Which Plec?

[mattlee]

Hi, i am upgrading to a 4ft 240L tank and it will be running hopefully this weekend...... my current tank is in the conservatory so gets aloy of light and heat (sometimes....) so i get green dust algae on my tanks glass. i was told to run uv so bought a uv steraliser but before i have even received it i have been told i have wasted my cash..... i do regular weekly h2o changes of about 40% in my current 90L tank and this helps but within 3/4 days it comes back and looks horrid!
i have also been told to use phosphate remover in my extenal for the algae so will try this too.
getting to the point (sorry) i have also been told certain plecs are great for algae control along with ottos, i already have 7 bottom feeders (see sig) so dont really want lots of ottos. so i am looking at plecs, which would be best suited in my tank to help my problem? i dont want anything massive just something the size of a bn.

i am looking for advice here as the lfs seem to have the sizes all wrong on the catfish/plecs according to internet research, or is the internet wrong...... probably the lfs!

sorry for a long text but want to get it right.

 

[mixmaster jay]

bn's are good workers mate but you must also feed the plec veg's and algea wafers not just to leave it to eat the algea
Clown plecos are probably the smallest, but also, candy stripe pleco, zebra pleco, snowball pleco are a few small plecos, around 4 inches, but even at that, they still need around 30 gallons for just one.

There's a strange algae eating fish, sometimes called a "siamease pleco" which also stays very small. I hear they grow to be three inches long, but I've never seen one longer than two. They look a lot like a pleco, but with more rounded fins that make them almost appear to be rock-shaped. They do an excellent job of cleaning, and die suddenly much less often than ottos.

Both of these fish will clean your algae, and will not eat your plants... if that's an issue.

Apple snails never get more than about two inches wide. They really do a great job at cleaning, and have a lot of personality, which is not something you would expect from a snail. Be sure to get them when they're babies though... and moving. Most will try to "estevate" in the summer, and the aquarium isn't set up for that, so unless you do some pretty wild things, they tend to retreat into their shells, and die after about a year.

Malay trumpet snails are also pretty decent algae eaters, but they are small, they breed on their own, they tend to hide in the gravel, and only come out at night. If you have trouble keeping fish alive as is, they are probably a bad choice for cleaners.

Gouramis and corydoras also do a little algae eating, but not enough to be cleaner fish in their own right.

 

[snowflake311]

getting a fish to fix your algae problem does not work. Sure they clean it up for a little bit but it comes right back unless you solve the problem. Find out what kind it is and learn what is causing it.

Green algae is normally due to too much light. I have BN pleco in my tank. When they are well fed they don't touch the algae. But if I don't drop the wafer in for 2 days they start to clean up. then I give them wafers again.

Clown Plecos don't clean algae not even if they are starving. Well my fat little spoiled Clown pleco never has cleaned the algae. The BN is the was to go but it will not solve the algae problem only cover it up for a little bit.

pitbull plecos small love to eat algae.