Good Fish For Cleaning Plants?

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nicshoe18

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Apr 15, 2009
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I've seen tons and tons of info on all sorts of algae eaters. Was deciding on and off whether or not to buy a pleco, now I think I've settled on no. Instead maybe doing handful of shrimp and some corys, who knows.

All sorts of info on algae eaters, but no info on which members love to clean up live plants. I've heard the shrimp will much on dead plant material, but who will keep those algae spots on healthy live plants in check?

Any thoughts/suggestion?
 
I like Otocinculus for that job, personally. They top out at 2-3 cm and are best kept in a group of 3 or more, they are peaceful unlike other algae eaters, and are fun to watch.

Cories are great little fish too.

Kristina
 
it really depends on the algae.

while oto's and other catfishes make good inhabitants in some tanks. they may not eat all the algae.
you would have to supplement food for your catfishes.

oto's are fond of soft green algae and diatoms. other catfishes like BN's prefer soft green algae.
some algae (staghorn, beard etc) are only eaten by certain fish or not touched at all..

in essence hand cleaning my be your best bet.
 
I'm planning on Cory and Shrimp myself (and snails)... Pleco are just too big (usually) unless you have a large aquarium and I've read they can wreak havock on some plants- killing the plants whilst trying to eat the algae. You need a lot of room for a fish that can grow 2ft long.

I considered Otto's- but considering they're all wild-caught (none or very few captive bred); have a high-die off rate; I decided against them personally.
 
Wycco said:
I'm planning on Cory and Shrimp myself (and snails)... Pleco are just too big (usually) unless you have a large aquarium and I've read they can wreak havock on some plants- killing the plants whilst trying to eat the algae. You need a lot of room for a fish that can grow 2ft long.

I considered Otto's- but considering they're all wild-caught (none or very few captive bred); have a high-die off rate; I decided against them personally.
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It is best to Identify the species of Pleco you consider and research.
not all plecos will reach 24".

clown pleco's may only reach 3" (but need wood in their diet)
BN's are smaller plecos that prefer algae in their diet and some species may not reach 4".(best to have wood as they like to rasp it and ingest wood also)
and you may be able to find Captive raised oto's
tho i do agree many are still captive caught.
 
Unfortunately the larger Plecos are so much easier to find than the smaller ones.
 
that is true but with a little work you will find rubber lipped , BN's and clown fairly easily. all three of these are small pleco's.
 
by cleaning your plants do you mean ONLY algae? or do you have a larger tank with lots of "crumbs" on your plants (dirt, unidentified stuff, food, etc.)?

I have a spotted pleco and common pleco in my 40g and they are ALWAYS flippin in circles cleaning my fake plants.

I have Flying Foxs, albino cories, guppies, snails and shrimp in a heavily planted 10g. the foxes eat ALL the hair algae and some of the glass algae, the cories clean off the bottom leaves of plants, the substrate and a lot of the java moss, the guppies pick at EVERYTHING including algae (especially the female ones), the shrimps clean everything, and the snails help clean the glass a lot. I see little snail eating trails in my glass algae everyday.

depending on the sie of your tank, you could get a LOT of different fish for different needs, but be warned that just because my fish eat algae, doesn't mean yours will. its all a matter of creating the the proper habitat so your fish can live as naturally as possible (and do what they are "supposed" to do).
 
im partial to amano shrimp with otos and if it wernt for their agression id love to have some florida flag fish the love to eat all sorts of algae but thats just me.
 
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