Algae Eating Fish
- Thread starter Jamie
- Start date
I think I have read most of the posts in this thread and have not seen one mention of a Farlowella! Mine are excellent algae eaters and are constantly fat. They seem to scour the driftwood and large leafed plants (amazon swords) primarily but that makes sense as they are 6 to 7 inches long. They are definitely not aggressive and have, to me, a very interesting and unusual appearance. I have not noticed that they have done any damage to the leaves that they clean and I have never seen them show any interest in the foods I offer (flake, frozen shrimp, frozen blood worms). Mine, as best I can determine, are Farlowella acus. Obviously, I think they're great!
Beasts
Beasts
Are Otos the sames as 'Algae Eaters' found in LFS, I heard they grown big and then become agressive?
The only fish I have seen eat algae off plant leaves are black mollies and platies. I have ottos and siamese algae eaters, but they only eat algae off the glass and driftwood
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Tell that to my farlowella catfish... he jumps from leaf to leaf sucking the leaf dry of all algae.
My ottos love eating off plant leaves and I love watching them pull themselves along the skinny leaves with their fins =) The platies also pick at the leaves and rocks and I've seen my zebra danios copying them lately.
I have a 125g planted Discus tank. I have used SAE's which were good until they got a little bigger and then preferred fish food to the algae. Oto's which i like, but tend to die off mysteriously and Amano shrimp. I have found the amano shrimp to be amazing. I had a horrible beard algae problem which i picked up along with some live plants rom my LFS. I tried everything and could not rid the tank of it. Although i didint have access to a follewolla(sp?) or a bristlenose. I purchased 2 dozen and withen days the tank was spotless. Mine have lasted for quite some time now and are doing too well. Since there is no algae left they sometimes snack on my live plants and have demolished my java ferns.
I totally agree i've been working in a aquarium shop for 2 years now and i see alot of misunderstood people and incorrectly labeled fish and sae's are often confused with flying foxes and the such so most people in these threads might be buying the wrong fish.True sae's are wonderful at algae cleaning i keep them in all my tanks that are peaceful enough for them.Including my discus tanks, never a problem out of them old or young.Although no fish should be relied upon to keep a tank clean if your not doing your part with tank cleaning and water changes
I presume by Plecos, you mean Suckermouth Catfish. I have a couple of them in my 25 Gallon tank. I have seen some huge (10 to 11 inch) specimens, but mine are small- about 3+ inches. They are quite sincere fellas -- quietly cleaning up the glass walls and algae on the stones. If they do grow to their full size then they could pose a threat to the serene environment. I think mine won't, considering the smaller size of my tank and the amount of fish in them. They have not attacked the plants (though I've been warned), and they are innocent till proven guilty! But they are not so effective in eating algae on uneven surfaces (like ridged petrified wood).
I have a couple of rainbow fish and they eat up the algae too.
Algae need light to grow and restricting light will help. Unfortunately plants need light too, so this needs to be done in a selective, controlled way. One way of killing algae that grow on the surface of the rocks or drift wood is to periodically turn them upside down. That way, the surface that gets exposed to light gets "buried" and a different surface gets exposed. By the time algae starts appearing on the freshly exposed side you can reverse it again.
Another way to "slow down" algae growth is to create a "siesta" time. Let's say your aquarium lights are on between 7am and 9pm. Switch of the lights between 1pm and 3 pm. This cuts down the supply of light to algae.This of course is subject to the environment of plants you have and their need for light.
I have a couple of rainbow fish and they eat up the algae too.
Algae need light to grow and restricting light will help. Unfortunately plants need light too, so this needs to be done in a selective, controlled way. One way of killing algae that grow on the surface of the rocks or drift wood is to periodically turn them upside down. That way, the surface that gets exposed to light gets "buried" and a different surface gets exposed. By the time algae starts appearing on the freshly exposed side you can reverse it again.
Another way to "slow down" algae growth is to create a "siesta" time. Let's say your aquarium lights are on between 7am and 9pm. Switch of the lights between 1pm and 3 pm. This cuts down the supply of light to algae.This of course is subject to the environment of plants you have and their need for light.
