Algae eater that's safe to put with fancies?

[Shrubs]

I have 2 fancy goldfish and 6 cory catfish in a 28 gallon tank. It's fully cycled, 0 ammonia, doing weekly water changes... all is good. However I've got some algae starting to form. I know there's the less light and chemical solutions, but I'd love to know if there's any algae eaters that are safe to put with fancies? I've read mixed things about putting common pleco's with fancies (a lot of pleco attack stories)... which I'm sure would outgrow my tank even more than the two fancies will. Any ideas for me?

[Sharon]

Otos should be fine, as long as the tank temp is suitable...:ssmile:

[Oscar_freak12321]

Yep, otos get my vote. Of course if you like the looks of plecos you can always get a BN or a rubberlip. Those are actually really peaceful IME. Another thing, STAY AWAY FROM CHINESE ALGAE EATERS! They will get very aggressive, and have been rumored to be able to kill even africans.

[MrJim]

I have 2 otos in with my comets~they get along great. Beware of the bona fide algae eaters~I've had them actually suck onto the side of my comet (probably my fault for improper feeding of the algae eaters but I've never witnessed any of my otos attempting same)

[Northernguy]

I would wait until your tank is about 4 months old before adding a pleco or oto.Not just cycled.

[Oscar_freak12321]

Northernguy has a point. Do not put in an algae eater before there is algae, or you will starve him to death. But if you have algae, go for it!

[Shrubs]

Oh don't worry, there's a good amount of algae going on... I'm running a double-strip fluorescent with Flora Sun bulbs, so I'm sure that is speeding the growth.

Thanks for the ideas!!

[Oscar_freak12321]

Very welcome, glad to do it! Both of those plecs will go crazy over the algae almost as soon as you put whichever fish you choose into the tank. To hammer home the message, I'm going to say this one more time;STAY AWAY FROM CHINESE ALGAE EATERS! You cannot afford to get one of these fellas in your tank and killing off the rest of your fish.

[Shrubs]

If I go the oto route, should I just get one? I usually like to get fish in pairs, I feel like it's less stressful for them.

[Wild Turkey]

If I go the oto route, should I just get one? I usually like to get fish in pairs, I feel like it's less stressful for them.

Grab a few, happier in groups


I would wait until your tank is about 4 months old before adding a pleco or oto.Not just cycled.

Agreed! otos are pretty sensitive, a lot of people seem to have a hard time with them in newer tanks, myself included.

Pretty much any algae eater can be peaceful though, including chinese algae eaters on some occasions, though they do tend to loose their taste for algae and become more aggressive as they age sometimes, if you dont want to risk it all the other closely related species have better tempers, but telling them apart can be tricky, there is only one species of chinese algae eater (i know of) and only one true siamese algae eater but there are several species by the name and they all look alike to a point.
Oscar get ready to duck cuz here comes smaug im sure!:hmm3grin2orange:

[saix88]

I would wait until your tank is about 4 months old before adding a pleco or oto.Not just cycled.

Or not adding a pleco at all?

Might want to get those cory cats out...I've heard some stories of large goldfish eating them and choking on their barbs.

[Shrubs]

The fancies aren't all that big yet, and the cories aren't all that small. I don't forsee any issues at this point, but thanks for the tip!

[bigbad-ratman]

new guy here, and wondering: what are oto's? i might be interested in adding them in the future to my goldfish tank.

[troy]

I would advise not adding the otos. Once the goldfish are big enough they will try to the otos but the otos will get stuck in their mouth's because the otos have spines.