algae eater for 40gal?

[WOGGIES]

Hey everyone. I'm looking to get an algae eater for my 40 gal tank. Would some otto cats be the best bet? If so, how many? Or what else do you recommend? It's a community tank. thanks everyone.

[crackatinny]

I have not tried it myself, but as far as alge eaters, one of the best is meant to be a, flying fox(siamese alge eater).

[hungryhound]

I have not tried it myself, but as far as alge eaters, one of the best is meant to be a, flying fox(chinese alge eater).

I think you might mean a Siamese algae eater as it often gets confessed with the chinese. All of the reading I have done has indicated that it is the chinease algae eater that gets aggressive and stops eating algae later in life.

Personally I have 2 Siamese algae eaters in my 46g community, and 3 oto cats. I can recommend either, but if you are worried strictly about algae consumption a small school of 6 or so otos will do more work than a few Siamese.

I wish I was at work as I have a great site bookmarked that explains the difference between the two. If you're interested in getting a Siamese let me know and I will try and post the link tomorrow.

[crackatinny]

I think you might mean a Siamese algae eater as it often gets confessed with the chinese. All of the reading I have done has indicated that it is the chinease algae eater that gets aggressive and stops eating algae later in life.

Personally I have 2 Siamese algae eaters in my 46g community, and 3 oto cats. I can recommend either, but if you are worried strictly about algae consumption a small school of 6 or so otos will do more work than a few Siamese.

I wish I was at work as I have a great site bookmarked that explains the difference between the two. If you're interested in getting a Siamese let me know and I will try and post the link tomorrow.

Thanks hungryhound, you are correct, it was siamese I meant, I will edit my post so as not to throw woggie in the wrong direction.

[WOGGIES]

Will 1 SAE be adequate for a 40g? I just have green alage spots on the glass, nothing serious.

[Chrona]

Will 1 SAE be adequate for a 40g? I just have green alage spots on the glass, nothing serious.

Only olive nerite snails and sometimes rubber-nose plecos will eat the green spot algae, as it is very hard. If it's just on the glass, I would just resort to a scraper.

[WOGGIES]

Only olive nerite snails will eat the green spot algae, as it is very hard. If it's just on the glass, I would just resort to a scraper.

Why is this? Areyou sure? I used to have a Chinese algae eater and the spots are only now occuring noticably that he is gone.

[hungryhound]

Will 1 SAE be adequate for a 40g? I just have green alage spots on the glass, nothing serious.

Sometimes the best algae eating fish prevents the algae from coming in the first place. Performing regular water changes and making sure your tank is out of the sun will go a long way in eliminating the algae. So will decreasing the photo period.

Algae eating fish are nice in that they get the random bits of algae that all tanks have, but their normally not enough to prevent an algae outbreak if proper water conditions aren't maintained.

That being said, for your specific problem I would recommend the oto cats as I have never seen my SAEs clean algae off of the glass. SAEs do an amazing job cleaning plants and aquarium decorations, but don't seem to do much for the glass (at least in our case).

If you go with oto cats keep in mind that they are a schooling fish and should get around 6. They are typically inexpensive and shouldn't cost you a fortune, as an added bonus they contribute very little to your bioload. The only reason that I only have 3 otos right now is that I am still restocking from a tank crash about a month ago and have not added any additional friends for them.

[WOGGIES]

I already have 7 neon tetra, 1 rainbow shark, 3 syno cats, 2 red wag platy, 3 balloon mollys, and a dward guaraini (sp)... won't 6 otto cats be too much for my 40 gal? I think my tank may be over stocked already!

[hungryhound]

Didn't see your post Chrona as we posted at the same time. You make a good point about the type of algae and I did not take that into consideration when recommending the otos.

Your suggestion of a scrapper is probably the best and easiest.

[Chrona]

Why is this? Areyou sure? I used to have a Chinese algae eater and the spots are only now occuring noticably that he is gone.

Green spot algae are actually calcium deposits from diatoms with algae living in them, making them very hard. CAE actually don't eat much algae, especially after they get a whiff of fish food. I had one and he seemed to prefer the slime coating on other fish...lol. I suppose it's possible that you got lucky and the CAE spent ages chewing on the stuff, but by and large, those species I listed above are the only ones known to eat GSA. As for why it appeared....I would imagine it's just due to changing water parameters. Have you moved anything around in the tank? Increased the time the tank lights are on? GSA is mostly caused by high lighting. Does the tank get direct sunlight? How long are the tank lights left on?

Is the tank planted? If not, a silicate/phosphate removing media will generally do a pretty good job on the many types of algaes.

[hungryhound]

I already have 7 neon tetra, 1 rainbow shark, 3 syno cats, 2 red wag platy, 3 balloon mollys, and a dward guaraini (sp)... won't 6 otto cats be too much for my 40 gal? I think my tank may be over stocked already!

Chrona would probably be better to answer this, but my understanding is that oto cats remove more waste than put out, virtually canceling themselves out. I doubt it would be a problem at all.

Before you get the otos you might want to try Chrona's idea of scraping, as I've often resorted to this in my tank even with the algae eaters. I would hate for you to buy these fish believing that they will magically take care of all your algae, because in reality they would probably would not be able to get it all.

Personally I bought my algae eaters because I like them and any algae they ate was a bonus. If you decide to buy these fish, make sure it's because you want the added dynamic that they add.

[Chrona]

HH is right, oto's contribute little to the bioload, and they don't really take up tank space and are pretty much inactive most of the time. And yes, unless you get a lot of them, don't expect them to work any miracles, lol.

[WOGGIES]

HH is right, oto's contribute little to the bioload, and they don't really take up tank space and are pretty much inactive most of the time. And yes, unless you get a lot of them, don't expect them to work any miracles, lol.


thanks guys for the info. Do you think 3 ottos will be okay? Or should i get 6 as recommended? Ill get them because they are cool fish and use the scrapper if i stil lhave to. Plus i wanted to get more fish but was scared to overstock my tank.

[Chrona]

thanks guys for the info. Do you think 3 ottos will be okay? Or should i get 6 as recommended? Ill get them because they are cool fish and use the scrapper if i stil lhave to. Plus i wanted to get more fish but was scared to overstock my tank.

In a 40g, you won't notice any difference between 3 and 6 otos in terms of nitrates. You are getting close to the limits of your tank, but the oto's definitely won't push you over, and I would imagine 3 otos would do zip for you tank size. Without a constant source of algae though, you will need to feed them algae wafers or zuchinis or something. I'd recommend the New Life Spectrum H20 algae wafers.

[WOGGIES]

wuold one of thsoe plecos that don't get really big be a better fit?

[WOGGIES]

I ended up getting a bristlenose pleco for 12.99. It's pretty big though, maybe 4.5 inches.