Glass and algae cleaning fish?

Question

Hi. I am in need of a glass and an algae cleaning fish. I have a plethora of MTS snails so algae isn't too much of an issue but the glass looks almost dusty and disgusting. I was thinking of getting an Oto or a siamese algae eater. Anybody have experience with these guys and which one is the better glass cleaner? They'll be living in 5 gallons of a 10 gal tank with a betta. Water pH is a bit high at 7.5 ish and its pretty hard water. There is also some live moss (flame moss but its like java moss). Water temp is about 78 degrees and filtration won't be great.

If anyone can recommend a better fish for the setup feel free. Maybe a dwarf cory though I can only fit one.

Answer 1

i have a bushy nose pleco in my 20gal. hex aquarium and he does an excellent job...my tank hasn't had any algae problems and i know what you mean with dusty looking and he too care of it fast....also this pleco would be perfect for a 10gal. as they normally only max at about 5-6 in. and he gets along fine with more aggressive tankmates (he's in with a puffer, tiger barbs, and a goby)...i would highly recommend them look em up they are interesting and they don't produce a whole lot of waste as other plecos do...also sae do get aggressive and they tend to suck the scales right off of fish as they get older...not recommended

Answer 2

Go with a sailfine pleco any good pet stores should carry diffrent sizes.  

Answer 3

oto's are your best choice, a few in fact.  they stay small.  sometimes delicate when introduced but once established are hardy.  clown pleco's or rubbernose/bulldog pleco's are good.  regular sailfin pleco's get way too big, SAE's get fairly big for a 5 gallon.  Bristlenose pleco's eat mainly brown algae (diatoms) and don't mess with green much.  Chinese algae eaters are aggressive and trash in my opinion

Answer 4

I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but I would recommend a CAE. Try and get a nice small one from your Local Fish Shop. I have one that I keep in my 5 gal spawning tank with 2 female guppies and 1 male guppy. Basically what I do is when he / she starts to get to big I take him back down the LFS and trade him / her for a smaller one and a small amount of store credit.  This way they never get to big for the tank. Also they don't tend to get territorial till then get a bit older and bigger. Just make sure you quarantine the new one for 2 weeks first, the algae builds up during this time but they seem to take care of it pretty quickly.

Answer 5

plecos grow too big maybe cory  

Answer 6

SAE can get aggressive, I've heard especially as they age. Oto's are a good choice, but the cloudy glass is easily taken care of with a scrubber sold at pet stores. I get it too; it's a brown film that indicates a well established tank and I use a scrubber on the front panel of my two tanks. My snails and oto don't eat it. I've also seen some wet wipes made with citric acid that are aquarium-safe and I've heard they work well.

And Sailfin Plecs get up to 18 inches in length... not a good thing for a 10 gallon tank.