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Re: Algae eaters in 20 gallon



> I am not very experienced with algae eating fish so here comes my question :
> What types of algae eaters will survive in my 20 gallon tank (pH 7) if I 
> only give them flake food.

Kristof, here are some possibilities:

Siamese algae eater, Crossocheilus siamensis.
It will eventually get little too big for that tank, but it is normally
easy to find a new home for as nice fish as a SAE is.  It will eat red
algae and soft green algae, but not the hard types.  You are from Europe,
I guess (be = Belgium?) and you should be able to find the real SAEs from
your shops.  At least Germans, Swedes and we Finns have them.  Two of them
is enough for you.

Otto cat, Otocinclus sp.
Tiny suckermouth catfish, not very hardy.  A school (4-6) is enough for
your tank, but they prefer bigger tanks with lot of oxygen.

Bristlenose pleco, Ancistrus sp. (aka bush-nosed or bearded catfish)
Hardy, smallish pleco-type catfish.  Eats all types of green algae
very efficiently and sometimes your plants too.   One of them is enough
for a 20g, but if your shops have only very small ones, get at least two.
Another small pleco is clown pleco, Peckoltia sp.  Not as good in eating
algae, and much more expensive at least here.

Fish to avoid:
Any "common pleco" like Hypostomus sp, Liposarcus sp. or Glyptoperichthys
sp. They get HUGE.
Chinese algae eater, Gyrinocheilus aymonieri.  Eats algae only when young,
after that it eats its tankmates and besides it gets rather big.

Liisa Sarakontu                     INTERNET:    lsarakon at hila_hut.fi
Helsinki University of Technology   WWW homepage http://www.hut.fi/~lsarakon/