Siamese Algae Eaters

[laurenrocksth]

I have a 55g planted tank with a pearl gourami, 5 banded rainbows, 2 featherfin synos and an upsidedown catfish. Sometime in the next week I will be adding 4 cories that are in QT right now. I wanted to add some apistos or roms or a pair of kribs in the near future.

I have a significant algae problem right now. It's all over my plants and the glass. It's to the point where the palnts are wasting away. I know that I would have fatr less aglae if I had CO2. Unfortunately, I am apparently unable to do DIY and pressurized is most certainly not in my budget.

Could I add 2-4 SAEs to the tank without it being overstocked? Also, would there be a compatibility issue? I could not get the apisto/ram/krib that I want. I understand that they can eat algae from plants without damage and I also like the look of them.

[Virtuoso2K12]

you can go with 4 SAE and rams.

[jm1212]

dont add a fish just to get rid of algea.

for the sides of the tank, use an algea scraper.

for the plants, adding excel can help, depending on the plants you have now.

[Virtuoso2K12]

you can still get them if you really love them and since you have a 55g.

[laurenrocksth]

Sorry about that. I reread my post and I didn't mean to sound like I was getting them only to get rid of the algae. I would never get a fish to get rid of a problem. I really like them. The algae removal is just a big plus.

[gmh]

You could get 3 or 4 if you really like them. But they get pretty big, maybe 5 inches, so will take up some bioload.
You could get just one, they do fine alone. I have one in my 40g and one of these fish goes a long way. I would not get two however. The more dominant one may end up beating up on the weaker one. 3 or four is better.

[cheeseb0y]

I have a group of 7. I've noticed that in groups of 3 or less they're a lot more likely to be aggressive to each other and other fish. They do eat algae extremely well (What they don't get, the Amano Shrimp do. Try these too, they don't get eaten for some reason.). If you have Java Moss, they love the new growth, so don't expect to ever see it grow again. Mine are also quite fond of Zucchini.

I'm keeping them with a Platinum Gourami, some female Bettas, a few smaller fancy Plecos, a single Apistogramma ortmanni, a few Amano Shrimp, a small Spotted Raphael, and a small Upside-down Cat. I have kept them with a couple of different kinds of Rainbows with no problems.

[JAY973]

You may also consider Oto cats for algae control they stay small 1.5 - 2.5 inches and are a really cool fish. Bushy Nose pleco stay small as well 4-5 inches. My SAE's were really aggressive to one another to the point that from 5 there is only 1 left and it's about 5-6 inches but loves hair algae looks like it's eating spagetti. He's in there with a lot of smaller tetra's so it trys to go after them the confuse it by numbers...LOL

BTW the original 5 were in a 120 gallon tank.

[derekp]

Careful with those synos and cories. I have 2 synos and they will absolutely destroy any bottom feeder smaller than them.