types of algae eaters.....

[Chumpp_308]

i rescently got a tank from a friend of mine and their is a really bad algea problem in it. when i got it i scrubbed about half of the tank out but i got sick of scrubbing and just filled it up, i was wondering what types of fish would eat most of the algea off of the walls of the tank so that i dont have to keep scrubbing it down. there is some sort of a eel loach in there too that managed to kill two chinese algea eaters in a different tank when it was in there. any ideas would be great, thanks.

[Pac-Man]

otos are really good algae eaters. they can be kind of sensitive though

[leongreenway]

what size is it, over 20Gal get a Bristlenose Pleco...excellent for the green stuff

[Chumpp_308]

it is a 20 gal tank and there are already two plecos in there right now, they arent doing a thing for the algea. i dont know if im going to keep them or not.

[Chumpp_308]

what is the full name for otos, id like to look it up and get sum info on it. by the way, the tank came with about 50 guppies in it......

[shev]

otocinclus. there are different kinds of otocinclus.

[shev]

oh, and 2 plecos definately wont fit in a 20 gallon, assuming thye are commons. in fact plecos are such big waste producers they are probably feeding the algae.

otocinclus are pretty small and you would need a herd of them. the plecos have rasping lips, which are good for getting algae off the glass. cae's are nasty fish.

50 guppies is way too many for a 20 gallon with 2 plecos, all the waste is feeding the algae.

[Chumpp_308]

i kinda figured that, but i jsut got the tank for free from a friend cuz it was his dads but his dad died from cancer and no one was looking after it and i volunteerd to take it. i just got it on friday so i havent really had a chance to fix any of the problems yet. i fed quiet a few of the guppies to my tiger barbs tho.

[MyraVan]

Some snails can be very good algae eaters. Apple snails aren't, they prefer fish food, but nerite snails are great algae eaters. Here's a picture of one of mine.



They seem to be happy in either heated or unheated tanks, and they can coexist with fish that would harass apple snails endlessly. (Apple snails come a good way out of their shells, and fish like barbs would just love a bite of nice juicy foot, mouth, or antenna. The nerite, as you can see, stays pretty much within its shell, and the fish ignore it.)

[Damon]

Good snails, but perfer harder water as they live in L. Tang. Can do well in community tanks though. The algae eater you get (or keep) will depend on what types of algae you have. No alage eater will remove established green spot algae (use a credit card to remove it). Few fish (SAE and Florida Flag Fish) will eat BBA. Livebearers do a good job on hair and thread algae. Staghorn is almost impossible to control with algae eaters alone.

[micbailey]

Other than a pleco is there a good algae eater for keeping your glass clean?

[osteoporoosi]

usually algae problems don't appear out of blue, there must be some other way to get rid of it than an algae eater. What kind of lighning you have?Plants, fertilizers?

[Damon]

Yes there are but again it depends on the algea you have. And Osteo said it best. They will control algae, but not get rid of it. Finding out why the algae is growing will go a long way into controling it.