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Hi,
I have a 60-30-40cm tank running for a year now and i always have algae problems in this tank because all the algae eaters i have put were either agressive or unable to take care of themselves.
In this tank i keep:
1Platydoras costatus
4Black tetra
1Pearl gouramy
1Clown pleco
In the past i have added 1 Royal pleco which i sold three months ago because he bites my P.costatus and two S.A.E. which my platydoras and my clown pleco damaged them almost to death.
I dont know which pleco to add to eat the algae because i am afraid that if i put a strong pleco he will bite my P.c. (which is my favourite fish in this tank).Could you please suggest me a algae eating pleco which can take care of himself whithout being agressive and territorial?

Thank you in advance.

Hi!

You could go with species from the genus Peckoltia...or even with the common Ancistrus...
Cheers
Yann

Ancistrus are nice because they stay small. Somemore there's quite a few species to choose from.

Hi!

Why not go with a school of Otos?

I would go for Ancistrus (Bristlenoses) every time. Otos sometimes rasp at the mucus layer of larger fish (e.g., your gourami), leading to infections.

While I've heard of the oto mucus rasping behavior, I have never seen this after keeping otos for almost ten years. YMMV...

Rusty

Hi,
Thank you all for the replys
I want top correct something that i said before.The algae eaters were CAE not SAE.They were very agressive and they were always trying to chew on my Platydoras.
About the ancistrus,i am afraid that the ancistrus will hert the P. with its bristles while defending itself.Have any of you put a dorad along with an ancistrus sp.?
As for the otos,they will be eaten immediatly.My platydoras is 16+cm now and when he sees that a fish is small enough to fit in his mouth, he chase it until he eat it.

Hi,
Do you think that cochliodon will do well(a spiece that grows to 20cm)?I dont remember the name but can describe it.Red caudal and dorsal fin,body greenish gray.

Hi!

A Cochliodon will be a bit too big for your tank and will destroy almost all your plants...surely not a wise adding to your tank!
Cheers
Yann

Thanks a lot Yann
Today i found another one strange pleco.He has the shape of cochliodon but he is all bold yellow(not albino).Any ideas for what it could be?Will he be ok in this tank?I hope that he will be

Hi!

Could it be Hypostomus luteus?
Cheers
Yann

No,
I recal that he has dark bleu to black eyes.

Hi!

Im totally on Yanns side that a Cochliodon is not the proper fit for a 60cm tank. My Brunos will eat anything green, even Anubias and Javafern. Added that they are very territorial a 20 cm fish wouldnt feel to well in there.

And afaik ARMBRUSTER has sunk Cochliodon (personal msg) and they will be Hypostomus.

The only fish fitting to your color description that i know are Parancistrus aurantiacus and L144.

Hi,
Not a parancistrus.He has exactly the same shape as the bruno pleco but he is bold yellow at body and fins.He is wild caught in Venezuella.

hmm never seen/heard of it....i admit having an overstocked tank but smaller than a 120 cm wouldnt do for a Cochliodon/Hypostomus as they are the fastest growing plecos i own and a 60 cm would be too small in about 4 months...mine have doubled size in under a year and defend their resting places to the rip of fins and small wounds.

Hi Kostas,

This is a little late in this thread but I thought I'd let you know that my P. costatus is probably guilty of one eventually fatal stabbing where the victim was my wildcaught ancistrus female. I think the only reason that this happened was that the ancistrus tried to squeeze into the same cave as my raphael.
A big enough cave should probably be enough accomodate all fish without danger.

Andy

In general, what is a good algae eating fancy pleco that stays small? I absolutely love the Imperial Zebra pleco (L-046), but alas, he/she is a meat eater, from what research I've done. My criteria is that the pleco stays small (no more than 4") and is distinctly different in appearance. I'm toying with the mega-clown peckolita (LDA-019).

My tank is as follows: 44 gal hex., current inhabitants are 3 boesemani rainbows, 2 threadfin rainbows, 5 balloon mollies, 3 green corys, assortment of shrimp (one Singapore wood shrimp - plan to add a couple more and several ghost shrimp).

Any ideas/siggestions?

Thanks!

-JKJ

Hi!

If you check the LDA19 threads on this forum youll notice that you can erase the "true" Mega Clown from your list as its not available at all.

@kostas maybe you wonna check out the L144 i allready mentioned as it doesnt grow too big (i have a adult male that about 11-13 cm) and has a great coloration....and you can be sure it will eat anything as most Ancistrus spp. With Cochliodon you have to keep the sawdust-mess in mind they create.

Hi,
I checked L144.He is not this fish.Maybe its an undescribed cochliodon spiece from Venezuela?
About the sawdust from the wood,i love it.I like very much plecos that chew a lot on wood.

Hi,
Would an L200 be a good choice or he will be territorial?

L200 are territorial, at least mine are. They do not like any other fish in their territory. I have yet to see one of my L200 eating any algae off of the glass of my tank, they stick to the bottom and caves.

Hi,
Thanks a lot Vik
Which pleco to put then?
I am confused

Thanks in advance

Hmmm, good question. I am not sure, the plecos that I keep with my Raphael are larger and do not bother with himl, nor he with them. Actually, my P.C. doesn't bother with hardly anything at all (very lazy). I have a bristlenose with him and it eats lots of algae. The bristlenose is full grown (4-5 inches). Maybe a Hillstream or butterfly loach? They are fast fast fast and live on algae? It is not a fancy pleco, but pretty interesting little thing?
Vicki

Hillstream loaches need special fastwater setups.

So no to the hillstreams.


What is so wrong with a school of otos?

Hi,
Thank you for your replys
Taratron,
The otos will probably get eaten and if not they are likely to attack my slow moving gouramy or my sleeping raphael.
As for the hillstream loach i have read that they want cool water while P. costatus like warm.

hmm how long till the P.c. gets too big for a 60cm setup? Ive seen some huge ones at lfs here. Maybe plan ahead a little.

Hi,
He is already 16+cm.I may put him in a 150l tank which i am planing to set up at september but i may not.But if he grow to 18cm i will set up another one S. American biotop tank just to house some doradids and some L200.

Hi,
Tomorow night i bought an L200.The poor little guy fall to the floor from the net of my dealer.Do you think that he has been damaged because of his fall??He fell with his belly down from 1.5metre.
When i brought it home 1 hour later i oppened the bag and i putted an airstone in it and i left the bag float with the airstone another 2-3hours because i had to leave my home immediately.When i returned and i started to put tank water in his bag he went to the place at which i was putting tank water in his bag.When i put water for second time to his bag he swimed towards the glass by which i was puting him tank water and tried to go to the tank immediattely.So i putted the bags entrance into the tank and he immediately swimmed to the bags entrance.He stood there 2seconds and he swam under a decorative object.All these were done with the room light open not the tank light.Why he wanted to leave his bag as soon as possible?This is my main problem.Today he is acting quite normaly in my opinion.

Thank a lot in advance.(Sorry for the long post)