Best Algae Eater for My Tank?

[021414]

Hi everyone,

I am wondering which algae eater would be best for a tank with Botia kubotais, Pangio oblonga, and Puntius tetrazona. I currently have a temporary 20 gallon aquarium with an AquaClear 50, a bubbler, real and fake plants, and am doing 40% water changes every week. I consulted Aqadvisor and I know that my tank is at 120% stocking but my filtration capacity is still well over 100%.

I mistakenly bought two Chinese Algae Eaters that are quite small still (about 3") and they took carry of a temporary algae problem, but after doing more research I found out that they become extremely aggressive and will eat the slime coats off of my other fish. I am going to try and find another home for those two because I don't plan on cycling them in and out of the tank as necessary for algae build up since I don't have a separate tank big enough to house them. However, I would like something to control the algae in my tank (no chemicals). Any suggestions?

One possibility is that if I cannot re-home my algae eaters and I upgrade my current tank (hopefully to a 36 gallon), I could keep the algae eaters in my 20g by themselves to let them live out their lives as aggressive creatures if they please. Suggestions, criticism, etc. is welcome!

Thanks again, I'm trying to learn the necessary fundamentals to be a responsible fishkeeper and am hoping you guys can help me out!

[redshark1]

It depends on what kind of algae, partly.

I would think that 20 gallon is rather small to sustain a good algae-eating fish.

I don't like feeding vegetables as the waste from these kills the water quality.

Nerite snails are effective and I have one over 10 years old, so reliable and long-lived too. One per 10 gallons works for me.

For fish, I favour Bristlenose Catfish. The main problem being their readiness to breed and males can be aggressive mainly to other Bristlenoses, especially over hiding places. My female was trapped in a hole and the male ate her fins and tail trying to get her out.

I gave the male away and I now just have the female. Her fins and tail grew back as new in a fortnight. My tank is 90 uk gallons. She is not fully grown and still has work to do to clear the aquarium of algae.

The algae I have is the dark green furry stuff covering the decor. Anyone know what this is called?

You can see her and the algae in this pic:


A closer pic when she was purchased:

[DainBramage1991]

I'm having good luck in my 20 gallon tank using a bulldog pleco (Chaetostoma sp.), also known as a rubbermouth or just rubber pleco. He keeps to himself mostly, isn't aggressive toward the other fish in the tank and does a fine job of keeping the tank clean. I supplement his diet with algea wafers and I'm fairly certain he eats the leftovers from the other fish (flake food and shrimp pellets mostly) but I can't confirm this because he's most active at night.

The biggest single advantage of this species of pleco is that they will NOT outgrow your tank! Bulldog plecos max out at anywhere from 3-6" and that's it, so they are perfect for smaller tanks. Mine is currently about 3.5" long, healthy, and apparently happy.

[kimura]

A couple of otto cats would be what I would use for a tank that size. Maybe an amano shrimp or two but they wont clean the glass.

[Diana]

I see other problems with the fish you have in a 20 gallon tank. Kuboitai get too large for that tank, so the larger tank you have in mind is a good idea. Tiger Barbs also get larger than most people allow for, so your larger tank is already well stocked if you have a good social group of each species.
Then, Algae eaters for the small tank would most likely be Otoscinclus, and for the larger tank perhaps just more Otos (about 1 per 10 gallons is about right for keeping the algae down). A single Bristlenose would also work in the larger tank, but they get too large for a 20 gallon.

[021414]

I see other problems with the fish you have in a 20 gallon tank. Kuboitai get too large for that tank, so the larger tank you have in mind is a good idea. Tiger Barbs also get larger than most people allow for, so your larger tank is already well stocked if you have a good social group of each species.
Then, Algae eaters for the small tank would most likely be Otoscinclus, and for the larger tank perhaps just more Otos (about 1 per 10 gallons is about right for keeping the algae down). A single Bristlenose would also work in the larger tank, but they get too large for a 20 gallon.

Unfortunately one of my Botia kubotai died, so now I only have one. I think he might have had Ich when I got him, so I'm going to be treating the tank for that. I'm still on the fence about treating Ich with the standard chemical treatment versus using aquarium salt. When I plugged in everything to AqAdvisor (adding an Otocinclus), it said that my Tiger Barbs are too aggressive for that type of fish. I have had Otocinclus' before when I had a community tank and absolutely loved those little guys.

When I upgrade to the larger tank, I will probably use the 20 gallon as a quarantine tank, or just keep my Chinese Algae Eaters in there until I can re-home them.

I also have a 2.5 gallon tank that I raise small snails in and would like to feed to my loaches as a snack.

[021414]

I'm having good luck in my 20 gallon tank using a bulldog pleco (Chaetostoma sp.), also known as a rubbermouth or just rubber pleco. He keeps to himself mostly, isn't aggressive toward the other fish in the tank and does a fine job of keeping the tank clean. I supplement his diet with algea wafers and I'm fairly certain he eats the leftovers from the other fish (flake food and shrimp pellets mostly) but I can't confirm this because he's most active at night.

The biggest single advantage of this species of pleco is that they will NOT outgrow your tank! Bulldog plecos max out at anywhere from 3-6" and that's it, so they are perfect for smaller tanks. Mine is currently about 3.5" long, healthy, and apparently happy.

I tried plugging in the addition of a rubbermouth pleco and it said there was a problem with the temperature requirements of all my fish not matching up very well. I'm not sure how strictly I should adhere to the information on AqAdvisor, but it seems to be my best resource aside from everyone here in this forum. Plus, I don't want to make too many obnoxious posts

[021414]

It depends on what kind of algae, partly.

I would think that 20 gallon is rather small to sustain a good algae-eating fish.

I don't like feeding vegetables as the waste from these kills the water quality.

Nerite snails are effective and I have one over 10 years old, so reliable and long-lived too. One per 10 gallons works for me.

For fish, I favour Bristlenose Catfish. The main problem being their readiness to breed and males can be aggressive mainly to other Bristlenoses, especially over hiding places. My female was trapped in a hole and the male ate her fins and tail trying to get her out.

I gave the male away and I now just have the female. Her fins and tail grew back as new in a fortnight. My tank is 90 uk gallons. She is not fully grown and still has work to do to clear the aquarium of algae.

The algae I have is the dark green furry stuff covering the decor. Anyone know what this is called?

You can see her and the algae in this pic:


A closer pic when she was purchased:

Your tank looks beautiful! I am a little worried about adding a catfish to my tank at the moment since it's still only a 20 gallon. Is that type of catfish O.K. to have in a temporary 20 gallon?

[kcartwright856]

Nerite snails or otocinclus.

[DainBramage1991]

I tried plugging in the addition of a rubbermouth pleco and it said there was a problem with the temperature requirements of all my fish not matching up very well. I'm not sure how strictly I should adhere to the information on AqAdvisor, but it seems to be my best resource aside from everyone here in this forum. Plus, I don't want to make too many obnoxious posts

The info I have on rubbermouth plecos is that they do fine from 72-82 degrees F. That's a range that accommodates almost all common tropical fish, so (without having looked up the specific requirements of your fish) I think that if you split the difference temperature wise, everyone will be happy.

I keep my tank at 76 degrees, and the loaches, tetras, catfish, and platys all seem to like it just fine.

[redshark1]

Thanks for the kind comment.

I want to be more positive but I truly think that having a Bristlenose in a 20g is not perfect.

I feel that i would run out of algae and have to feed veggies. Then, the water quality would plummet as decaying veggies / veggie poop are bad news for the aquarium and aquarium filters.

I did this once and everything suffered so I did a U-turn.

[DainBramage1991]

I don't think you'll have any trouble if you go with a rubbermouth pleco. I have one in my 20 gallon tank, and my son has one in his 10 gallon tank. Both fish are healthy and apparently happy. Like I said before, they do a great job at keeping the tanks clean. As for supplemental food, we occasionally toss in an algae wafer, which is easy to remove if it isn't completely consumed - though that seldom happens (all of the fish love them).

In my opinion, they are the best option for algae control in a small community tank.

[kcartwright856]

I feel that i would run out of algae and have to feed veggies. Then, the water quality would plummet as decaying veggies / veggie poop are bad news for the aquarium and aquarium filters.

I don't have any problems feeding veggies. Let's take zucchini or cucumber for example. You can buy a few, slice however you'd like, and then give them a quick blanch. From there, you toss them in the freezer and take one out every day and put in a veggie clip after you thaw it out for a few minutes in some tank water. The clips aren't expensive at all. Just a suction cup with a plastic clip to hold the veggie on the side of the tank so that it doesn't float around on the bottom.

Blanching the veggies give them a texture that is easy for algae eating critters to rasp at without having to sit in the tank for a day or two until it gets soft enough for them to eat. That's where you get your decay from.

Replacing the veggies in the clip every day, along with standard water changes, won't have any effect on water quality whatsoever.

[redshark1]

I have found that Bristlenoses, at least, do not need their vegetables blanched.

They can eat them as soon as they go in.

I know this as I have kept Bristlenoses for a long time.

However, I'd like to stress that in a 20 gallon feeding vegetables will, in my experience, impact on water quality. The copious wastes produced by the veggie-feeding fish will see to that.

Also, even though I take veggies out at the end of the day there are naturally many veggie particles around in the aquarium that have broken / been broken off the main source. These are the ones which decay and cause issues.

Now I have more experience I prefer to minimise problems rather than see how far I can push the limits of what is possible. It takes people a long time to realise this. That is why I advised the poster against feeding veggies in a well-stocked 20 gallon.

I hope that explains the reasoning behind my last post better.

At the end of the day I'm just giving the benefit of my experience and if you have a different experience then I feel that is just as valid and deserving of respect.

[kcartwright856]

It is completely valid! I meant no disrespect. I'm very sorry if it came across that way.

I just also wanted to toss my experienced into the hat.