View Full Version : Can a bristlenose really clean a 55 gallon tank??
grannylvsfish
03-06-2008, 3:39 PM
well as many of you know, I am a big fan of brown algae, or so it seems as just when I get rid of it, the next day its back )))))) but since putting in a baby bristlenose.... over night my tank is clean?? ummmmmm is that possible?? its unreal to see my tank all clean, am I dreaming?? just 3 days ago I was dreading the old " get out the scraper and do a algae clean. today I come home and took a look and bam, its all gone???
krytan
03-06-2008, 4:17 PM
Wow, i wish my pleco's would eat some of the algae in my tank. They just leave it all for me to clean instead.
LOL! Very nice. My plecos do a neat job consuming all diatoms and green algae.:) It depends on the species and their personality though.
grannylvsfish
03-06-2008, 5:59 PM
diatoms, thats what that crap is. I have fought it the whole time, so bad in fact its comon for me to walk by the tank look and go (crap) again, I just cleaned it yesterday! well I was shocked today to see my tank, clean as a whistle! but I have not fed hi much, I have dropped a few wafers down, but the darn sevrum eats it even with the lights out. So i am going to hide it under the log for him. but now as long as he is cleaning I am not going to feed him a lot. just enough to keep him working hard :lol:
grannylvsfish
03-06-2008, 6:01 PM
oh and I have a yellow pleco i my 29, not sure what he is, but he does look like the clown pleco. and he just lays there and basks, he does not do much, just sits and eats what the fish eat. darn it :lol: but there is a bristle nose there to and he keeps that tank sparkling!
Well, bristlenoses do clean up the algae diligently but we shouldn't forget to supplement them with other foods particularly veggies.:)
Weezer
03-06-2008, 6:33 PM
Can a bristlenose really clean a 55 gallon tank........
Theres one in the 45 and 80, and they do a great job .......:)
grannylvsfish
03-06-2008, 7:31 PM
ok, I believe I think I know whats going on, I put flourish and flourish excel, and some iron and a few other things in the tank, I noticed for the first time ever there is some green algae in the tank. I could not believe it, i the back, there is a spot of green algea. sure looks better then that nasty brown. but I do believe the vanishing brown was from the flourish.
fishorama
03-06-2008, 7:40 PM
Alright, granny, I'm reserving my Q tank for a BN. I hope you're right, I need some help. I'm holding out for a regular brown short-finned one, with the white tail corners.
pinkertd
03-06-2008, 9:00 PM
Yes, they really do clean the diatom algae very well! Young bristlenose would rather eat diatoms than algae tablets!
Carp37
03-07-2008, 7:00 AM
I never see my plecs eating much algae, but sure enough, every time I move them to a larger tank, the tank they've come out of gets algae REALLY quickly. I've always kept plecs more because I like them anyway than for eating algae, but they certainly seem to keep the tank glass clean- even the tank with the clown plecs in, who never seem to do much of anything unless there's bloodworm about, is clear of algae (but I do have to gravel vac twice a week because of the amount of wood they chew).
The apple snails have also been pretty effective at eating algae, once I stopped feeding them vegetables. Now the algae's gone I'll start feeding them again!