This is just a little rant.....
it seems to me that every time someone gets the teensiest spot of algae, they flip out and want to buy a pleco, or otos, or something to eat the algae.
what they don't ever seem to realized is that while, yes, plecos and otos and SAE's and CAE's etc. will eat algae, they won't eat all your algae, they won't eat every type of algae.
its almost as if they view these fish as one of those algae scrubbers or something. the truth is, most plecos get huge, otos are very fragile, CAE's get big and mean. they can be picky about the types of algae they will eat.
and on top of everything, they are fish. they poop and pee just like every other fish. they add to the bioload and create waste. sometimes i find it amazing that people can actually believe that because a fish is a "bottom feeder" or part of a "cleanup crew" that they somehow magically don't produce any waste of their own.
the bottom line, and the point of my rant, is don't buy another fish to add to your tank just to clean a little algae. that is YOUR job. YOU are the one who filled that glass box with water and put helpless living creatures in it who are at your mercy. it is your responsibility to keep that tank clean and healthy for them, not another fish, not a snail, not a shrimp, YOU and only YOU. so break out a sponge or one of those magnetic algae cleaners and scrub it yourself!
i just spent an hour on a water change because i had to pick and rub sheets of blue green algae off of every single plant in my tank.
it seems to me that every time someone gets the teensiest spot of algae, they flip out and want to buy a pleco, or otos, or something to eat the algae.
what they don't ever seem to realized is that while, yes, plecos and otos and SAE's and CAE's etc. will eat algae, they won't eat all your algae, they won't eat every type of algae.
its almost as if they view these fish as one of those algae scrubbers or something. the truth is, most plecos get huge, otos are very fragile, CAE's get big and mean. they can be picky about the types of algae they will eat.
and on top of everything, they are fish. they poop and pee just like every other fish. they add to the bioload and create waste. sometimes i find it amazing that people can actually believe that because a fish is a "bottom feeder" or part of a "cleanup crew" that they somehow magically don't produce any waste of their own.
the bottom line, and the point of my rant, is don't buy another fish to add to your tank just to clean a little algae. that is YOUR job. YOU are the one who filled that glass box with water and put helpless living creatures in it who are at your mercy. it is your responsibility to keep that tank clean and healthy for them, not another fish, not a snail, not a shrimp, YOU and only YOU. so break out a sponge or one of those magnetic algae cleaners and scrub it yourself!
i just spent an hour on a water change because i had to pick and rub sheets of blue green algae off of every single plant in my tank.