Best Freshwater Catfish to eat Algae in a 20gal tank?

Question

I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank. I am looking for a catfish to eat the algae off the walls and keep the tank clean. I do not want a sucker fish (my girlfrind wants a catfish, lol). What are the best ones? What website can I purchase them at? Also, any suggestions about bottom feeders?

Answer 1

as the others have said, there are several "algae" eaters you can get. bottom feeders also. it does depend what else you have stocked the tank with. fish such as BN plecs and Otos poop...CONSTANTLY...so if you already have a well stocked tank, you should maybe instead invest in a magnet scraper for your glass instead!

i've have otocinclus and they are real pros when it comes to gobbling up algae, but they need a lot of it. they poop AND eat constantly. so they shouldn't just be left to fend for themselves, they will need to be supplemented with their own food, plec flakes, blanched courgette or cucumber, as will any other fish you get.

at all costs AVOID the Chinese Algae Eater or Golden Sucking Loach, this is a vicious beastie that in fact will prefer to eat your fish as it grows up over algae. However the Siamese Algae Eater is a peaceful community fish!

as far as bottom feeders, if you want peaceful corydoras and pygmy corydoras are excellent. they prefer meat in their diet to veges though.

below is list of plecs that stay under 8", some easier to find than others!

Answer 2

The best choices would depend on what else is in the tank.
The Otocinclus catfish is an outstanding algae eater, much like a mini plecostomous, with "mini" being the operative word - they only get about 2", so wouldn't be good with large, boisterous fish. http://www.fishandtips.com/displaydb.php?ID=16, http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_otocinclus.htm

Some plecos don't get very large, and they are catfish! Bristlenoses and gold nugget plecos stay under 6": http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/freshwater/catfish/bristlenose.html, http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10plecostomus_pics.htm

There are lots of other plecos as well. Corydoras would be a good bottom feeder, but won't scrape algae on the tank sides.

Here's a website with about the best variety I've found for anything as far as livestock or supplies. I'm giving you their freshwater fish link: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/categoryInfo.web?options.passInCategoryKey=23205 You can look up more info about size, care, etc. for any species by clicking on the thumbnail photos.

Answer 3

The only types of fish that eat algea are "sucker" fish. Your in luck as some "catfish" are "sucker" fish. With a 20g long, I would look into a Bristle nose pleco(BN pleco), these may also be called bushynose. These are very good algea eaters and feed off the bottom also. Just remember, NO fish is a cleaning fish(except for algea cleaning), as all fish produce as much waste as they eat. Catfish(bottomfeeders) only eat "uneaten"(overfeeding)food that falls to the floor(unless target feeding). If you want cats and not algea control, try a small group of Synodontis Nigriventis(upside down cats) for your tank. Otherwise the BN for algea control.

Answer 4

There are three types of "sucker mouths" that worked well for most filtered, tropical tanks.

Plecostomus - I've seen these up to a foot long.
"Algae Eater" - Up to three inches and sometimes aggressively
sucking the sides of slower moving fish in the tank.
Otocinclus - Worked well is small groups.

Kev

The last one is the smallest and works very well.

Answer 5

some of the algae eating species will need lots of algae to survive-----would you conside getting a couple corydoras and say perhaps a banjo cat or a twig cat?

Answer 6

get a silver tip shark it is a great catfish and is very active is a bottem feeder but wont do much for alge also is a semi agresive fish keep with active fish