An algae eater I can put in my tank?

Question

I have 2 gold wonder killies (can be somewhat agressive) and a gold gourami. I want to make my 20 gal tank more visually interresting by adding different colors (or at least one) and having fish that don't just hang arount at the top. And eating algae would be useful, too.

Answer 1

I would suggest that you don't get a chinese or siamese algae eater. They are small and peaceful as babies, but they grow big and aggressive, and eat less algae until they are carnivores - they will eat your fish.

Try a school of oto cats:
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/oto_cat.jpg
They eat algae, get at least 4 of them if you want them to be active.

Try a school of corydoras (julii or sterbai)\http://cyberaqua.free.fr/reportages/co2/31_corydoras_julii.jpg
They eat algae and detritous from the gravel. Get at least 6.

Or get a cleanup crew of shrimp, like ghost shrimp, red cherry shrimp and amano shrimp.

No matter what you get, be sure to supplement their diet with shrimp pellets (corydoras only) and spirulina pellets and zucchini.

I would suggest that you don't get a plecco. They are pretty big fish, some as big as 18"... If you MUST get a plecco, get a bushy-nosed, they only hit 4-5"

Answer 2

Well, most algae eaters are semi-aggressive as is. Really, you just need to see how your own fish react and then how the new fish you want to introduce acts in the tank at the shop you are buying from. If you do not think they would be suitable for the fish you already have, find something else.

You could also get Ghost (or Glass) shrimp, gold or black snails, or some sort of catfish. They are all aquatic animals that will eat algae and are very interesting. Especially the upside down catfish and Ghost shrimp.

Answer 3

Yeah your tank sounds large. so a techniques as a reliable algae eater i'd bypass with a reliable previous pleco, or plecostamus. they suck on the aspect of the tank to eliminate algae and are fairly properly matched with goldfish. it really is what i'm doing in any case. =) also be sensible that your tank isn't by a windowsill contained in the sunlight. this may reason unexpected algae bloom! P.S. communicate such as your community puppy save fish experts.

Answer 4

Yes, you can put an algae eater in your tank. I have aggressive fish to so I know what you are talking about. Try getting bright colored rocks in the bottom of your tank it will make the whole tank seem bigger and brighter.

Answer 5

take the tank and the fish into a pet store and show them the tank size and the breeds of fish and they will give u a good list of algae eaters that will fit right.

Answer 6

well, you can get a pleco of some sort but it might eat plants, you can get a flying fox or a red-tail shark(somewhat aggressive) or rainbow shark. all of them usually have a nice color.

Answer 7

corydoras catfish