Clown Pleco for Eating Algae?

[bruceanthony]

Here's the algae. This rock shouldn't have any green on it at all.

 

[Bichir Bro]

Also oto cats are much better at eating algae than plecos. Plecos like to lounge and laze around, oto cats are always up and darting around and eating stuff on rocks, plants, decor, etc...

 

[bruceanthony]

Do oto cats need algae to survive? Like if there's no more algae to eat on the decor, will they just eat flake food and shrimp pellets like everyone else, or would I need to get algae wafers or something?

 

[candymancan]

I would get like 10 nerite snails if it were me.... 4-5 horned nerite and the rest the bigger ones. My nerites in my 27g and 30g.. completetly demolished my diatoms on my bigger plants and my ornaments and glass... Like literally I had ornaments that were just all brown after 1 week they were bleached white color like when I first got them.

Pleco's get like 4-6 inches long... they produce a lot of waste of raise nitrates up

 

[Rivercats]

Do oto cats need algae to survive? Like if there's no more algae to eat on the decor, will they just eat flake food and shrimp pellets like everyone else, or would I need to get algae wafers or something?

Oto cats eat bio-film (which is in all tanks that are mature), green dust algae, and diatoms. Some oto's will eat algae wafers. I actually put blanched zucchini on veggie clips in my tanks daily for the various algae eaters I have and often times I will see the oto's feeding on it. They will not eat fish flakes, pellets, or other such foods.

I also use Repashy Superfoods, the two algae ones they sell. They are powdered, you mix them with boiling water to make a gel. You only make a little, enough to last in the fridge a few days. You just cut off a chunk and drop it in the tank. It can last up to 24 hours. The oto's eat this in the tanks I use it in. It's also great for shrimp and any fish that like algae/veggie matter.

 

[candymancan]

Yea my otto's completetly ignore my algae wafers... my snails love them though.. I often drop 3 in my tank every few days or so because my diatoms in my 27g are gone and I have no other algae in the tank that I can see.