Good Algae Eating Fish

[afroturf]

Hi I want to add some good algae eating fish to my tank, they have to be small. I think I will go for some otocinclus, but I was wondering if there was anything a little different but would be do the same job of keeping down the algae.

 

[LisaLQ]

What size tank do you have, and what's currently in it?

 

[paul_219]

Yeah what size off tank do u have. Ottos are gr8 they must be in groups.

 

[jollysue]

BN Plecs. Some species of BN are smaller than others, but they are way bigger than otos. lol But they are also way hardier.

 

[theotheragentm]

If algae is a major problem, no fish is going to keep up with it properly. Algae normally occurs with overfeeding and too much light. Try reducing the cause of algae before trying to have something eat it up. Mystery Snails do pretty well cleaning the glass even for the wisps of algae that aren't the invasive blue green algae, so if you want squeaky clean, I'd try some of those. Still, prevention is the only way to control algae.

For a more immediate fix, do a major water change and fast the tank for a day. Good luck.

 

[afroturf]

My tank is 30"x15"x15" its got 6 pygmy corys, 5 Cherry shrimps and 4 spotted blue eye rainbowfish. i will be buying the fish just as a preventative measure the tank has only been set up a couple of weeks and ther is no major sign of algae but there are signs of a few strand of hair algae coming up here and there, which does worry me a little i think i will go for the ottos how many do you think i should get?

 

[LisaLQ]

I'd definitely go for otos, they'd be a lovely addition, but I'd hang on for a couple of months til your tank is more established and there's more for them to eat. The shrimps should keep on top of the algae for now