algae eaters and other fish

[got_nailed]

Looking for a few algae eaters for my 75 gall that I’m about to get set up. I’ve looked at Clown loaches and a few others. I want something to clean my glass not eat my plants, and eat the snails that come in on the plant (after I do the bleach dip). I don’t want them to get more then 6” long but would prefer something smaller. I think I might add some shrimp at one point.

Thinking of doing a school of 12 Black widow Tetras, and 2 other schools of fish 12 or so. I don’t want to do to do the big fish thing; I don’t like the look of it.

What would you think that would work well?

[OrionGirl]

Bristlenose are some of the better cleaners of algae. Unlike many algae eaters, they continue to eat algae as adults as well as the juveniles. Few other common algae eaters will do this. BN won't eat all kinds of algae, but they will clean the glass and other objects, without damaging plants. Broad leaf plants may get rasped if no other source of vegetation is available, but not out of habit.

For snails--controlling them is easily accomplished by controlling the food source. Few snail eaters will help out with algae--different eating habits. Some small botia's may work out--but some can be aggressive, so you'll need to consider than as well.

[smatts]

How big do bristlenose get?

I tried an otto in my tank last week and it only lived 48 hours :(
I read they die a lot on here, so I'd like to try a different fish for algae pref one that doesn't get too huge.

[Hound]

I'm thinking that a bristlenose cat should get into the 5-6 inch range.

[yen]

How about a farlowella? Mine does a pretty good job in my 55gal and I think it's really cool looking. They get about 6", maybe a little larger, but it's mostly tail. They look like a small twig.

-jen