# best fish for algae



## PuterChickFL (Feb 23, 2010)

can i put a regular pleco in my cichlid tank, or is there a specific (or recommended) fish for the tank? it's starting to grow out of control a little bit. I see green but i'm also seeing brown, and I've been doing water changes about every two days


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

common plecos are omnivores and will eat meaty foods whenever given a chance but ive been told bristlenose are almost entirely herbivores and eat algae like crazy but depending on the size of your cichlids you may need to find a larger one. also it depends on what type of algae it is as some fish will eat certain types.


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

I've put a couple med size albino bristle noses in a 55 with tanganyikans....the rocks were brown with diatoms ( brown algae) and they cleaned it all up in a couple days...they do a good job on the green algae as well. Alot of cichlids (malawians) are vegitarians and will pick at algae. Depends on the fish. I get alot of green thread algae in one tank, and just let it grow....then with a table fork, wind it up like spaghetti and dump it in the malawian tank.....it's all gone next day.


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## ddawgs3 (May 13, 2010)

Snails are great!


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## Corwin (May 23, 2010)

yeah if it turns out you dont want to get a pleco i cant sing the praise of Nerite snails enough, their great algae eaters and they dont breed in freshwater. The only downside is that they do occasionaly crawl out of their tanks


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

I was told by my pet store that oto cats do a really nice job cleaning up algae on live plants without hurting the plants as well as other decor.


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## chocolatecrunch (May 21, 2010)

If your tank is 20+ go with a bristlenose plec but anything smaller (but larger than a 5 gal) can have a small school of ottos...Ottos are pretty hard to keep alive though from what I have heard while I think most plecs are some what hardy.


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## PuterChickFL (Feb 23, 2010)

chocolatecrunch said:


> I think most plecs are some what hardy.


I used to think that, but for some reason I cant keep a pleco in my community. I just lost my 4th one last week. and my cory died yesterday. I'm investigating if something is going on with this tank. all the other occupants are fine. water parameters are testing normal as well


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## Peeps (May 24, 2010)

I think a bristle nose pleco would work in your tank.


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## PuterChickFL (Feb 23, 2010)

i couldnt think of what kind when i was in the store, ended up with a rubberlip. he's cleaned up real good so far


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

the rubber lips are also much much better compared to commons when talking about size


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

how big do they get?


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

i think i heard somewhere around 7 inches but i could be mistaken i thought i heard someone say a little larger than that.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

hmm, ok. if i was thinking about getting otos, how many would be sufficient?


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

snyderguy said:


> hmm, ok. if i was thinking about getting otos, how many would be sufficient?


what size tank? they need to be kept in a school of around 4-5 atleast but you can always have more.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

72 gallons, i'll probably get 3 or 4


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

get atleast 4


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

alright, thanks dude


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## PuterChickFL (Feb 23, 2010)

just curious, what exactly are otos? the girl at the store mentioned them but said they didn't have any. are they algae eaters?


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

they're little ugly things lolllll but ya, they're good algae eaters


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

ottos http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile76.html


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## chocolatecrunch (May 21, 2010)

snyderguy said:


> they're little ugly things lolllll but ya, they're good algae eaters


But I think they are sooo cute  How can you think the little fellas are ugly  LOL.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

haha, i like the little stripe they have goin' but when you have discus that range from turquoise blue to yellow to orange, it's hard to think something gray is cute hah


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## chocolatecrunch (May 21, 2010)

ya. lol. 
WIAT! Won't ottos get eaten by the chicilds (or however you spell it..)???

Good luck peoples


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

nahh, discus are cichlids but they aren't aggressive like the cichlids you're thinking of


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

A big discus will eat a small oto. Assuming it sees it and can catch it. Discus aren't vegetarians. Mostly otos hide in plants and are nearly invisible. They are pretty cheap so I'd risk it. Maybe start with 6.


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## PuterChickFL (Feb 23, 2010)

oh dear. I just put 4 otos in the tank, and the tiger barbs are harrassing them already. :---sad::sad:

I think this tank has a problem. two of the barbs got red lips (sounds hilarious but very concerned)


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## wmoyer2006 (Mar 17, 2010)

BV77 said:


> I've put a couple med size albino bristle noses in a 55 with tanganyikans....the rocks were brown with diatoms ( brown algae) and they cleaned it all up in a couple days...they do a good job on the green algae as well. Alot of cichlids (malawians) are vegitarians and will pick at algae. Depends on the fish. I get alot of green thread algae in one tank, and just let it grow....then with a table fork, wind it up like spaghetti and dump it in the malawian tank.....it's all gone next day.



Lol, clever.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

red lips? Have you seen them fighting?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

On the rubberlip note: They get to be about the same size as a Bristlenosed. 5-6 inches.


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## FishMatt (May 12, 2010)

You could also go for a Clown plec. They stay small at 4inches and are good at eating algae, and I belive that they are easy on plants.



Here a picture I found on badmanstropicalfish.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

i only got 2 otos because they only had 2 but they play together happily and have done a wonderful job with the algae. Especially on my plants.


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