Best Algae Eaters for a Planted Aquarium

[Dave66]

Originally Posted by tinkerman

The sae gets 6 inches. The only thing I have seen them eat is fish food. I have a cae That I think doe a good job cleaning. I had one that got to be 4 inches then took him out, he seemed to become kinda territoria and would chase fish if they came around when he was cleaning. The flying fox is the one that you are thinking of I believe that will go after fish and suck on slime coats. All of these get to be around 6 inches. I have had flag fish and have yet to see them eat hair or thread algea along with others mentioned for certain algea clean up. This is only my personal experience with some of the algea eater.

Tinkerman,
CAE's are real SOB's when they grow up (8 inches), and they don't even eat algae then. They will harass other fish to death. They are perhaps the worse choice for an algae eater there is.
Siamese Algae Eaters need a spot to call their own, like a clump of plants. When they are secure like that, they do eat algae and aren't a tenth of an aggressive fish.
Flying foxes suck on slime when they are very hungry. Starving Otocinclus do the same thing. Both need copious amounts of greens to eat as well as algae. Takes a lot of food to keep the Herbivores going.

Dave

[dougz]

What do you do if they get conditioned to eat only the staples you feed them, and stop eating algae all together, Dave?

Alternate between "starving" them for say, a week (forcing them to eat the algae in the tank?), and giving them veggies and algae wafers the next week?

[Dave66]

Originally Posted by dougz

What do you do if they get conditioned to eat only the staples you feed them, and stop eating algae all together, Dave?

Alternate between "starving" them for say, a week (forcing them to eat the algae in the tank?), and giving them veggies and algae wafers the next week..

Doug,
Trick is to keep algae and veggies in the tank all the time. Makes the loricariads, who do a lot of business at night, become accustomed to going to that spot in the tank for food. The won't TOTALLY ignore other foods, but they will concentrate on the algae and veggies. Its what I do with my loricariads.
Say you have a spot in the tank where you have algae. Put tasty veggies around it. Don't feed the tank for a couple days. Then feed as usual, still keeping veggies in that spot.
That usually gets them to eat the algae and veggies you give them, which is what they SHOULD eat.
Fish are like people. They'll eat what's bad for them if its offered. But keep salad and greens in front of them all the time, and eventually that's what they'll eat.

Dave

[dougz]

Keep the veggies in there for several days?

Doesn't that foul the water?

I imagine it'd be ok, come to think of it..

Not like it's flake food that's going to push the ammonia up, or fall apart and make a mess..

[Dave66]

Originally Posted by dougz

Keep the veggies in there for several days?

Doesn't that foul the water?

I imagine it'd be ok, come to think of it..

Not like it's flake food that's going to push the ammonia up, or fall apart and make a mess..

Doug,
I switch out the veggies every 24 to 36 hours, but I keep so many loricariads there usually isn't much left after a day. The six A. claro I have can reduce half a cucumber nearly to the rind in 24 hours. Takes about 15 minutes for my Panaque nigrolineatus to down a whole apple.

Dave

[dougz]

I'll have to experiment I guess..

Start small, and work my way up..

Thanks!

As you know, all I'll have in my 75g is 1 BN, and 6 otos.

Are there any veggies you found consistantly did NOT get eaten consistantly by either your otos or loricariads, so I don't waste my time on them?

[Dave66]

Originally Posted by dougz

I'll have to experiment I guess..

Start small, and work my way up..

Thanks!

As you know, all I'll have in my 75g is 1 BN, and 6 otos.

Are there any veggies you found consistantly did NOT get eaten consistantly by either your otos or loricariads, so I don't waste my time on them?

Doug,
Some kinds like certain kinds of veggies, so it does take a bit to see what they like best. For the little marbled bristlenose clan, its blanched zucchini and to a greater extent cucumber, and algae. For my Hypotopoma group its spinach leaves and algae; they ignore everything else. The P. tigris like the hard fruit; peaches, pears, apples, cantaloupe etc., though they do graze on algae I give them.
Just have to put in a selection and see what they like. Whatever, it needs to be softened up for the Otocinclus.

Dave

[dougz]

it needs to be softened up for the Otocinclus

But not for the BN?

Will corys eat veggies, like peas, etc?

How long do you leave the veggies in the boiling water? 5-10 seconds or so?

[Dave66]

Doug,
Corys will, and do. They nibble on the veggies as well.
The BN has a different mouth structure than the Otocinclus. The BN has rough 'plate' teeth on its upper and lower jaws, so has little trouble with un-blanched veggies.
The Otocinclus are built to eat the relatively soft algae that forms beneath the leafed 'cap' of the floating meadows they hail from. The have nothing like the dentation the BN has, and thus need softened vegetables to eat.
You blanch them in the boiling water long enough that the veggie is 'al dente'; softened but still firm, not mushy.

Dave

[dougz]

Ok, thanks..

That will take some practice as well, I guess..

[goalcreas]

Amano Shrimp
Otto's
Nerite Snails (glean the glass well)
Flag Fish (hair algae, but turn to plants when algae is gone, best to have a couple of CLUB flag fish and pass them around when they are needed)

[fishman9809]

would anyone still like to know where to buy otocinclus cocama? I found a great place, and also has great pics, its aquabid, but this is the link:

AquaBid.com - Your Aquatic Auction Website

[GreenFanatic]

My trusted SAEs... they are real hungry b**t*rds

[fishman9809]

lol, they look very healthy!!!!

[trenac]

I always enjoy a variety of algae eaters in my tanks. I like using shrimp (Tiger, Amano, Cherrys), Otto's, Sae's & small Plecos.

I know a lot of people don't like Sae's, but I've found them to be very good at what they do. I difinitely can tell the difference in tanks without them as opposed to the ones with them. They do have a tendency to eat fish food when they get older, but I still see them hard at work. Keeping at least two together will help keep their aggression levels down & turned toward each other. Only when I have kept a lone Sae have they chased other fish or shrimp.

[LauraLeeLLBP]

Another place I've seen O. cocama is www.CorysRUs.com. Not cheap, but they're beautiful fish!

Otos, Amanos, and RCS are my favorite algae eaters.

[waterfaller1]

Originally Posted by Joe Faria

Hello,

I found a pic of zebra oto at otocinclus.com



Beautiful fish, aren't they?

Regards,

Joe Faria

I have been trying to find these as well. If anyone does, please let me know.
I keep amano shrimp, Olive nerites, red ramshorns & 1 SAE for algae. Together they do a good job, but occasionally I find it best to do manual removal.

[fishman9809]

just wait for a while, corysrus has them at their site and on aquabid all the time.

[Roy Deki]

I always use Otto's, Nerites and Amano shrimp

I use to always have "juvenile" S.A.E.s but have found as they get bigger and more mature, they seem less interested in algae and more interested in flake food. Then they are a real pain in the butt to catch.

[saraiva.f]

hi there mates, in my planted my cleaning crew is so simple 3 ottos's (regulars) 3
amano shrimp, lets see if it works or not

Best regards

p.s. -> OH Faria onde e que arranjaste esses ottos notas diferença para os normais ? abraçao