What is the best algae eater for small tanks?
- Thread starter Lucas9919
- Start date
ummmmmm...... whiptails cats get to 12" long and I wouldn't put one in a 5G for a day.
Not for acrylic though, unless you like the scratched-up look.
I learned that the hard way when I was a kid. I did not notice it was scratching the acrylic until I was totally finished. My eclipse hex 5 looked like crap when I got done.
Ditto on the whiptail thing fishcatch said.
I used trumpet snails in a 3g eclipse setup and they kept everything spotless. Somehow, I had blue-green algae before them and they ate it, too. The population was kept in check by limiting food, and they stayed under the gravel most of the day. Keeping an algae-eating fish in a 5g tank rarely works. Snails are cheap and stupid enough to be happy anywhere.
Didn't realize we were talking about acrylic.
That aside, I've never had any success with "algae eaters" in my tanks. They unfortunately have minds of their own and seem to be overly proficient at missing what I think are the most obvious spots.
Although otos are nice fish, they don't keep the glass clean in my experience. There are some green algae that they don't like. The same is true for amano shrimp, who eat hardly any algae from the glass.
My bristlenose pleco cleared the windows within one day, and they have been spotless ever since. She doesn't care for any hair or dust algae on the plants, though.
Nearly as efficient, with the exception of some black algae, are very young chinese algae eaters. I'm not sure whether the problems with them when they get older are worth their consideration, though.
My bristlenose pleco cleared the windows within one day, and they have been spotless ever since. She doesn't care for any hair or dust algae on the plants, though.
Nearly as efficient, with the exception of some black algae, are very young chinese algae eaters. I'm not sure whether the problems with them when they get older are worth their consideration, though.
