Algae eating fish for African ( non rift lake ) tank…

[Magnum Man]

Must be ok with various Congo tetras… anything out there… not interested in South American, or Asian fish for this tank???

 

[Colin_T]

Most small peaceful algae eaters are from South America or Asia. Haven't you got a tank of Sewellia sp? Stick one species of them in the tank.

 

[Magnum Man]

Trying to have regional tanks… gets me searching for the unusual in the aquarium trade fishes

Not sure what was up last night, I was working on the newly set up 45 gallon ( also South American ) in my Asian tank next to it the Reticulated Hillstream’s were just glowing last night… they were looking exceptional

There must be a small fish that fills that niche in African as well???

 

[GaryE]

There are lots, but they are rare in the trade. SA and now Asian algae eaters are so popular, there is no room for them except as rare imports.

We caught lots of Phractura sp, which have the suckermouth lifestyle even if they aren't straight up algae eaters. Yes, I should have brought some back, along with all the Mormyrid/elephant nose types, but there was only so much room and I don't find catfish or Mormyrids especially fascinating.

There are also Chiloglanis spp. But I think you pretty well have to live in the Netherlands or Germany to get fish like that.

 

[Magnum Man]

These look interesting, although no specifically bio film eaters

PlanetCatfish.com - Phractura ansorgii (Amphiliidae) Cat-eLog

Images are copyright and may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder.

www.planetcatfish.com

 

[Magnum Man]

As do these…
Wet Spot has had both listed before, but not are out of stock right now

Chiloglanis cf. disneyi The Wet Spot Tropical Fish |

Chiloglanis cf. disneyi The Wet Spot Tropical Fish |

www.wetspottropicalfish.com

 

[GaryE]

My impression, as a non catfish person, is Synodontis tend to hold the niche, but none are 'just' algae eaters. I saw some beautiful river Synodontis at a laundry ramp in Gabon - amazing smaller (3-4 inch) ones with nice markings. They were grazing on algae.
They have a following in the hobby, but you have to do a little digging to make sure you aren't getting Rift Lake species. It seemed they were in the larger softwater rivers, but again, I'm willfully blind to catfish other than Corydoras or Sturisoma.
There were a lot of barb species also working over patches of algae, so I think as far as algae goes, the fish I saw weren't that specialized.