Clown Pleco for Eating Algae?

[bruceanthony]

I noticed I have some algae growing on my decor recently, so I went to the store to get a couple oto cats. The guy at the store told me to get a clown pleco instead. He said it would eat more algae because it's bigger. Was he right? Is the pleco gonna clean my decor and fake plants?

 

[molliwopp]

How big is your tank? Clown pleco get 5-6inch long.

 

[bruceanthony]

It's a 30g. I looked it up online, and most people said 30 is the minimum. But they also said clown plecos only get up to 4 inches, so idk.

 

[molliwopp]

You should be able to get away with it in a 30gallon, its probably nearer to 5inch than 6 anyway.

What other fish do you have in the tank?

 

[Cynic]

Clown plecos aren't really useful for cleaning algae in my experience.

 

[bruceanthony]

1 upside down catfish
2 guppies
1 molly
6 zebra danios
2 gold rams
1 dwarf gourami

 

[Wiggles24]

Clown plecos while super cute really aren't the best for cleaning algae. Stick with a BN

 

[bruceanthony]

Is a BN better than a couple of otos?

 

[Wiggles24]

BN are awesome algae eaters. I've never owned an Otto personally. I've heard they are quite sensitive, I would personally go with a BN they are hardy little guys

 

[rel3]

My clown just hides and doesn't seem to care for algae. My bn is very social but doesn't seem to do a great job w/ algae either.

 

[Bullnugget]

I have only heard of clown plecos getting 3-4" big. Mine is still pretty small and I have had him for a little over 6 months. As for eating algae, forget it. I hardly ever see the little guy except for when I am really cleaning the tank.

 

[bruceanthony]

I wish I could trust fish store guys. He really seemed like he knew what he was talkin about. I guess I'll check on here first from here on out.

 

[BLUEaquarium06]

Clown plecos prefer eating driftwood to algae, if there is any wood in the tank they'll mostly just stick to that

 

[Rivercats]

The best thing to do is figure out why your getting algae and correct the problem. How long do you run your lights daily? When you have algae cutting your lighting down to 6 hours until it's gone help a lot. Also depending on the type of algae you can spot treat it with hydrogen peroxide 3%. Can you post a picture?

Also depending on the type algae you have there might not be any algae eaters that will eat it. Algae eaters all eat specific types of algae and if you have algae that isn't in their diet then they obviously won't eat it.

 

[bshenanagins]

What kind of lighting, how many watts, and how close is it to the substrate inches wise? Don't get a fish to solve your problems, they are supplements not a solution.

 

[bruceanthony]

I have a marineland led hood. It's probably on about 16 hours a day. Not sure on the wattage or anything. I've had the tank for a few months and am just now seeing algae growth. I'm guessing the problem might be my window blinds. They're the kind that sun still kinda shines through even when they're down. The tank's nowhere near the windows though. I'll try to post a pic when I get home later.

 

[Rivercats]

Leaving lighting on 16 hours is the problem. Your lucky you haven't had algae before now. Try cutting you lighting time to 8 hours and depending on the type algae you have you can spot treat it. Honestly the ambient light in the room isn't causing the algae problem.

 

[bruceanthony]

Really? I was told led lights wouldn't do that. That they wouldn't even support live plant growth.

 

[Rivercats]

Even low light left on long enough can cause algae over time. Plus other factors such as nutrient levels, WC's, CO2 levels in a tank, and many other things can contribute to algae problems but lighting is often the main culprit. I have 2 very low light tanks and I run my lighting 6 hours for the most part. When I run them on a longer lighting schedule algae does eventually begin to grow. And those two tanks have cheap little LED stock lights on them.

 

[bruceanthony]

Alright thanks, I'll give that a shot.