What is the best Algae Eater

[CherryBarb123]

Title says it all, I am curious - what actually IS the best Algae eater for a freshwater aquarium?

 

[jmpgop]

Oh oh Oh OH! I'll answer this one. IMHO - Otocinclus.

I have learned recently though (like today) that they will sometime die before getting established in a new tank. Out of 6 I puchased, only 3 survived BUT the survivors are doing great and eating algae like crazy. They live for algae and must have it to survive!

 

[CherryBarb123]

Thanks! I had them in a previous tank, and I am scared to get them again! Scared that I will kill them

 

[jmpgop]

LOL... Yeah I hear ya'... I was shocked that they died so quickly. I swear I was ALMOST WATCHING one swim around and then it flopped over DEAD. WTHeck... Poor little things.

How many Cherry Barbs do you have?

 

[CherryBarb123]

Lol! They're great when they are alive I am debating bristlenose plecos and ottos! Love the ottos, but love the plecos. I think I might try ottos again, I miss them

4, but I am adding 6 more! I love them I see you have some as well

 

[josh7]

I actually like bristlenose plecos as the best algae eater because they are much hardier than otos and in all my tanks where algae over took my tank I added them and it made short work of it.

 

[DragonFish71]

Bristlenose plecos for the win.

Otos second

Nerite snails third

panda garras are pretty good too, somewhere between BN's and plecos

 

[Super_Blueberry]

I put a bn pleco in my 10g and he did fine on the glass, but not so much on the decor. Then I got 15 RCS and in a week that tank was spotless. Trick is to have fish that won't make a snack of the shrimp. I'm working on getting some better plant cover in my 55g before I start moving some over as they breed.

 

[jmpgop]

@ Cherrybarb...

Yes - I love my cherry barbs. I was going to adopt out a school of the babies that my adults had (to my bro-in-law) BUT I decided to keep them all (8 have survived of 14 that hatched in December). I have 4 that are still a bit too small for the adult tank though... Better safe than sorry. I added 4 of the babies to the adult tank and in just 4 days they are really thriving and growing! I can start to see that I think one of them is a male for sure... I love their look. Male AND female.

And I would give it a chance with the otos again ... I may be a few more but plan on losing half How sad for the poor fishy. But I can't imagine that they'll survive long in a fish store either. Right?

I'm gonna check out those bristlenose plecos though!

 

[calfishguy]

I myself like Siamese algae eaters and bristle nose plecos. They are always cleaning my tanks

 

[CherryBarb123]

Thanks!

 

[aqua_chem]

I don't know if my SAE actually eat any algae, but I sure do like watching them work on my plants. Such diligent little workers.

 

[CherryBarb123]

The siamese algae eaters get quite big don't they?

 

[Fishy Aston]

Dwarf Plecos they seem rubbish!

Bristle Nose Pleco Rock!

 

[calfishguy]

Th Siamese get the same size as the plecos about 6 inche.

 

[FishN00b83]

I have 5 ottos in my 40b. They are awesome little fish, but I don't think they are great cleaners. They don't eat any visible algae in my tank besides diatoms. I got them because I think they swim really funny, especially the one I got without a tail (it's the only fish in the tank with a name, and it's...you guess it, no tail lol) it's growing back though, then I won't be able to pick him out

 

[BBradbury]

Algae Eaters

Title says it all, I am curious - what actually IS the best Algae eater for a freshwater aquarium?

Hello Cherry...

I keep "Ramshorn" snails. Best algae eaters I've ever had. I have no visible algae in my planted tanks. They thrive in pure water conditions and have no problem in fresh water with a trace of aquarium salt.

B

 

[CherryBarb123]

Ok, so I guess it is between:

Siamese Algae Eater
Otto
Bristlenose Pleco
Ramshorn Snail
Nerite snail

Would snails get eaten by Zebra Loaches?

It looks like it is between

Ottos and Brittlenose Plecos

Thanks
I like the look of them all, but I don't know!!

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I would go with nerites. From all of the algae eating fish, in my experience, they all get tired of algae and just eat the pellets with the other fish. That's what my BN pleco and oto did, when I had those, and it's what my garras and SAEs are doing now. My nerites still haven't given up on me and I got horned nerites, which are so neat looking.

 

[josh7]

The problem is with snails the zebra loaches will eat them though.