Bristlenose vs loach

[LaCichlids318]

I currently have a 75 gallon mbuna tank, and my pleco is gettin a bit huge lol. Thinking of gettin a new one and koi pondin my current common pleco. So I'm no catfish expert by any means but I've heard that clown loaches are mean, and I'm worried about the bristle nose having the bristles on go head I'm thinkin my cichlids may find that fun to bite on. Better suggestions or corrections? And what is stoping me from just getting both. I'm not sure if loaches even eat algae.

 

[dragonfisher33]

clown loach won't touch algae. i have a few of them in my tank and none of them are mean.

 

[LaCichlids318]

So they're only "use" is to kill snails, I know they're pretty and all but in the sense of a job in the tank- snails would be it correct?

 

[dragonfisher33]

So they're only "use" is to kill snails, I know they're pretty and all but in the sense of a job in the tank- snails would be it correct?

right on the spot.

 

[aquandrew]

maybe get another bristle nose but this time try for a female they dont have the bristles or a rubberlip.

 

[bettaowner]

I would get a rubber lip because most bn plecos are too young for people to determine the gender

 

[LaCichlids318]

The rubber stays fairly small aswell? I am more concerned with the effectiveness of the algae eating fish. Mine has become plain lazy with his size

 

[kjacks]

Looks like we are both looking for a pleco...lol i personally dont like the BN so i have been researching the smaller ones for my 55g and possibly one for my 125g with my african cichlids too i luv my synos but i would like something to help with the algae growth inbetween my glass cleaning :/ decisions decisions.. i like the LDA01 tiger pleco on homelessaquatics.com but i dont think itll do the job just look pretty

 

[aquandrew]

pretty much all plecos are going to get lazy, they arent efficient algae eaters and need more than just tank algae in their diet. maybe try and get a few nerite snails big enough to not get eaten by your cichlids?

 

[LaCichlids318]

to be honest im scared to get snails i dont want an overpopulated tank of billions of snails. i guess i could get a loach and snails and just let him keep them knocked down.

 

[aquandrew]

if your specific gravity us under 1.005 nerite snails cant breed do you use salt in this tank?

 

[LaCichlids318]

i dont use any salt in my tank.

 

[kjacks]

I researched snails for my cichlids to but discovered they usually get eaten... We had one of those grasshoppers get in the house yesterday an somehow in my tank my cichlids swarmed it thought one of my females spit .. so we ran over there n by the time the hubby grabbe the net nothing but legs were left ... :/

I think snails would be the same way

 

[howmanyds]

Kjacks, what is wrong with a tiger? I had heard they are good for a 75g. Are they not good cleaners?

 

[kjacks]

Kjacks, what is wrong with a tiger? I had heard they are good for a 75g. Are they not good cleaners?

Read they really dont eat alot.of algae and since i wanted it to help keep the glass clean inbetween me cleaning it it really would just increase my bioload on an already overstocked tank ...

 

[ZCNY]

What about an otto catfish I got 4 and they do an excellent job

 

[Andrew McFadden]

What about an otto catfish I got 4 and they do an excellent job

No the will eat them but they do a good job.

The best thing for algae control is keeping trates down, doing maintenance and keeping the lights on for a short period of the day.

I have tried keeping different type of snails with my misfits. They are usually gone in the first few days