150g: Otos or plecos?

[WhistlingBadger]

So, I have a well-established 150g South America tank with tons of woodwork and a fairly impressive growth of aufwuchs/biofilm. I want to get some algae eaters, because first of all they would help the wood look better, and second the kids at the office really love the sucker-mouth cats.

I'm inclined to get a big school (10+) of otos, because I already have a couple and they're really appealing little critters. But a small group of any of the smaller plecos (bushy nose, bulldog, rubber lips, etc) would be cool too. Other tank residents include angel fish, red phantom and diamond tetras, twig catfish (I'll be getting a few more of those, too), and adolph cories.

What say you?

 

[Byron]

First a reminder, that the mentioned "algae eating" species will not touch any problem algae, only common green (most of which we cannot see in the biofilm) and diatoms. I mention this as you don't want to overload the tank with fish that will have difficulties and not do the benefit concerning algae.

Beyond that, I would not add plecos (Bristlenose) with the existing whiptails and otos. You could get a few more otos. I had a group of five otos and one common whiptail (Rineloricaria parva) in a 5-foot 115g tank and there was not a speck of common algae or diatoms for years. I did have black brush algae though, as none of these will touch that, and I dealt with the "problem" algae by working out the balance of light/nutrients.

Male plecos like Bristlenose are territorial, and the more there are, the more space with individual housing is needed.

 

[Wills]

I thought your angels could have been a threat to the ottos but if it’s going ok I’d stick to your plan sounds like a good option.