Good Tropical Algae Eaters?

Hey y'all! I've been looking around the internet for a few hours and am getting a LOT of differing information. I'm returning my two lovely Hillstream Loaches because they are cold water fish when I heard (dumbly, from a YouTube Channel.) that they were able to thrive in tropical temperatures, which they cannot! I wanted y'alls personal opinion on good algae eaters for a tropical tank. My tank currently is a 32.5 gallon, but will be upgraded to a 55 gallon in a few months! (Truly, the only reason I don't have one larger is my current home situation, I'm moving!) So what are y'alls opinion on a good algae eating fish for warmer temps? (75-80f) My fish species are all docile so I would ideally prefer a docile fish. I have had a bad experience with Oto's dying because they were wild caught and would not eat, so if you could give me some suggestions it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!<3

Probably a Chinese algae eater. But it will become slightly aggressive when it grow larger.

True Siamese Algae Eater?

Let the tank mature after you upgrade to the 55 gallon for 3 months at least.

Then either choose a bristlenose pleco, OR a Farlowella twig catfish.

Farlows are delicate like otos, but interesting fish. Super peaceful, if at least shy sometimes.

Bristlenose male, albino. They will eat soft algaes but at same time need to rely on feeding too. Veggies like cucumber and zucchini, wafers, plus some protein as a small percentage of their diet (i do wafers 4 times a week, 1 day shrimp pellet, and 1 day a veggie, with a free day). Also must have driftwood to aid digestion.


Farlowella. Delicate and sensitive, so be warned. Choose actively feeding ones, full bellies when choosing. Avoid any sitting at the filter as usually these aren't faring well. These guys should also be fed veggie wafers and fresh veggies as well, but may take some time to be convinced to eat them. They really need a mature tank to make up the soft algae and biofilm they eat. Leaf litter would be beneficial supplementation as well. But honestly a really cool fish, one of my favorites. Vertical stands of driftwood are appreciated and helps this fish feel more at home.

If you want your tank to grow biofilm fast, you can use Bacter AE. This is useful especially if you are keeping shrimps.

If you aren't too picky on it actually being a fish, I would highly recommend Nerite snails. They stay relatively small and it is agonizingly difficult to breed them, and they do not reproduce at all in fresh water. I have 8 at the moment. For a tank of your size 3-5 of them would probably keep your tank pretty clean. They have a pretty small bioload as well, and if you have driftwood or leaflitter you won't have to deal with any fuzzy biofilm anymore. They also aren't destructive towards plants like some species of aquarium snails.

If you really do want a fish, I would suggest a Bristlenose Pleco. They will usually max out at 4 or 5 in, so they won't outgrow your tank. When you upgrade to a 55 you could even get a 2nd one. I have a nice colored female at the moment. Females don't have the long tentacles of the males, just a fine ring of nubs around their mouth.

I will add pics of both a nerite snail I have as well as my bristlenose.

primsloaches16 said:

Hey y'all! I've been looking around the internet for a few hours and am getting a LOT of differing information. I'm returning my two lovely Hillstream Loaches because they are cold water fish when I heard (dumbly, from a YouTube Channel.) that they were able to thrive in tropical temperatures, which they cannot! I wanted y'alls personal opinion on good algae eaters for a tropical tank. My tank currently is a 32.5 gallon, but will be upgraded to a 55 gallon in a few months! (Truly, the only reason I don't have one larger is my current home situation, I'm moving!) So what are y'alls opinion on a good algae eating fish for warmer temps? (75-80f) My fish species are all docile so I would ideally prefer a docile fish. I have had a bad experience with Oto's dying because they were wild caught and would not eat, so if you could give me some suggestions it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!<3

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Buying a 'algae eater' usually perceived as bristlenose, farowella, all the options above which are good (I would tend to stay away from chinese algae eaters) but at the end of the day they are all poop machines and will add a considerable bioload onto your tank, don't touch most algae (however nerites are pretty good but aren't always accessible), and will require lots of veggies and suplemmentary foods. These aren't nessaccarily negatives as they are all very interesting fish (and snail), yet it is simply not a good idea to buy one of these with the sole purpose for them to eat algae (If algae is a problem in a supposedly mature tank that may be a sign of a larger issue).

Depending on the species, hillstream loaches can actually be kept in relatively high temperatures. For example, Sewellia will do well in a temperature range of about 19c to 24c but your tank may be a bit too hot for them.

Amano shrimp smashed through most of my algae.

Treestone said:

Buying a 'algae eater' usually perceived as bristlenose, farowella, all the options above which are good (I would tend to stay away from chinese algae eaters) but at the end of the day they are all poop machines and will add a considerable bioload onto your tank, don't touch most algae (however nerites are pretty good but aren't always accessible), and will require lots of veggies and suplemmentary foods. These aren't nessaccarily negatives as they are all very interesting fish (and snail), yet it is simply not a good idea to buy one of these with the sole purpose for them to eat algae (If algae is a problem in a supposedly mature tank that may be a sign of a larger issue).

Depending on the species, hillstream loaches can actually be kept in relatively high temperatures. For example, Sewellia will do well in a temperature range of about 19c to 24c but your tank may be a bit too hot for them.

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My algae isnt that big of an issue! It's just some diatom and a small amount of hair, I'm not looking for it to only be a cleaner and I'm aware of the bioload, I want to enjoy the animal beyond a cleaner!

I do not like those Chinese algae eaters. They suck on slime coat of fish, are nippy and ugly.

Bristlenose pleco are some of the best algae eaters. They get around 5 inches long and look cool with the horns on their nose.

If you'd like a smaller pleco, clown plecos look nice, are readily available and get to be around 2 or 3 inches.

There are many other "L" species of pleco that are more expensive, grow to a variety of different sizes, and are nicely colored.