Do Panaque maccus eat brush algae?

Haavard Stoere · Post by **Haavard Stoere** » 31 Oct 2007, 23:17

I´m setting up a 720 liter discus/tetra/pleco comunity tank with a whole lot of driftwood. It will be a sort of romantic riverbank theme. Therefore I am wondering: Can I use Panaque maccus or any other wood chewing pleco to limit the amount of brush algae growing on the wood?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 31 Oct 2007, 23:20

Not that I can see. On the other hand, I doubt that the brush algae would have time to settle before the P. maccus manage to gnaw off the surface of the wood, unless the brush algae is WELL established beforehand.

--
Mats

Haavard Stoere · Post by **Haavard Stoere** » 01 Nov 2007, 00:32

I was thinking something like that. It might be worth a try.

bslindgren · Post by **bslindgren** » 02 Nov 2007, 05:10

It seems like very few fish eat BBA or BHA. I have been told that the true Siamese algae eaters do, so I have bought a bunch. They're still in quarantine, but once they go into the tank with the offending algae, I'll know for sure.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 02 Nov 2007, 17:30

Adult SAE's tend to drive large discus nuts with their incessant activity. I've tried them and did not like them as discus tank mates. They don't directly harm the discus.

Haavard Stoere · Post by **Haavard Stoere** » 02 Nov 2007, 17:47

SAE are to hectic for this kind of tank. When it comes to brush algae they are extremely effective though. I will try to set up the lighting so that it falls a little outside of the bogwood area to at least limit brush algae growth.

Post by **Shane** » 03 Nov 2007, 07:38

I agree with Mats, they certainly will not eat brush algae, but it will never become established on the driftwood due to their constant gnawing.
-Shane

Haavard Stoere · Post by **Haavard Stoere** » 03 Nov 2007, 13:00

That sounds very sensible.

Thank you all

featherback · Post by **featherback** » 04 Nov 2007, 11:26

I don't know about P.maccus, but I have two panaque tanks with P. nigrolineatus type fish, L190, L191, L27, L330 and L203. And they certainly do eat brush algae. There's no sign of brush algae except in deep depressions in the wood where they can't get to it. They will also clean the glass and rocks for brush algae. But they won't clean the rocks if they're not very smooth.

I added a 20 cm L330 to a tank with a 100 cm x 40cm x 80 cm piece of wood copletely covered with brush algae , and in 2 nights the wood was cleared of algae. It also took the trouble to go over several hundred overgrown anubias leaves to eat the algae, of course ruining the plants.

Just my 2 cents.

edit: typos

FB