best fish

[Warr40]

What is the best fish for eating algea on glass.....I have a 29g with live plants

 

[bunjiweb]

It's called an algae pad, most fish shops sell them

Seriously, Sucking loaches are one of the best, alongside things like bristlenose plecs. If you have a plec and it doesnt appear to be doing its job you can be pretty certain you are feeding too much. Leave your entire tank without food for around 5-7 days and you will find your fish get back in to the swing of scavenging for a natural food source, which is usually algae.

Ben

 

[Teelie]

Otos are good at eating algae as well. Nothing beats removing it yourself though.

 

[WILDER]

Pitbull plecs are good at eating algae off the glass.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If you have a plec and it doesnt appear to be doing its job you can be pretty certain you are feeding too much.
Ben

[snapback]846362[/snapback]​

Not nesarsarily, it most likely means that either the plec doesn't eat that type of algae or it has grown out of eating algae, which many plecs do. Starving it won't solve anthing.

 

[bunjiweb]

Sorry i disagree greatly, I have had lots of plecs, I have starved my tank every time i introduce a new plec and it makes them ALOT more active.

This is my personal experience, if you are not speaking from experience then you shouldn't tell me I am wrong...

No, not all plecs eat algae, but you should always make them realise that this is a food source. If they think that they can survive just off your algae wafers then they will, and they will sit there and do nothing!

Ben..

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have to disagree again with you, i own 2 common plecs and 1 sailfin plec and i have fed them everyday ever since i have owned them and i have never once had an algae bloom or algae growing on the tank glass or anywhere else in the tank- i have never stopped feeding them for one day and i they have never stopped cleaning my tank glass, they come out every night and clean it.
If you have algae eating plecs and you have algae, you have some problems with your tank and plecs and it isn't just because they are getting too many algae wafers. Alot of plecs eat algae but the vast majority of plecs do not eat algae alone but need a meat/worms of some sort in their diet and these types of plecs make poor algae eaters and shouldn't be starved just because they are not doing a good job of cleaning the tank glass. I have a new para plec as well for about a week and he is the first true omnivorous plec i have owned and i would never dream of starving him off algae wafers in the situation of an algae bloom just to make him eat off the tank glass.
My point is, is that you shouldn't have to starve your plecs off algae wafers just to make them eat off the tank glass, if all is well in your tank and they are good algae eating fish they will eat algae regardless of how much you feed them.

 

[emma12321]

hi warr40

I would go with a bristle nose plec or a trio of otocinclus. Avoid sucking loaches like the plague they are spawn of the devil and should be banned from lfs. They grow 10 inches and suck the slime coat off fish. Once they get past 3-4 inches they won't tough algae. They are also known as chinese algae eaters but are not loaches and don't come from china.

Sorry for the rant but my brother in law was sold 8 of these things to live in a 20 gallon tank. He knows sod all about fish and wouldn't listen when i told him to return them. They slowly killed off nearly everything i ended up with the odd remaining tetra when he got bored of fish keeping but these things i left behind. They even started attacking each other.

Emma

 

[trimacdevilconvict]

i have a common plec in my tank that i never see eating the algae in my tank i quite like the algae anyways its not too much or too little i only have thread algae on my outlet diffuser the algae that i get on the glass i use my algae cleaner for as my catfish are in there to scavenge the left over food from my jaguar and might i say they do a fantastic jb of this if i tried to stave the jag for 5-7 days i think my tank would be a lot emptier winston would rampage cats pleco

 

[abstract]

i would have to agree with bunjiweb on this one, sorry Tokis...plecos don't just grow out of eating algae...they become accostmed to having food handed to them (as yours have)...that IS the most efficient way for them to feed, ya know? i guarantee that if your pleco eats algae, and hasn't been doing so recently, if you don't feed it for a couple days it will instinctively eat the algae...and that was bunjiweb's point...nowhere did he say that you shouldn't feed your pleco at all....or that you shouldn't supplement their diet with meaty foods...

and i hate to say it, but it is completly ridiculous to say that "if all is well in your tank and they are good algae eating fish they will eat algae regardless of how much you feed them." plecos are smart....they know how to maximize their food intake along with minimizing their movement and energy wasted...fact is, if they are well fed, there is no reason for them to waste energy hanging on the glass and eating off trace amounts of algae...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

My point was that i have never had algae in my tanks, not even once. And my plecs clean the tank glass on a regular basis(every night) regardless they get a large algae wafer each every day and i see them out and about every day, so my plecs do eat algae regardless of how much i feed them and i am suprised all you guys have to starve your plecs on a regular basis just to make them feed naturally, that is my point.

Now either i am a random case where this has happened, or starving your plecs isn't making them as active as you'd like them to be. I know my plecs would choose real algae over algae wafers any day, and yes they are intelligent fish but i think its kinda odd that your plecs don't like the natural algae in your tanks.
If we are talking about personal plec experiences here, these are mine.

 

[kevin007]

My point was that i have never had algae in my tanks, not even once. And my plecs clean the tank glass on a regular basis(every night) regardless they get a large algae wafer each every day and i see them out and about every day, so my plecs do eat algae regardless of how much i feed them and i am suprised all you guys have to starve your plecs on a regular basis just to make them feed naturally, that is my point.

Now either i am a random case where this has happened, or starving your plecs isn't making them as active as you'd like them to be. I know my plecs would choose real algae over algae wafers any day, and yes they are intelligent fish but i think its kinda odd that your plecs don't like the natural algae in your tanks.
If we are talking about personal plec experiences here, these are mine.

[snapback]847516[/snapback]​

I would have to agree with you, i've kept common plecs before, i feed my cories and plec algae warfers, hikari sinking warfers + shirp pellet..and flakes and all of that..and my tank have been very clean on algae...and on weekends i sleep at around 3-4 am so i check up on my tank and i see my plec on the glass eating algae..every time, during the day, he usually hides. Now that my plec is gone because he is too big (sold to lfs) ....i know what a difference the plec made AND i never starved my fish..not even for a day This is MY experience here

 

[jollysue]

Kevin nice cory

 

[abstract]

My point was that i have never had algae in my tanks, not even once. And my plecs clean the tank glass on a regular basis(every night) regardless they get a large algae wafer each every day and i see them out and about every day, so my plecs do eat algae regardless of how much i feed them and i am suprised all you guys have to starve your plecs on a regular basis just to make them feed naturally, that is my point.

Now either i am a random case where this has happened, or starving your plecs isn't making them as active as you'd like them to be. I know my plecs would choose real algae over algae wafers any day, and yes they are intelligent fish but i think its kinda odd that your plecs don't like the natural algae in your tanks.
If we are talking about personal plec experiences here, these are mine.

[snapback]847516[/snapback]​

i don't know who "you" is that you keep talking about since i don't starve my plecos...you blow these things out of proportion and twist them around so bad...bunjiweb simply stated that if your pleco is not eating any algae, if you do not feed it for a couple days, it will...so you throw out the word "starve" although you admit that your pleco would take the real thing any day...then it obviously isn't going to starve eating the algae in your tank.

..but you don't have algae in your tank, so even if they are sucking on the glass (which they do instinctively whether there is algae or not - they are searching for it), how could they be getting nourishment from that? how big is the tank and are the 2 commons and sailfin all in the same tank? then you obviously feel like you need to feed them wafers daily...but anyone with catfish knows they don't need feeding everyday since they can scavenge just about ANYTHING...

nobody EVER said they starve their pleco on an everyday basis, especially not me...nobody ever said their pleco doesn't "like" the natural algae in the tanks....nobody said any of these things yet you bring them up and turn it into a debate....

but no matter what you say...if you think you pleco is not doing a good enough job for you cleaning your tank (i'm not talking about you Tokis, I'm talking in general although, personally, i realize that you have to do your part in cleaning the tank too) - fasting it for a couple days (which is FAR from starving a fish) will most likely cause it to eat up more algae...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Leave your entire tank without food for around 5-7 days and you will find your fish get back in to the swing of scavenging for a natural food source, which is usually algae.

Ben

[snapback]846362[/snapback]​

To abstract:
I would call not feeding your fish for up to a week starving or if you don't like that word lets say fasting. Im not twisting this out of proportion, but up to 7days without food is considered starving at least for me.

I have a 7inch common plec and a 5inch sailfin in my 50gal, i have a 6inch common plec in my 30gal- all of them are going in a 345gal tank in a month or so time. They are not all in the same tank, and have not outgrown their tanks yet.

Also i've done some threads a while back on feeding my plecs and it was said that an algae wafer a day was fine for them, they've never been constipated or lethargic or sick in their entire lives so i do not think this is a bad diet for them- they also get blanched cucumber and prawns from time to time.

And yes you are right no one said common plecs didn't like natural algae in their tanks but i find it odd that you have to fast your plecs off algae wafers to make them eat the natural algae, which would suggest to me that perhaps some peoples plecs don't like their natural algae here.