Algae Eating Fish

[neon7]

I havn't seen anybody mention guppies yet they are an excelant algea eater.

 

[neon7]

and what is the differance between a flying fox and an sae because around here they are the same fish.

 

[MMX]

and what is the differance between a flying fox and an sae because around here they are the same fish.

FYI:
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html

True "SAE":
"All the fins are transparent or slightly milky without any yellow or reddish sheen. The black band goes from nose to the fork of the tail and its edges are zig-zagged."

False "SAE" = Flying Fox:
"The black horizontal band does not go to the fork of the tail but stops at the base of the tail and its edges are rather smooth... All fins except pectoral are yellowish and there are dark markings on the dorsal fin."

 

[troy272]

my SAE does a great job at keeping the tank clean.

 

[ccclifford]

is there any type of fish that will eat algea and stay outside all winter in a 12 gallon pond for my tank is not set up.

 

[telecubby]

Ive found a dead otto or 2 so it leads me to believe they are rathar sensative to water conditions but your so right I have some little ones who never stop eating algae off plants & tubes but wont touch the lava rocks where the shrimps hang out.Otto's seem to work in the mid to upper range of a tank,cute too! never found a dead Algae Eating Shrimp though I think the AES's rest & never seen an otto that wasn't working.Large otto's rest

 

[Jerm]

2.) Otos - cute little suckers (pun intended). Seem to work quite well in larger groups. I have about (haven't had an accurate count in months) a dozen in my 70 gallon tank. Quite a few people seem to have a problem keeping these little guys alive. Assimilate these critters to your tank extremely slowly to increase chances of survival.

I've never had a problem keeping my ottos alive. I thought they were hardy lil fish, and they are like vaccumms to algae.

 

[reiverix]

Otos are a hit or a miss, depending on their condition when you buy them. Choosing ones that are eating and have fat bellies will increase their survival rate. The critical stage seems to be the first few days after adding them to the tank but they can still just die suddenly within the first month or so. I've had my group for almost a year now and they are really quite hardy when acclimatized.

 

[telecubby]

guppys may learn algae eating tips from other fish & shrimps.
bamboo shrimp (larger than 2 inches) will moe algae down with their fans .small ones stay near surface & filterfeed

 

[trevorich]

Ameca Splendens

I've got em and while they are fun to watch, they also love to chase others around and have nipped fins on other fish. I would only recommend them for semi aggressive tanks. They do a marvelous job though.

I knew I was getting them and wanted to really test out their reputation so I allowed the phosphates in my hospital tank (20gal) go through the roof. Only had some zebra danios in there (sacrificial lambs but they all survived just fine) and did no vaccuming on the tank for a month. Algae city....put two females and one male juvenile ameca's in there...5 days it was clean. they ate everything!

trev