Can a sucker fish really clean the side of the tank for me?

Question

theres some light build up that i could clean with a scrub, but i'm getting sucker fish soon. Can't they just do it for me?

Answer 1

Maybe. Not all algae eaters will eat all types of algae, and if there are enough nutrients in the tank, the algae may grow faster than the algae eater can eat it. It will also depend somewhat on the size of your tank and the size of the fish.

The best algae eaters are otocinclus catfish (get around 2" tops, should be kept in schools, and should be added to mature tanks only) and plecostomous (these can get up to 18" for the common pleco, but there are smaller species like the bristlenose and rubbernose pleco that only get around 5"). The Chinese algae eaters only eat algae as juveniles, then they seem to acquire a taste for the slime coats of other fish, sometimes harrassing or injuring them to the point of death - avoid these!

Although the fish can help you with cleaning the tank, don't be too surprised if you still end up having to do some of the scrubbing yourself. And even if the glass is clean, there will be dissolved materials in the water they and your filter don't remove, so you'll still need to do water changes (around 25% on a weekly basis). If there's not enough algae to keep the fish fed, you'll need to supplement their diet with algae wafers, shrimp pellets, and some other plant-based foods like romaine lettuce, zucchini slices, broccoli, etc.

Answer 2

In my experience there is no fish that takes away all glass maintenance. As others have answered, it all depends on the type of algae. The otocinclus is good. I would stay away from plecos. One poster said they get up to 18", but I have seen some get over 30".

It would be better if you were to find the source of your algae problem and address that: too much light, too many nutrients (overfeeding), or bad water chemistry (too high phosphates, etc.)

Answer 3

Why would you need that ugly fish? That green algae is far more beneficial to the system then that pleco. Pleco also have this nasty little habit of sucking the slime coats off of sleeping tank mates at night. Scaleless dying fish in the morning. Not worth the ugly pleco being in the tank. Scrape off the algae your self. But I'd leave it grow on everything you can stand.

Answer 4

They can do some of it and the promote a healthy tank because they eat the waste

also get a snail

but be careful

get one of the big ones from the pet store and not the smaller ones

if you do get one of the smaller ones you could end up will 100's of snails and you will never be able to get rid of them with out setting up the tank again.

There is a great site for answers to any animal /fish/ pet ??
all of the answers are from vets /pappers they have written.
every thing you need to know about fish care and diseases

it is petplace.com

Answer 5

They will clean (eat algae off of) plants, big rocks, the lower glass, ect. But they will not clean the small rocks at the bottom of your tank or you glass higher up in the tank. They also do not do a very thorough job either. So you will still need to clean it.

Answer 6

Do you mean Sucking Catfish?? I have two of them at home and they clean the the side of the tank. You still need to clean the tank regularly though, because they are only tiny fish, and only eat little bits of algae!!! I wouldn't clean your tank beforehand, because you don't want you suckies to starve.
Best of Luck.
:)

Answer 7

Yes they clean the alge and bacteria that build up in the tank

Answer 8

it is a common plectosumus, and yes until it gets 6" it will but after 6" it will stop eating algae.

Answer 9

Wells thats what they say, but its rubbish, if they want to feed on algae why do we buy pellets for them. I dont know about algae eaters though they might. definetly not plecos. ! FACT!

Answer 10

They always say they do, but in my experience, they don't (or at least they don't do it well enough to prevent you from having to do it anyway).