Bristlenose Or Albino Cory

[dazbud]

I'm planning the set up of my new upgraded tank.
 
Any idea on which will clean up most algae, 1 x Bristlenose or 4 x albino cory.
I suppose whichever would clean up most would poop most too?
 
PS: I have black substrate, so don't want plane black or brown catfish, also not wanting anything over 6" really either. So these two are on my short list. But I'm only allocating a small percentage of my fish inch to water volume ratio to catfish.
 
 

 

[greenmumma141]

BN's are great tank cleaners and love most algae types, while cories are great at cleaning up any left over food. I would recommend both, as both serve dif purposes and are fun to have. GL with the new tank

 

[Questions?]

BN's are great tank cleaners and love most algae types, while cories are great at cleaning up any left over food. I would recommend both, as both serve dif purposes and are fun to have. GL with the new tank

+1
also corys dont eat algae

 

[Essjay]

I suppose whichever would clean up most would poop most too?

 
No fish will clean up poop. Unless you have enough current to get the poop into the filter, it's up to you to clean it up.

 

[dazbud]

actually, the more reading I do, I think I may set aside more of my capacity quota and go for two bristlenose.

 

[greenmumma141]

They're great cleaners, they'll def. keep your glass, and anything else in the tank looking great. Cories clean up the ground of left overs, but really require much more than that to keep them healthy, so i wouldn't recommend cories if you're only looking for something to keep your tank clean. But they sure are fun to watch  

 

[Questions?]

I suppose whichever would clean up most would poop most too?

 
No fish will clean up poop. Unless you have enough current to get the poop into the filter, it's up to you to clean it up.

lol, that what i thought too but i think what he meant was
whichever fish cleans up the most, would probaly poop the most

 

[Liz xty]

I suppose whichever would clean up most would poop most too?

 
No fish will clean up poop. Unless you have enough current to get the poop into the filter, it's up to you to clean it up.

I must have a strong enough current and filter, as when Ive done the water changes and therefore a bit of gravel stirring and vacuuming, it hasn't looked any different! My old set up was "natural" mixed browns gravel so you couldn't tell if it was dirty or clean, but the new set up has black fine gravel so I'd see the difference.
I do also have 2 albino corys (+ 3 others) which look great against the black gravel and I think their constant disturbance of the gravel, releases grime for the current and filter to then remove!

 

[Gilli]

If you want to avoid poop then BN are the worst fish to get. they produce an enormous amount of poo as they will devour a 2 inch lump of courgette a day then poop it all out - they are eating and pooping machines!!

 

[greenmumma141]

It really just depends on what you're looking for. I recently had a nasty diatom outbreak in my new 60 gallon. It covered everything in slime, glass, plants, driftwood, everything. not only was it slimy, but all the left over food dust never had a chance to make it into the filter bc it was sticking to the slime, so all my plants were coated in food dust!!!  I had planned on getting an albino bn and thought it was the perfect time lol. my glass is clean, and seeing the difference that he (pretty sure he's a male, he's still pretty small though) makes after cleaning one anubias leaf after 20 minutes, he can poop as much as he wants to be honest. I haven't really noticed any extra poop sitting around on my sand or anything though, but i havent fed him any veggies. So again, if you really need a bn, i think it's worth it, but again... it just depends what you need and are looking for

 

[dazbud]

In the end I got two Bristlenose, they had the Albino ones in the store when I went, which was an unexpected bonus, didn't know the albino type were available. So they will look good against my black sand.
 
I'm really hoping that they will eventually do all the algae cleaning. They are both only about 1.5 inch long at the moment though.
 
I have been in the habit of remove rocks and decor every few weeks to bleach off all the algae. My anubias are very pitted in algae and obviously can't be bleached. I'm hoping that the BNs will get to work and eventually ensure that I don't have to take things out for a scrub.
 
I guess I will have to monitor their pooping output. I'm a bit concerned about the comment above regarding feeding them vegetables,  wasn't expecting them to have that much appetite and I don't really want 2 inches of courgette being converted to poop each day in my tank. They will have to be returned if the turn into monsters.

 

[Questions?]

My Plecos eat the algea, leftover cichlid pellets, and tropical fish flakes. best cleaners ever in my opinion

 

[TarkMalbot]

But they will eat your plants too if you have no algae for them.  Mine spends all day sucking my Amazon sword and ignores the pleco algae wafers i put in!

 

[Questions?]

mine "nibble" if thats you call it, on driftwood and leave my plants alone

 

[phantomlink]

I've seen my pleco clean my swords, but he's never eaten them, I've also read that the bristlenose plecos are one of the safest ones to use around plants