overfeeding "something" generated in the substrate caused the meltdown.

Although this is just my opinion I believe that if MLBs would have been present in my tank and cleaning the substrate the meltdown would not have occurred.

TR

[Obsidian]

That is one of the reasons why I went with a snail when I lost my Otos. I wanted something that would also pay attention to the substrate. I hope to eventually have a few in each tank

[COM]

Snails... eww. Stick with one of the above mentioned plecos like a bristlenose. Also, you can look for a dwarf species of pleco that won't outgrow your tank.

As for "Chinese Algae Eaters." which are actually from Malaysia from what I have read, they don't really do much about the algae in the tank. They prefer that you feed them.

Algae eating fish in general are tricky. You might want to experiment with some algae control chemicals. Be very careful with these.

[Obsidian]

And yes jones, I do read the vast majority of the freshwater posts on the board. I love learning about everyone's fishes. While watching other people struggle with specific issues helps me understand what to do in the instance that I should fall prey to that happening. I will often still ask Q's when it does happen to me, on the off chance I have missed something

I also tend to get bored easily, which I suspect has the largest impact on my FF activity :P

[mopedman]

As far as snails go, do I have to worry about them breeding and overpopulating my tank?

[Obsidian]

It is not much of a concern at all with Mystery Snails (as mentioned above) but with some other kinds, such as pond snail, yes. There may be others where it is less of a worry, I am just not aware of them.