Algae Eating Fish

[Joergen.Schoppe]

Tim, is it possible you made a mistake? In you first sentence, do you mean SAE or do you refer to the chinese algae eater?
The SAE are very peacefull fish. Mine are now 1 year old, quite big (largest 3.5 inch) and school with my penguin tetra. The penguin tetra are the more aggressive ones, beeing teretorial and so, often chase some of the SAE away, or try at least...

 

[jpappy789]

Otos.

I completely agree with Lupi here. Otos cleared up the diatoms in my 30 within a couple days. The bn pleco helped a little as well.

Though with diatoms or "brown algae" I wouldn't get fish just to get rid of it

 

[SpitRhyma]

IMO none of the algae eating fish reduce tank algae to any significant levels. I might try Otos though, most seem to regard these fairly high.

Plecs seem to always rasp on my broadleaf plants.

This was my oppinion until I got a Trinidad Pleco... Dude you would not BELIEVE how much algae my tank was getting. Every 5-6 days... my tank would become disgusting because all 4 sides would be covered in algae making the water look dirty. If I showed you HOW GREEN my ENTIRE TANK would get, you would swear I haven't cleaned it or turned the lights off in a couple months... My gravel was always green even though I bought natural mixed colored gravel. My drift wood had a thick coat of fuzz algae. When you looked in the tank from above you only saw green. Ever since I bought my trinidad pleco a few months ago... I haven't had to clean my tank... He cleaned it by himself and kept it clean. My other plecos all died in a heat/ammonia peak and the algae has not returned. I only have a Trinidad pleco (small 3" one) in my tank as far as eating algae goes and he eats everything but the hair algae.

Here's the scary part though... He drops poops like prolly 6 feet long... they're too long to fit straight in the 48" long aquarium so they loop like 3 times. It's crazy man. I'm not joking about the size of the poops. And my tank is SUUUUPER low in algae now. I just want to take the pleco out and kiss him.

Sometimes he swims around in the top of the tank with a poop hanging down to the bottom of the tank and he looks like a kite... lmao

All fancy plecos are worthless as far as eating algae goes... but my trinidad pleco has BOGGLED MY MIND!!! He looks nice too... looks like a leopard sailfin pleco.