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Hi there,

I have set up a West African biotype tank (30"x18"x12") with x4 S.Nigriventris, x2 congo tetras, 1 elephantnose fish and 1 Ctenopoma acutirostre. I have planted it with Anubias Nana and Bateri on bogwood.

I was wondering whether there was anything similar to Otocinclus from this region to keep any algae at bay. Would you recommend any other cats suitable for a tank like this given its size?

Cheers

Andy

The suckermouth mochokids are not really algae eaters. You might have better luck with African cyprinids like Garra.

Garra's are quite beautiful as Cyprinids go; they have a few things you should be aware of:
-first; unfortunately almost all (perhaps all) Garra's in the trade are Asian, not African.
African barbs are in short supply and I only saw African Garra's once (at a wholesaler/importer, NOT LFS) in 31.5 years of keeping fish.
-second Garra's are quite territorial, and often this does not stop at speciesmembers; they can be quite nasty. boisterous at least.
-third: Asian Garra's look a lot like African Garra's; they're sturdier built, and one of the more common Garra's has a vague stripe on the flank. but you can add an Asian Garra, and still have an 'African look" in the tank. African Garra's are also quite a bit more fragile than Asian ones.
-to keep Garra's, you'd need a big tank, a single fish or a group; in that group it's best to have all fish of a similar size! smaller ones are terrorized 24/7....
-last: they are pound for pound really excellent algae-eaters; also when adult! a healthy Garra can give any Bristlenose a run for the money

Currently I keep a few Garra's in my Tanganyikan tank, as a "wannabe Labeo cylindricus". L cylindricus (an African labeo species) is too big for my tank, and also rarely imported and agressive as well. friend of mine has 4 (in a big tank) and my Asian "Fake Labeo's" (Garra's) look exactly like bluntnosed Labeo's.....Barbs/Cyprinids are native to Africa; Loricariids not; I also want to have at least the African atmosphere in my tank

Went down to my LFS today and was suprised to find some Garra congoensis on sale. Got four for my tank and I will see how they get on. They weren't too expensive (£3 each) so it was worth a try to see how they get on eating the algae.

Cheers for your help

Silurus wrote:The suckermouth mochokids are not really algae eaters. You might have better luck with African cyprinids like Garra.

Chiloglanis neumanni is an algae eater is it not?

My experience with them (or at least with C. polypogon and another undescribed Chiloglanis species) is that they don't eat much algae and prefer meatier foods.