Algae eater suggestions for a semi aggressive community tank ?

fermentedhiker

fermentedhiker

AC Members
Nov 11, 2011
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Warren, Maine
I'm finally getting my 55g semi aggressive community tank up and running. Stocking will be as follows or something similar;

school of tiger barbs
redtailed shark
marbled headstander
school of loaches(species to be determined)
a cichlid species, maybe forest jewels or honduran red points

what I'm debating is whether or not and if so what species of algae eater to include to help keep the glass clean(ish) so I don't have to scrub it so often. Normally I just rely on ramshorns and mts for it, but with the loaches that's not likely to happen. So I'm just looking for suggestions at this point, you know food for thought.

I think having the red tailed shark(already have him) rules out SAE as an option. I also want something that will stay smallish(say under 6"). Is there a BN species that would work in this setup?

Like I said, just looking for some options to consider.

Thanks
Adam
 
Most all of the BN species stay under 6", so any of them would probably be an option. Good luck.
 
Otocinculus will do ok with all listed. Not sure how it would fair with chiclids. Anybody else have input on that? Oto does a great job with algae.
 
I would get a bn for sure...probably not otos in a tank with that stocking though.
 
I agree that a dwarf species of pleco is in order but a BN pleco has those several tentrils on his snout that would be extremely vunerable to biting
try to find another species of small pleco without the bushy nose
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I wondered how the BN's would hold up around Cichlids? Clown Pleco's are out because they aren't very good algae eaters. Anyone have specific species that they have seen do well with Cichlids? I used to have a Queen Arabesque(L-260) years ago that I loved, I wonder if they would work with this mix?
 
Hmm, this is a tricky one. I supopose it depends on your stock and what kind of pleco.

I have used various plecos and never used a bristle nose with africans, but I have put even the giant plecos in with cichlids that are an 1/8 its size and in a month or so you could still have a pleco skeleton in your tank...

But in my experience, Bristle Nose are more likely to attack back when being harassed, so they might work. And they will keep your glass clean. Most of the regular plecos I have used usually just swim away and try to hide while being pecked to death.
 
I had both a high fin pleco and bn with my mbunas once. The high fin got the worst of it based on his size and slow moving temperament so I put him in my 100g rescue. Bn was just fine though. Nerites are out because the cichlids would probably munch them as well. I dunno...good luck though!

:cheers:
 
It's looking like some sort of BN is the way to go based on size, being good algae eaters, and being able to stick up for themselves in a scrap. Now just to find some :)

Thanks for all the suggestions, and feel free to add more if there's something that hasn't been mentioned yet.
 
I would suggest not getting the fish to clean your glass and just clean it manually. I see problems with your stocking attacking most fish you put in there. Also, once your algae eater cleans your glass you will need to supplement its food with pellets/wafers/etc and then you may have a hard time getting it to eat algae.

just my thoughts and opinions.
 
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