Algae Eaters

[Jin]

I’m looking for some algae eating fish for my 90-gallon tank.

Otos won’t work.  (I can go into why if you really want me to.)

My LFS has some borneo plecos (I think they are actually hill stream loaches), flying foxes, & CAEs – both regual & golden.  (Some might be SAEs.)

I’ve heard that most plecos don’t eat algae after they get ~5” in length.  Can anyone recommend which of these or another type fish to get?

Thanks.

 

[Jin]

Errrr...

both regular & golden

I can type, really.

 

[JWright]

SAEs or Flying Foxes. CAEs and some Pl*cos won't eat most kinds of algae once they mature.

Josh

 

[ronrca]

Ive heard the same as Jwright. However, I am curious as to why you cant have ottos?

 

[Jin]

Otos…I really like them.  They are great in my 29-gallon tank & I’ve recommended them to friends who have had great luck with them.

However, for some unknown reason, I’ve had 100% oto death in my 90-gallon tank.  They have no bite marks on them, they don’t turn a funny color or anything, & no signs of disease have been present.  When they die, none of the other fish have bothered to peck at them.

So, needless to say, 8 otos later, I’m looking elsewhere now.

I’ve never had any other issues with any other kind of fish in the tank.

Before I get something else, do you think I might have some odd bad algae?  I have some green & brown of varying lengths.  There is plenty to go around.

And thanks for the suggestions so far.

 

[ronrca]

I know what your talking about your ottos dieing. I had 3 in my 30G and they all died. Why? Not enough algae even though I thought I had lots. I found out later that it was blue/green algae or cyanobacteria which ottos do not eat. Like myself, many people think algae is algae. I have read a few articles about algae and discovered that there are many types of algae. Few, infact, are only eaten by 'algae eaters'. Some algae is not. For example beard algae is not eaten by fish except maybe goldfish. It is very important to keep these types of algae under control and the only way is manually removing it. Of course you could always try some algae destroyer but not if you have plants. Algae is a plant therefore dumping in chemicals to kill algae will kill your plants. Ottos and SAEs are very good at keeping some algae under control however it is important to realize that both eat different types of algae. Ottos take care of the 'soft' algae types where SAEs are the only ones that eat red brush algae. Snails and shrimp are another choice.

A very good source of info is found at
http://faq.thekrib.com/algae.html

Good luck!

 

[Jin]

Wow, that was a great article.  I had very little knowledge of algae.  At least I know more now.  I don’t know if using snails, except really big ones, & shrimp is a good idea tho since I have clown loaches.  They love to eat those little guys.

Makes me feel rather bad thinking that they may have starved.

I wish I could really tell the difference between the SAEs & Flying Foxes when I’m at the LFS.  I’ll read up on some of the links from the site you gave me.  I think I’ll try one.  I know I have the brush algae.

BTW, I highly recommend the borneo plecos/hill stream loaches.  They are hilarious to watch – as long as you aren’t squeamish & don’t mind watching their hearts beat while they are on the side of the tank.

Thanks much.

 

[Matt Nace]

I just bought a rubber pleco(green pleco) They get about 4 ½ inches. My lazy (6)ottos dont get the algae in my 55 gallon like they should. They spend more time on the plants. My SAE stay to the plants as well.

So the rubber is in the q-tank for a few weeks before entering the planted tank.

Kinda makes me think my tank is out of balance somewhere...never had so much on the glass.....hmmm

 

[ronrca]

I always have algae on my glass. It is the green spot algae that is rather difficult to get off. After 6 days since a water change, the glass is quite green. When I do a water change, I get a scrubber and started scrubbing. I guess thats all part of the funny.  *laughingcryingsmiley*

 

[Matt Nace]

I get way more than the green spot!!I get crusty green and some brown(from the silicates maybe in the water I am guessing?)
I used to get that some, but this must be a nutrient imbalance. I don't think I have enough plants(but I am getting there) to suck up all the nutrients.Plus my water is still hard like my old home, but each bourogh/township treats its water different.

I need to add the second bottle of Co2 to increase photosynthesis----> to increase nutrient uptake. I tried cutting back on the nutrients..like the iron...but some of the plants showed it. So I put it back up and the plants looked wonderful, but the glass gets nailed with algae. It needs a scrubby pad to get it off....almost like my saltwater tank used to be like.

It is funny....I used to love stem plants like hornwort, ambulia,anacharis,camboda... but these plants are a big pain in the butt.I could clip them to the ground and they are back up and all over the tank in a few days. I get tired of pruning just them..so I pulled some nice ones out and replaced them with a bunch of different swords. Looks very nice.

I now have 4 different swords. Amazons, melon,red,and another. The red is probebly my favorite at this time.

sorry..and back to the post...

 

[Jin]

I was at a LFS yesterday & I saw some shrimp.

They had ghost shrimp for $.25 & some "algae eating shrimp" for $2.99.

Do both of these eat algae?  Are they good at it?

I have 5 clown loaches, the largest being ~5.5 inches.  They ate all my snails.  Would they also be inclined to eat any shrimp I got?

I think It would be kind of cool to have something beyond fish in my tanks.

Thanks.

 

[Matt Nace]

I am sure they would eat them.

The ghosts are more scavenger but will eat aome algae. The ammano shrimp go eat algae(and steal food too) . I have about 15 in there with 3 ghosts. I love them.

Mine were $1.19 or something...wow what a deal I had.

 

[Cackett]

Twig Catfish (Farlowella acus)
i got 2 of these they look funny and do well between themselves Twig Catfish (Farlowella acus)
so do a search on them and tell me what you think of themm.. (well funny to watch)

 

[DannyDJ]

I have 3 SAEs that are the real thing and I LOVE them.

The two biggest clues that they're the real thing are the transparent fins (no yellowing, no coloring or markings of any kind) and the black stripe extending into their tails.  The black stripe along their side has a zig-zag edge to it, the line isn't perfectly smooth.  There is no obvious stripe above the black stripe.  Their scales are flecked with black above the black stripe, not solidly colored.  Below the black stripe, they're a silvery color.  Because they can appear gold, depending upon how the light hits them, you have to study them as they swim.

Again, the two biggest clues that they're the real SAEs are the transparent fins and the black stripe extending into their tails.

They're wonderful fish in their own right, I just love my Three Stooges (that's what I call my trio of SAEs).  They eat any kind of algae that grows in my tank, they're active and lively.  They work all day long, obsessively working on the tank.  They love working on the driftwood and it doesn't have a bit of algae on it.  I love them, I absolutely love my SAEs.  *twirlysmiley*

 

[Jin]

Just a quick update.

My LFS had a tank of Flying Foxes & that’s all.  So I took a peek & I think I found 2 SAEs.  One I’m pretty sure of, but the other is quite small & it’s hard to tell if there is a stripe above the back one.  Anyway, I’ve had them for about 2 weeks now & both seem to be doing well.

However, late last week, my tank had a huge blue-green algae bloom.  The only think I can think of that would have caused this was my feeding of bananas to my loaches.

I tried to find some Otos, now that there is a boatload of food for them, but no store within 15 miles of my house had any.  Supposedly today a place, quite handily, between work & home is getting some in.  I think I’ll go with 2.

Thanks again for all the info.

 

[colesea]

I have Oto's I have Oto's!

So if you're in the LI area, you could stop by my shop and give some otos a very happy home.  ;D

One thing I did notice about my otos though. Even though the tank they're in is sparkling with no algae, they have yet to starve to death.  Eight of them are sharing it with three Gold Barbs, two small CAE, and about a dozen Julii cories.  I put Wardly sinking shrimp pellet in for the cories, and flake in for the barbs, and after feeding time, the otos always seem to have full (and I mean really fat full) bellies.  I don't know what they could be eating except perhaps the shrimp pellet although I've not actually observed them feeding on the pellets themselves, nor have I observed them to directly eat the flake either. Every other day I crack in a Wardly algae waffer, and usually the snails are the only thing eating that.  ???

I feel bad if some otos are starving and yet there is an available alternate food source for them. Has anybody else heard of otos eating prepared foods?
~~Colesea

 

[ChazECJr]

Ghost shrimp are certainly cheap enough, try some, if they get eaten you have not lost much.  I think they are harder to spot then snails so they might survive.  Just give them places to hide so they will be safe when they are molting.