Algae Eaters?

[aaw1218]

Right now I have a pleco in my 20 g tank. He's been doin a great job at cleaning algae. Recently I found out that he's gonna get way too big for my tank. He also poops a lot so I'm getting rid of him. I have a gold inca snail in there as well. Any other algae eaters you guys would recommend for a 20 g tank? Are they even worth it?


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[shellyx]

In my 30g and 55 I have nerite snails and they keep it spotless! Love these guy's, hard worker's and don't breed in freshwater.

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon boraras ,bamboo shrimp, crs,rcs and different snails.

 

[mambee]

A school of oto cats or a BNP. Just make sure that they receive supplemental feedings.

 

[libertybelle]

Seconded nerites and ots. Otos are just adorable and fun as an added bonus, though they are schooling fish so you'd need to have at least a few and supplementally feed them from time to time.

The Nerites do leave little white eggs around the tank. They don't bother me in the slightest, but if that would bother you probably not a good choice.

 

[aaw1218]

A school of oto cats or a BNP. Just make sure that they receive supplemental feedings.

What's a BNP?


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[aaw1218]

Thanks all of y'all but, are algae eaters even worth getting?


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[mambee]

BNP is a bristle nose pleco. They don't get much bigger than 4" and are interesting on their own. I give mine supplemental feedings of algae tabs and zucchini slices.

 

[shellyx]

If you are happy enough without one and keep on top of the algae yourself, then no you don't have to have one, it's not essential and entirely up to you I just like my snail's!

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon boraras ,bamboo shrimp, crs,rcs and different snails.

 

[LiQuiD]

In my 30g and 55 I have nerite snails and they keep it spotless! Love these guy's, hard worker's and don't breed in freshwater.

Seconded nerites and ots.

Just curious, do your nerite snails lay eggs everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE? I got a bunch of those snails given to me a few months ago, and they completely covered ALL of my hardscape and hardware in little tiny white eggs. They were a pain in the @$$ to scrape off, and impossible to clean on certain parts of the filter.

 

[Fresh2o]

Just curious, do your nerite snails lay eggs everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE? I got a bunch of those snails given to me a few months ago, and they completely covered ALL of my hardscape and hardware in little tiny white eggs. They were a pain in the @$$ to scrape off, and impossible to clean on certain parts of the filter.

This is the primary reason I never got these.


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[LiQuiD]

This is the primary reason I never got these.

And my primary reason for giving them away, lol.

 

[TMaier]

I had the nerites and they never laid eggs?


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[LiQuiD]

I had the nerites and they never laid eggs?

Consider yourself lucky! When I bought my bowfront off of Craigslist, the chick gave me all her fish and snails too. All she had were Nerite snails. The glass, the wood, the filter tubes were COMPLETELY covered. I had to use a scrapper on the glass and they did not come off easily.

Oddly enough though, whenever I see them at Petsmart/Co, I never see the eggs in their tanks.

 

[TMaier]

Was the tank brackish before you to it?


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[LiQuiD]

Was the tank brackish before you to it?


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Not to my knowledge. She only kept plecos, tetras, snails and mollys. The tank was HEAVILY planted though. When I took the snails out and put them in my other tanks they continued to make the eggs. I then gave them to 2 different people, and they still made the eggs in their tanks as well.

 

[TMaier]

Weird.


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[JZK]

I have 2 Otos and 1 Nerite... had 2 Nerites, but one died... Have not had any problems with snail eggs, but then again, there is only the one. Don't know how mean that is, but the snail seems happy enough.

That said, I am having an algae bloom issue (another thread), so none of them seem to be keeping up.