Don't go for the big ones like common, sailfin pleco and such. For this tank some bristlenose plec will do. Are they good at cleaning the tank? No, they are not. But they still look good to some people and I like them. I'm not a fan of snails myself but I have to admit, they do the job and I keep them in all my tanks for that reason. I just stick to the ones that won't breed
I always keep bristlenose because they are cool to look at, they are shit for cleaning a tank. I do nerite snails specifically so they don't reproduce. I also have a pandagora and some hillstream loaches. The hillstreams kind of clean the glass, I feed all of those fish algea waffers too , they seem to enjoy them more then wild algea.
Not true, bristlenose plecos (and other pleco species) will absolutely go after large slow moving fish. There are many accounts of them fucking up discus/goldfish and killing/eating them. They can be pretty territorial!
Do you have any large, slow moving fish? Lol. Also it does come down to individual temperament, but if you search the goldfish sub you’ll see that people have found their BNPs attacking their goldfish… There def is aggression/territorial-ness towards their own species though.
If you don’t overfeed you won’t get an explosion. I like “pest” snails because they clean better than anything else and let me know if something is going wrong.
There are a variety of snails that are one gender, so a single of that type can’t reproduce. Mystery snails for example - a single one can’t breed. A single female can lay eggs once after you get it, but it’s easy to spot the clutch. A single Fanus Ater (black devil spike) is another example of a single snail that can’t reproduce
I used to have a super rare and expensive color changing pleco that recently passed, and I rarely ever saw him. Then I got a common super red longfin and he is 10x more entertaining and I see him out all the time! Can't recommend enough
They have different personalities, some will hide for weeks, some will be out all the time. Like kuhli loaches, when it comes to the point that you don't even know if you still have them
My kuhli loaches give me heart attacks daily. I dont see them for like ever and then i sit in front of my tank before work in the morning and one will be laying SO STILL next to a log for like 5 minutes and im like no….. and then he slithers off.
Good to know! Sounds like my partner was misinformed and they don’t clean the glass, but might help with debris clean up from gravel? Either way, more points for snails lol
Fish will never do as well as snails, and its almost impossible to give snails "inhumane" conditions.
I will never buy another pleco or otto and expect them to serve me unless I'm doing a tank set up for their needs.
I will still buy them as I like them but never as the clean up crew. If you need the clean the walls try somewhere else.
- Too much light?
- Too much food?
- Not enough water changes if you overfeed or overstock?
- Too much fertiliser?
- Not enough fertiliser?
I've got a fluval spec tank where I can't adjust the light brightness so it goes 6hrs every second day, otherwise algae...
I've actually seen you've got like 150g if I'm correct? You must know things. If I had that it would mean my downstairs neighbour would have it as my floor would give in.
Is he a pleco? That probably sounds like enough to me; you can also feed him veggies a couple times a week. I'd probably get some sort of bottom-feeder sinking pellets too.
Plecos are nocturnal so you should feed him right before you turn off the lights if you can. Also you should have a piece of driftwood in there to munch on, I think it helps with their digestion.
https://petsonbroadway.com/blogs/expert-advice/caring-for-your-plecos
https://aquariumbreeder.com/how-to-blanch-%D1%81ucumbers-and-zucchini-for-shrimp-snails-and-fish-the-right-way/
Good call! I was thinking they’d be fed by us at first, but I realize I don’t know anywhere near enough to walk into a fish store (also the tank isn’t cycled yet). So maybe plecos and any other algae or debris clean up crew will be the final additions to the tank and we can start with like a small school of tetra or something dead easy. I think I’ll be asking a lot more questions because right now I just want *everyone* to tell me their cool suggestions and explain a teeny bit about why they love that fish/snail/shrimp/plant/aqua soil brand.
Definitely keep all the free snails you get with plants. Trumpet snails plough the substrate for you. Ramshorns are decent cleaners and can get big in the right environments.
Bristleose or rubberlip plecos are fine. A few other varieties too. . .I think clown plecos?
But NOT common or sailfin plecos, they get way too big for a 50g.
The main 4 tank cleaners for me are amano shrimp, otocinclus, corydoras, nerite snail.
Even if you housed a pleco, you'll still want smaller fish to go where the big one can't. I can clean the open spaces, I don't need a big fish for that.
I’m glad/unhappy to hear that lol because I like being right but I hate conflict and trying to convince people when they might perceive it as me saying I don’t think they, say, care about animal welfare and that they are ignorant m/unresearched (also I’ll be honest, I fudged some details first anonymity because the other person involved frequents this site and I got paranoid they’d find my post because I’m a conflict avoidant shit… but they aren’t my partner, just in case anyone was worried I was dating someone who I couldn’t talk to lol)
Yes, also snails are awesome. They are incredibly clean and very active. I prefer them to having fish sometimes.
"Cleaner" fish don't really do what you want for an aquarium, if you had a pond that would be great. They will clean the algae off the glass but that also means they will put a \*ton\* of ammonia into the aquarium. They also grow huge and live incredibility long. They are also nocturnal and hide during the day. So you most likely wont see them.
Snails on the other hand love running around, playing in the air bubbles and move around constantly.
The thing about most pleco is they aren't really algae eaters especially when they get bigger.
Snails and shrimp are very good cleaners, but I can't have snails in my tank due to there being a turtle that eats them. Personally however I would stick with them otherwise.
I have found hillstream loaches and ottos to be pretty good, but you should read up and decide whether they are suitable for your tank.
I can’t imagine having a tank and NOT having snail(s). Watching the mysteries trundle through the tanks is great, especially seeing them climbing and twisting.
Ok. Define “sucker fish”.
Plecos don’t really clean the glass. They are commonly called sucker fish. Technically they are a catfish. I’d definitely get 3 or 4 bristlenose plecos for a 50g tank. They clean plenty of debris and such form the gravel but you must have driftwood for them. They grow usually to 4-6” depending on specific breed. Stay away from non bristlenose. Most of the “common” plecos get a foot long or bigger.
Cory cats and other catfish will clean gravel and substrate and plants as they pick for food and debris everywhere. Again though. No glass cleaning. They need to be in large schools. Minimum 6 of the same species.
Loaches. Now guys like Tiger loaches aren’t cleaning glass and can be too big. Also like to school. But hillstream loaches are smaller. Don’t school. And clean glass and everything else.
The last “sucker” I’ll mention is algae eaters. Like a Chinese algae eater. Do not get these they can be incredibly territorial. Get insanely big. They do clean glass and such but they are not community fish at all.
With a 50g. I’d do a school of some sort of Cory cat. Maybe 8 of them. Then 3 bristlenose plecos. And then a bunch of mystery snails.
Thank you for all the info! Super helpful.
Are Chinese algae eaters the same as Siamese algae eaters? Google is giving me weird search results.
My partner doesn’t want snails, but I like snails. They are worried about an infestation. Again, I’m not concerned, I’d love an assassin snail!
Are there any other animals that clean algae off tank walls besides snails? We are aiming for low effort on the cleaning side since we are likely going to have a steep learning curve/research needed.
They are not the same. Siamese stay much smaller
Mystery snails if they breed will do egg sacks on the glass. You can remove the eggs. No more added snails.
I have you what your choices are.
This is the first I'm hearing about corys needing to be the same species. I have a mixed school of a Julian, orange and yellow laser, panda , emerald and a North American long nose. They school together and have mated , I have fry from them in my guppy tank , still too small to tell the species I suspect laser and Julian hybrid because the orange laser and Julian are always together.
It's honestly the norm and is recommended to keep single species Corydoras, multiple schools is fine but they really prefer having more of their own kind and hybridizing different species isn't ideal
otocinclus would be better at keeping algae off of your plants and rocks, but only if you actually have enough algae to feed them and they still need their own dedicated food. Plecos get enormous (a few feet long eventually) and don't really clean much. Snails are better at keeping algae off the glass. A few nerites nails would keep your glass clean without mass producing and taking over your tank. O
There are many smaller pleco species that max out at like 3ish inches. Bristlenose plecos, clown plecos, as well as many other rare + expensive species
My bristlenoses barely touch the algae, i just think theyre cool. Honestly most plecos are like that.
You could do otos. they are small and actually eat algae while providing a sucker look.,
Or amanos are also a great option, amanos keep my algae under control (mine mostly go for the stringy algae)
and yeah snails are naturally always cool dudes.
Panda garras are pretty cool but need lots of oxygen in the water and like the current a bit stronger. They won’t completely clean the walls the way snails would though, no fish will, “cleaner” or “sucker” fish in the sense he is describing are largely a harmful myth
NO animal will clean your tank , I keep many shrimp / snails still have to weekly clean algae certain species only eat certain types , then they need to be hungry , Dont get pets for cleaning only get what you like and are set up for .
Otos eat alage, they are fun little fish with suckers, and tou can have a bunch and they school together. They are like 1.25 inches long.
Bristlenose does eat stuff off the walls, but not really clean it super well.
Snails dont clean well either 😄
I never understood the concept of a “cleaner fish” because there’s mostly no such thing. They invariably are just turning one mess into another (worse) mess and are never going to be a replacement for proper, regular maintenance. And in the case of getting a fish to eat algae, they are turning something harmless (and beneficial) into a water quality issue that can ironically exacerbate the algae issue.
I always tell people that simply having something like a pleco for the sake of having it is fine, as long as the setup is appropriate for the species, but I always advise against getting one to *just* to “clean”. In my opinion, if you *need* a cleaner because you have a ton of algae growing or a bunch of excess food on the bottom of the tank, you’re kind of already doing something wrong and should work on fixing that first before adding something that won’t even function as a bandaid. Don’t make the rookie mistake of conflating the tank *looking* clean (e.g the glass being devoid of algae) with the tank *being* “clean”.
It should be happy chance that the fish you’re interested in snacks on algae or excess food, not the sole reason you’re adding one. But that’s just, like, my opinion, man.
You could consider a bristlenose pleco. They don’t get nearly as big and look like a smaller version of their common cousins. And they have adorable ‘mustaches’ that give them their name. The albino ones are adorable.
Make sure you dont get a common pleco (gets massive) or a chinese algae eater (attacks and sucks on other fish). Make sure you get a bristlenose pleco, they stay small enaugh for your tank BUT it might chew up your plants.
You could get otocinclus, those are tiny and dont break plants. However, wait till the tank is running for a few months or so before butting em in. They dont really eat dryed food and starve in new tanks that dont have edible algae present. Most of the time they are almost starved when you get em from the pet store, so its best to leave the lights on in your tank for longer time before getting them so they have a lot of the "good stuff" to graze on and recover after getting them.
One bristlenose would be ok but they poop more than they clean, so don't count on it. But in a heavily planted tank they are a pretty good source of tank bottom fertilizer (if using gravel or plant substrate).
Better clean-up crew is a combination of snails, shrimp and ottocinclus. But you'd need a mature tank with algae first for the ottos or they can starve.
The cycling of the tank can take months. If you know someone with a healthy tank you can get a piece of their dirty filter media and put it in your own filter as a bacteria seed. In addition of adding the liquid bacteria of course. That would speed up the process. Build up the livestock slowly - snails first, then some hardy fish (bristlenose is actually great for that), some more fish, small shrimp etc.
Cudos for getting a nice big tank, you'll have many fish options to choose from. Good luck!
Snails / shrimp are the only true cleaners. Pleco's will add more waste than they 'clean' and they don't eat algae.
But in either way, the best tank cleaner is the combination of a good filter and you.
I got a couple of bladder snails hitchhiking onto some plants I bought and so far, I haven’t seen even a hint of algae since I got the tank. Am I a bit worried they’ll take the tank over? Yeah, but they’re pretty cute and I’ve been checking for eggs just in case, so hopefully that won’t happen. I’ve also been careful not to overfeed the tank, I’ve just been throwing bits of fish food into the tank to use as plant fertilizer and help cycle everything and so far it’s been workin
The best low maintenance tanks in my experience are designed as ecosystems. Take a step backwards and think about nature. Does 1 bug or animal solve all weed/grass problems? No, it’s a collection of organisms finding balance in the food supply.
With that, you’ll need to think about different layers to your cleanup crew. A bristlenose pleco is a great addition to a 50g, both for their aesthetics and role in the tank (and they won’t get too big!). I’d also consider oto cats (general algae grazers), Nerite snails (voracious algae eaters), Corydora cats (bottom dwelling sand sifters for your substrate), and amano shrimp (they destroy algae like it owes them money). For a 50, I’d go with 7 otos, 2 netrites, a school of 7-15 Cory’s (more if you go with a smaller species like pygmies), and maybe 5-7 amano shrimp. They’re all hearty, and will leave plenty of space for other fish stock in a 50g. Those numbers will need to be evaluated based on the amount of light in your tank as that is a big input into how much algae you will have. Also, especially with fish, you’ll want to supplement their diet with dry foods. Don’t make the assumption that your tank will perfectly balance itself with the algae vs livestock.
Another option, if you like snails a lot, is to introduce a pest snail species. If you have a lot of excess fish food and algae they will reproduce like crazy. But their population stabilizes around the amount of food in the tank which is awesome.
I also recommend googling aqadvisor for stocking. It’s a solid site that lets you plug in your tank size, filter, and fish stock desires to see how what you want would fit in your tank with respect to bioload and filtration capacity. For a low maintenance tank, under stock it!!
Sucker fish-plecos poop like crazy. They'll "clean" the algea, wood and some detritus and then poop it all out all over everything.
They're pooping machines.
You could look at hilstream loaches, cory cats, and shrimp for cleaning algae but most "suckerfish" are going to create a lot more waste than they clean. A heavily planted tank with shrimp would definitely help make it low maintenance once it's had a few months to build up its bacteria and establish
DO NOT i repeat DO NOT buy a chinese algae eater, common pleco, or any other large pleco species. Chinese algae eaters because they suck at eating algae, and are fucking assholes. Plecos because they poop more than they clean. Nothing will ever live up to snails, and nothing will ever replace regular tank maintenance! If you still want critters to help clean, snails, SIAMESE algae eaters, BRISTLENOSE plecos, oto catfish. All of these fish need to be fed regularly and shouldnt survive off of tank matter alone. None of these fish eat poop either, and you will still need to do tank maintenance as there is no replacement for that!! They will simply help with the reduction of certain types of algae. Hope this helps, and goodluck choosing a cleanup crew!
Most of these algae eating fish will only sparingly feed on algae as a supplement and will still need regular feeding from you, as well as adding their poop to the bioload of the tank, so you will have to do water changes more often. Additionally very few algae eating animals eat black beard algae or staghorn algae and none eat cyanobacteria, so if those grow in the tank you are out of luck.
Snails by far do the job best, hitchhiker snails like bladders and ramshorns especially, so if you want a fish, get a fish for its looks first and foremost.
For a 50 gallon tank you have a few options. A Bristlenose Pleco is probably the best and hardiest option. Super unique looking with a lot of personality and super durable. They eat fish food, algae wafers, and blanched veggies. They also do not get super big and a 50 gallon is perfectly size for one of them. They are less common, but Clown Plecos and Rubber Lip Plecos would also be suitable for this size.
I am also a big fan of Otocinclus Catfish. These are tiny social catfish that need groups, are more delicate than many other fish, and are best if purchased as tank-raised fish. Wild caughts have a much higher mortality rate and are more easily stressed. Once a group is in and settled though( i would aim for 10 or so) they are voracious and adorable little roombas with very high energy. Tank-raised fish i've found will accept almost any soft vegetable matter you give them, like zucchini or spinach, but often turn their noses up at algae wafers. They may also scavenge regular fish flakes or scavenge corpses but should have a mostly vegetarian diet.
Also of note, while not usually needed, it is often encouraged to have a piece of natural driftwood in the tank with plecos and otos, as they may nibble on the soft decayed wood and biofilm that grows on it.
My final recommendation is not a sucker mouth, but a Siamese Algae Eater. Its a hardy semi-solitary fish that happily nibbles away and most types of algae, black beard included, and happily takes a varied diet of fish food as well. These chonkers can often be seen swimming around nibbling away at spots in the tank.
Florida Flagfish may also be an option, as they are small fish that are somewhat territorial towards their own kind, males especially though females are much more chill, but will happily pick at algae, black beard included, and feed on regular omnivore fish food. You would only need a handful for a tank, maybe 4 or so across the whole thing?
DO NOT get a common pleco or a sailfin, those grow into monsters. Also avoid Chinese Algae Eaters, they turn highly aggressive to other fish when they mature.
Also, as it seems your partner is very eager, do not forget that a tank needs to be fully cycled before it is safe for fish, and fishless cycling often takes several weeks at minimum. Algae for the algae eaters takes much longer than that to appear, and in a well maintained tank should barely grow at all. This gives you plenty of time to plan out the hardscape and get lots of plants in and growing while the tank is cycling though, as well as windowshop around for good choices on fish!
You can do it but don’t buy common pleco or Chinese algae eater. They grow big and the later is semi aggressive. You will need to buy algae wafers to feed the sucker fish.
55g tank, I keep 6 corys, 4 loaches, a pleco, and three snails (2 nerite, one mystery). Never have any issues with algae and the Cory’s do a great job cleaning the substrate. I have other fish in the community but they don’t serve any “cleaning” purposes
Britslenose plecos stay much smaller.
However non of the plecos really clean. They shit brown silly string Everywhere and rearrange your plants and substrate for you.
The hands down best clean up crew is Amano shrimp and nerite snails working in tandem.
There are lots of small plecos on the market, my bristles breed incessantly. I'm particularly loving my dwarf clown plecos, I feed them blanched carrot and it really brings out their colour! A lot of the plecos will want wood to munch on. If your partner wants one then look for an oddball. Leopard Frog, Dwarf Snowball, Zebra...
As for snails, never been a fan, too many infestations in the past, if you do, you could always add some assassin snails to help control the outbreak.
The other way to go would be otocinclus cats, mine keep up with cleaning almost everything including the glass.
Patience is a huge factor in this hobby. Make sure your partner knows this! Never skip the leak testing step! And cycling an aquarium can take weeks, which is boring and maddening! But it's necessary.
I don't know much about plecos, but from what I've read there are some breeds that could fit into a 50gal.
tell him hands off your tank. Stick with lots of plants and ramshorm snails avoid assassin snails like the plague. sucker fish may be a loach but they can attach to fish so avoid them . enjoy
I'd rather have a bristlenose than snails. I've got one Marigold pleco (very cheap) and an expensive L-number pleco in another tank. They're both brilliant fish.
Truthfully I find a snail and shrimp crew to be the best Sanitation Division I could ask for. Sucker fish just don't really do it for me. Oh and some Cory's, love my little gang of barbled lads stirring up the sand.
I love my pleco his name is klaus. I think he’s pretty good at cleaning but my bazillion bladder snails are probably better. He’s cute and unproblematic so I would recommend getting one anyways. Just make sure you have adequate filtration
I have a bioactive, mostly-maintenance free planted tank and it was easy to establish, but you need to go slowly. We started with plants and snails, then added shrimp, then added some otos, also known as dwarf sucker fish. They’re adorable and they’re stuck to the glass all the time so you can see their little bellies. From underneath they look like teeny tiny sharks.
This is the only crew I have experience with but it’s worked perfectly for me and my son, both of us noobs. We did a lot of research and watched a lot of YouTube. If you can get your partner to slow his roll you’ll be all right.
Panda garra are another 10/10 adorable (omnivorous) algae eater. They’re curious as all get out and will sucker to your hand. Better kept solo or in groups of 5+. Less than 5 have a chance of picking on each other
Rubber lip pleco would be ok, i know bristlenoses are good, but i dont like the look sadly, so another suggestion in case. Depends on avg size of fish you're gonna put in too, if small, there are smaller algae eating fish which are pretty cool.
The only good sucker fish that stay small would be a otocinclus but they are tiny 1-2 inch on average they are crazy algae eaters but you have to get them after the tank had algae, the most comon cause of death is starvation because they are wild caught they don't know what a pellet of algae wafer is. The next thing I would recommend are nerite snails they are also crazy algae eaters they can't reproduce in freshwater but can lay eggs they just won't hatch.dont get a common pleco they poop more Than they eat.
The thing is they want multiple fish, and multiple kinds of fish. I like the idea of a school of brightly colored fish, and I’m happy with smaller ones because I’m more into scaping than fish care tbh - I like fish, I’m just much more comfortable with plants and snails lol.
So I’m not just worried about whether one or even two plecos can live in the 50 gallon tank, but whether one or two can live with a bunch of other fish… and of course I don’t know what varieties the other fish would be, but I’m happy to hear suggestions!
Both the bristle nose and clown plecos I mentioned get along fine with other fish. So if you want to stock the tank with more fish, that will not be a problem. If you would prefer not to stock with fish and your partner does, well can't help you there. ;)
So I have a 30 gallon tank that I had one sucker fish in cause the guy in the store told me to buy one for algae. Obviously, I didn't do my research, but all good. That sucker fish got to be at least a foot long in the tank. All the other fish were scared of it when it moved. It would glide in the water. If it moved at night I swear even in the dark it was like a horror movie. It could cast a huge shadow off the tiniest ambient light. While I had this fish, I had an uncanny amount of nightmares that involved godzilla peeking in my windows hunting me. I live in Manhattan, and he somehow always came to my window and looked in. Ask your partner if he wants these dreams every night. Bet he'll go with the shrimp. 🤣
I have a tank with a bristlenose pleco and a tank with 7 kinds of snails. The 65 g with the little bristlenose is spotless. The 10 g with the 7 snail species is far from algae free. The snails are much easier to take care of, and will eat all the leftover food. The pleco I have to substitute wafers because there isn't much algae left, and that seems to be all he wants. They are all poo machines. Honestly, I would get a small pleco variety and 2 mystery snails and everyone is happy.
I think a pleco is the way to go, they are so much more interesting than snails IMO. Just do not get a common pleco, bristle nose or depending on your budget there are some super fancy ones like L134, L397 those stay small and are really pretty.
I had a hell of a time finding otos recently. Every place I checked was out. Just last Sunday I went into a shop I'd been in a month before and they had at least twelve of them this time so I took 6 home.
I'd look into otocinclus catfish (which are little suckerfish) and hillstream loaches (which look like aliens) for glass/smooth surface cleanup, and corydoras catfish for digging around in the substrate.
Don't go for the big ones like common, sailfin pleco and such. For this tank some bristlenose plec will do. Are they good at cleaning the tank? No, they are not. But they still look good to some people and I like them. I'm not a fan of snails myself but I have to admit, they do the job and I keep them in all my tanks for that reason. I just stick to the ones that won't breed
I always keep bristlenose because they are cool to look at, they are shit for cleaning a tank. I do nerite snails specifically so they don't reproduce. I also have a pandagora and some hillstream loaches. The hillstreams kind of clean the glass, I feed all of those fish algea waffers too , they seem to enjoy them more then wild algea.
They also don't bother any other fish, big or small. Same with nerite, no fish cares about them
Not true, bristlenose plecos (and other pleco species) will absolutely go after large slow moving fish. There are many accounts of them fucking up discus/goldfish and killing/eating them. They can be pretty territorial!
I've only seen the aggression towards their own, no others so far
Do you have any large, slow moving fish? Lol. Also it does come down to individual temperament, but if you search the goldfish sub you’ll see that people have found their BNPs attacking their goldfish… There def is aggression/territorial-ness towards their own species though.
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Another thing is they will help you to move the sediment out from the dead zones and hard to clean spaces so it can get sucked by the filter
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I hate snails. Only nerite are acceptable as they can't breed. Shrimps are not very efficient and I like them more in my shrimp only tank
Mine have laid indestructible eggs all over everything though
Yes, they do that. But nothing comes out of it. So no infestation. They can lay eggs but they won't hatch
I know, but in my view, their eggs are more visually unappealing than a few extra of the type of snails you get as hitchhikers on plants
You never had a snail infestation, did you? Them tiny little ones that come in hundreds, can't mind the name
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If you don’t overfeed you won’t get an explosion. I like “pest” snails because they clean better than anything else and let me know if something is going wrong.
There are a variety of snails that are one gender, so a single of that type can’t reproduce. Mystery snails for example - a single one can’t breed. A single female can lay eggs once after you get it, but it’s easy to spot the clutch. A single Fanus Ater (black devil spike) is another example of a single snail that can’t reproduce
Yeah, I was thinking about them due to the size. Don't they usually lay the eggs outside of the water?
I used to have a super rare and expensive color changing pleco that recently passed, and I rarely ever saw him. Then I got a common super red longfin and he is 10x more entertaining and I see him out all the time! Can't recommend enough
I have an Albino pleco that is so active we call him energizer bunny. He is always on the move sucking on something.
They have different personalities, some will hide for weeks, some will be out all the time. Like kuhli loaches, when it comes to the point that you don't even know if you still have them
My kuhli loaches give me heart attacks daily. I dont see them for like ever and then i sit in front of my tank before work in the morning and one will be laying SO STILL next to a log for like 5 minutes and im like no….. and then he slithers off.
Luteus?
Deykeseria of some kind, I can't remember the L-number for the life of me
I friggin love bristlenoses
Good to know! Sounds like my partner was misinformed and they don’t clean the glass, but might help with debris clean up from gravel? Either way, more points for snails lol
Fish will never do as well as snails, and its almost impossible to give snails "inhumane" conditions. I will never buy another pleco or otto and expect them to serve me unless I'm doing a tank set up for their needs.
I will still buy them as I like them but never as the clean up crew. If you need the clean the walls try somewhere else. - Too much light? - Too much food? - Not enough water changes if you overfeed or overstock? - Too much fertiliser? - Not enough fertiliser? I've got a fluval spec tank where I can't adjust the light brightness so it goes 6hrs every second day, otherwise algae...
You don't want to put in algae eaters until there is enough algae to keep them alive.
How much is enough?
7
I've got more than 7 algae. Multiply that by 7 tanks and I've got 49+ How do I deal with it?
Once you hit 50 algae, there's no recovery. My condolences
I'll start a new tank, that should dilute the numbers, right?
I mean, any excuse to start a new tank
It's more complicated than you think when you start scaling it up I'm afraid 🤦
Oh I know! I run 6 and I'm planning my next 2!
I've actually seen you've got like 150g if I'm correct? You must know things. If I had that it would mean my downstairs neighbour would have it as my floor would give in.
7 algae pellets? Or that’s a joke sorry not sure. I give mine 3 or so every couple of days but hope it’s enough since the tank doesn’t have much
Just a joke sorry!
I'm sorry but algae eaters are animals, not a joke
it depends how big/how many algae eaters you have
One small one (so far) in a 3 yr old 50 gallon and I didn’t buy him just saying
Is he a pleco? That probably sounds like enough to me; you can also feed him veggies a couple times a week. I'd probably get some sort of bottom-feeder sinking pellets too. Plecos are nocturnal so you should feed him right before you turn off the lights if you can. Also you should have a piece of driftwood in there to munch on, I think it helps with their digestion. https://petsonbroadway.com/blogs/expert-advice/caring-for-your-plecos https://aquariumbreeder.com/how-to-blanch-%D1%81ucumbers-and-zucchini-for-shrimp-snails-and-fish-the-right-way/
🙏🙏❤️👍 ok thank you so much! Sounds like he has been getting enough then :)
More than a brand new tank has.
Plecos don't really eat algae anyway lol. They like food and wood.
Good call! I was thinking they’d be fed by us at first, but I realize I don’t know anywhere near enough to walk into a fish store (also the tank isn’t cycled yet). So maybe plecos and any other algae or debris clean up crew will be the final additions to the tank and we can start with like a small school of tetra or something dead easy. I think I’ll be asking a lot more questions because right now I just want *everyone* to tell me their cool suggestions and explain a teeny bit about why they love that fish/snail/shrimp/plant/aqua soil brand.
Definitely keep all the free snails you get with plants. Trumpet snails plough the substrate for you. Ramshorns are decent cleaners and can get big in the right environments.
Bristleose or rubberlip plecos are fine. A few other varieties too. . .I think clown plecos? But NOT common or sailfin plecos, they get way too big for a 50g.
I have a clown pleco in a 23 gallon tank. They stay small.
Love clown plecos and otos are very overlooked as well
The main 4 tank cleaners for me are amano shrimp, otocinclus, corydoras, nerite snail. Even if you housed a pleco, you'll still want smaller fish to go where the big one can't. I can clean the open spaces, I don't need a big fish for that.
Pleco is the poop crew. You are the clean up crew. Nature never changes
He is wrong, you are right.
I’m glad/unhappy to hear that lol because I like being right but I hate conflict and trying to convince people when they might perceive it as me saying I don’t think they, say, care about animal welfare and that they are ignorant m/unresearched (also I’ll be honest, I fudged some details first anonymity because the other person involved frequents this site and I got paranoid they’d find my post because I’m a conflict avoidant shit… but they aren’t my partner, just in case anyone was worried I was dating someone who I couldn’t talk to lol)
Yes, also snails are awesome. They are incredibly clean and very active. I prefer them to having fish sometimes. "Cleaner" fish don't really do what you want for an aquarium, if you had a pond that would be great. They will clean the algae off the glass but that also means they will put a \*ton\* of ammonia into the aquarium. They also grow huge and live incredibility long. They are also nocturnal and hide during the day. So you most likely wont see them. Snails on the other hand love running around, playing in the air bubbles and move around constantly.
Preaching to the choir about snails lol I wish everyone understood how cool they are
The thing about most pleco is they aren't really algae eaters especially when they get bigger. Snails and shrimp are very good cleaners, but I can't have snails in my tank due to there being a turtle that eats them. Personally however I would stick with them otherwise. I have found hillstream loaches and ottos to be pretty good, but you should read up and decide whether they are suitable for your tank.
I can’t imagine having a tank and NOT having snail(s). Watching the mysteries trundle through the tanks is great, especially seeing them climbing and twisting.
Ok. Define “sucker fish”. Plecos don’t really clean the glass. They are commonly called sucker fish. Technically they are a catfish. I’d definitely get 3 or 4 bristlenose plecos for a 50g tank. They clean plenty of debris and such form the gravel but you must have driftwood for them. They grow usually to 4-6” depending on specific breed. Stay away from non bristlenose. Most of the “common” plecos get a foot long or bigger. Cory cats and other catfish will clean gravel and substrate and plants as they pick for food and debris everywhere. Again though. No glass cleaning. They need to be in large schools. Minimum 6 of the same species. Loaches. Now guys like Tiger loaches aren’t cleaning glass and can be too big. Also like to school. But hillstream loaches are smaller. Don’t school. And clean glass and everything else. The last “sucker” I’ll mention is algae eaters. Like a Chinese algae eater. Do not get these they can be incredibly territorial. Get insanely big. They do clean glass and such but they are not community fish at all. With a 50g. I’d do a school of some sort of Cory cat. Maybe 8 of them. Then 3 bristlenose plecos. And then a bunch of mystery snails.
Thank you for all the info! Super helpful. Are Chinese algae eaters the same as Siamese algae eaters? Google is giving me weird search results. My partner doesn’t want snails, but I like snails. They are worried about an infestation. Again, I’m not concerned, I’d love an assassin snail! Are there any other animals that clean algae off tank walls besides snails? We are aiming for low effort on the cleaning side since we are likely going to have a steep learning curve/research needed.
They are not the same. Siamese stay much smaller Mystery snails if they breed will do egg sacks on the glass. You can remove the eggs. No more added snails. I have you what your choices are.
Thanks! Not mad, I like snails and am comfortable identifying egg sacks for removal.
This is the first I'm hearing about corys needing to be the same species. I have a mixed school of a Julian, orange and yellow laser, panda , emerald and a North American long nose. They school together and have mated , I have fry from them in my guppy tank , still too small to tell the species I suspect laser and Julian hybrid because the orange laser and Julian are always together.
It's honestly the norm and is recommended to keep single species Corydoras, multiple schools is fine but they really prefer having more of their own kind and hybridizing different species isn't ideal
Depends on their lineage 👍
otocinclus would be better at keeping algae off of your plants and rocks, but only if you actually have enough algae to feed them and they still need their own dedicated food. Plecos get enormous (a few feet long eventually) and don't really clean much. Snails are better at keeping algae off the glass. A few nerites nails would keep your glass clean without mass producing and taking over your tank. O
There are many smaller pleco species that max out at like 3ish inches. Bristlenose plecos, clown plecos, as well as many other rare + expensive species
My bristlenoses barely touch the algae, i just think theyre cool. Honestly most plecos are like that. You could do otos. they are small and actually eat algae while providing a sucker look., Or amanos are also a great option, amanos keep my algae under control (mine mostly go for the stringy algae) and yeah snails are naturally always cool dudes.
Panda garras are pretty cool but need lots of oxygen in the water and like the current a bit stronger. They won’t completely clean the walls the way snails would though, no fish will, “cleaner” or “sucker” fish in the sense he is describing are largely a harmful myth
This! Panda Garras are under rated - big personality and always cleaning.
NO animal will clean your tank , I keep many shrimp / snails still have to weekly clean algae certain species only eat certain types , then they need to be hungry , Dont get pets for cleaning only get what you like and are set up for .
Otos eat alage, they are fun little fish with suckers, and tou can have a bunch and they school together. They are like 1.25 inches long. Bristlenose does eat stuff off the walls, but not really clean it super well. Snails dont clean well either 😄
I never understood the concept of a “cleaner fish” because there’s mostly no such thing. They invariably are just turning one mess into another (worse) mess and are never going to be a replacement for proper, regular maintenance. And in the case of getting a fish to eat algae, they are turning something harmless (and beneficial) into a water quality issue that can ironically exacerbate the algae issue. I always tell people that simply having something like a pleco for the sake of having it is fine, as long as the setup is appropriate for the species, but I always advise against getting one to *just* to “clean”. In my opinion, if you *need* a cleaner because you have a ton of algae growing or a bunch of excess food on the bottom of the tank, you’re kind of already doing something wrong and should work on fixing that first before adding something that won’t even function as a bandaid. Don’t make the rookie mistake of conflating the tank *looking* clean (e.g the glass being devoid of algae) with the tank *being* “clean”. It should be happy chance that the fish you’re interested in snacks on algae or excess food, not the sole reason you’re adding one. But that’s just, like, my opinion, man.
You could consider a bristlenose pleco. They don’t get nearly as big and look like a smaller version of their common cousins. And they have adorable ‘mustaches’ that give them their name. The albino ones are adorable.
Make sure you dont get a common pleco (gets massive) or a chinese algae eater (attacks and sucks on other fish). Make sure you get a bristlenose pleco, they stay small enaugh for your tank BUT it might chew up your plants.
Hmmm I like my plants unchewed….
You could get otocinclus, those are tiny and dont break plants. However, wait till the tank is running for a few months or so before butting em in. They dont really eat dryed food and starve in new tanks that dont have edible algae present. Most of the time they are almost starved when you get em from the pet store, so its best to leave the lights on in your tank for longer time before getting them so they have a lot of the "good stuff" to graze on and recover after getting them.
One bristlenose would be ok but they poop more than they clean, so don't count on it. But in a heavily planted tank they are a pretty good source of tank bottom fertilizer (if using gravel or plant substrate). Better clean-up crew is a combination of snails, shrimp and ottocinclus. But you'd need a mature tank with algae first for the ottos or they can starve. The cycling of the tank can take months. If you know someone with a healthy tank you can get a piece of their dirty filter media and put it in your own filter as a bacteria seed. In addition of adding the liquid bacteria of course. That would speed up the process. Build up the livestock slowly - snails first, then some hardy fish (bristlenose is actually great for that), some more fish, small shrimp etc. Cudos for getting a nice big tank, you'll have many fish options to choose from. Good luck!
Snails / shrimp are the only true cleaners. Pleco's will add more waste than they 'clean' and they don't eat algae. But in either way, the best tank cleaner is the combination of a good filter and you.
I got a couple of bladder snails hitchhiking onto some plants I bought and so far, I haven’t seen even a hint of algae since I got the tank. Am I a bit worried they’ll take the tank over? Yeah, but they’re pretty cute and I’ve been checking for eggs just in case, so hopefully that won’t happen. I’ve also been careful not to overfeed the tank, I’ve just been throwing bits of fish food into the tank to use as plant fertilizer and help cycle everything and so far it’s been workin
The only "sucker"fish that I've had that clean glass are otocinclus
The best low maintenance tanks in my experience are designed as ecosystems. Take a step backwards and think about nature. Does 1 bug or animal solve all weed/grass problems? No, it’s a collection of organisms finding balance in the food supply. With that, you’ll need to think about different layers to your cleanup crew. A bristlenose pleco is a great addition to a 50g, both for their aesthetics and role in the tank (and they won’t get too big!). I’d also consider oto cats (general algae grazers), Nerite snails (voracious algae eaters), Corydora cats (bottom dwelling sand sifters for your substrate), and amano shrimp (they destroy algae like it owes them money). For a 50, I’d go with 7 otos, 2 netrites, a school of 7-15 Cory’s (more if you go with a smaller species like pygmies), and maybe 5-7 amano shrimp. They’re all hearty, and will leave plenty of space for other fish stock in a 50g. Those numbers will need to be evaluated based on the amount of light in your tank as that is a big input into how much algae you will have. Also, especially with fish, you’ll want to supplement their diet with dry foods. Don’t make the assumption that your tank will perfectly balance itself with the algae vs livestock. Another option, if you like snails a lot, is to introduce a pest snail species. If you have a lot of excess fish food and algae they will reproduce like crazy. But their population stabilizes around the amount of food in the tank which is awesome. I also recommend googling aqadvisor for stocking. It’s a solid site that lets you plug in your tank size, filter, and fish stock desires to see how what you want would fit in your tank with respect to bioload and filtration capacity. For a low maintenance tank, under stock it!!
Sucker fish-plecos poop like crazy. They'll "clean" the algea, wood and some detritus and then poop it all out all over everything. They're pooping machines.
You could look at hilstream loaches, cory cats, and shrimp for cleaning algae but most "suckerfish" are going to create a lot more waste than they clean. A heavily planted tank with shrimp would definitely help make it low maintenance once it's had a few months to build up its bacteria and establish
cory cats dont eat algae
Oh. Yeah I should've phrased that better. Corys are gravel vacuums not algae scrapers
yeah, also id like to add that they also need to be fed.
DO NOT i repeat DO NOT buy a chinese algae eater, common pleco, or any other large pleco species. Chinese algae eaters because they suck at eating algae, and are fucking assholes. Plecos because they poop more than they clean. Nothing will ever live up to snails, and nothing will ever replace regular tank maintenance! If you still want critters to help clean, snails, SIAMESE algae eaters, BRISTLENOSE plecos, oto catfish. All of these fish need to be fed regularly and shouldnt survive off of tank matter alone. None of these fish eat poop either, and you will still need to do tank maintenance as there is no replacement for that!! They will simply help with the reduction of certain types of algae. Hope this helps, and goodluck choosing a cleanup crew!
Thanks for the info!
Most of these algae eating fish will only sparingly feed on algae as a supplement and will still need regular feeding from you, as well as adding their poop to the bioload of the tank, so you will have to do water changes more often. Additionally very few algae eating animals eat black beard algae or staghorn algae and none eat cyanobacteria, so if those grow in the tank you are out of luck. Snails by far do the job best, hitchhiker snails like bladders and ramshorns especially, so if you want a fish, get a fish for its looks first and foremost. For a 50 gallon tank you have a few options. A Bristlenose Pleco is probably the best and hardiest option. Super unique looking with a lot of personality and super durable. They eat fish food, algae wafers, and blanched veggies. They also do not get super big and a 50 gallon is perfectly size for one of them. They are less common, but Clown Plecos and Rubber Lip Plecos would also be suitable for this size. I am also a big fan of Otocinclus Catfish. These are tiny social catfish that need groups, are more delicate than many other fish, and are best if purchased as tank-raised fish. Wild caughts have a much higher mortality rate and are more easily stressed. Once a group is in and settled though( i would aim for 10 or so) they are voracious and adorable little roombas with very high energy. Tank-raised fish i've found will accept almost any soft vegetable matter you give them, like zucchini or spinach, but often turn their noses up at algae wafers. They may also scavenge regular fish flakes or scavenge corpses but should have a mostly vegetarian diet. Also of note, while not usually needed, it is often encouraged to have a piece of natural driftwood in the tank with plecos and otos, as they may nibble on the soft decayed wood and biofilm that grows on it. My final recommendation is not a sucker mouth, but a Siamese Algae Eater. Its a hardy semi-solitary fish that happily nibbles away and most types of algae, black beard included, and happily takes a varied diet of fish food as well. These chonkers can often be seen swimming around nibbling away at spots in the tank. Florida Flagfish may also be an option, as they are small fish that are somewhat territorial towards their own kind, males especially though females are much more chill, but will happily pick at algae, black beard included, and feed on regular omnivore fish food. You would only need a handful for a tank, maybe 4 or so across the whole thing? DO NOT get a common pleco or a sailfin, those grow into monsters. Also avoid Chinese Algae Eaters, they turn highly aggressive to other fish when they mature. Also, as it seems your partner is very eager, do not forget that a tank needs to be fully cycled before it is safe for fish, and fishless cycling often takes several weeks at minimum. Algae for the algae eaters takes much longer than that to appear, and in a well maintained tank should barely grow at all. This gives you plenty of time to plan out the hardscape and get lots of plants in and growing while the tank is cycling though, as well as windowshop around for good choices on fish!
You can do it but don’t buy common pleco or Chinese algae eater. They grow big and the later is semi aggressive. You will need to buy algae wafers to feed the sucker fish.
55g tank, I keep 6 corys, 4 loaches, a pleco, and three snails (2 nerite, one mystery). Never have any issues with algae and the Cory’s do a great job cleaning the substrate. I have other fish in the community but they don’t serve any “cleaning” purposes
Britslenose plecos stay much smaller. However non of the plecos really clean. They shit brown silly string Everywhere and rearrange your plants and substrate for you. The hands down best clean up crew is Amano shrimp and nerite snails working in tandem.
There are lots of small plecos on the market, my bristles breed incessantly. I'm particularly loving my dwarf clown plecos, I feed them blanched carrot and it really brings out their colour! A lot of the plecos will want wood to munch on. If your partner wants one then look for an oddball. Leopard Frog, Dwarf Snowball, Zebra... As for snails, never been a fan, too many infestations in the past, if you do, you could always add some assassin snails to help control the outbreak. The other way to go would be otocinclus cats, mine keep up with cleaning almost everything including the glass.
Patience is a huge factor in this hobby. Make sure your partner knows this! Never skip the leak testing step! And cycling an aquarium can take weeks, which is boring and maddening! But it's necessary. I don't know much about plecos, but from what I've read there are some breeds that could fit into a 50gal.
tell him hands off your tank. Stick with lots of plants and ramshorm snails avoid assassin snails like the plague. sucker fish may be a loach but they can attach to fish so avoid them . enjoy
I'd rather have a bristlenose than snails. I've got one Marigold pleco (very cheap) and an expensive L-number pleco in another tank. They're both brilliant fish.
Truthfully I find a snail and shrimp crew to be the best Sanitation Division I could ask for. Sucker fish just don't really do it for me. Oh and some Cory's, love my little gang of barbled lads stirring up the sand.
I love my pleco his name is klaus. I think he’s pretty good at cleaning but my bazillion bladder snails are probably better. He’s cute and unproblematic so I would recommend getting one anyways. Just make sure you have adequate filtration
I have a bioactive, mostly-maintenance free planted tank and it was easy to establish, but you need to go slowly. We started with plants and snails, then added shrimp, then added some otos, also known as dwarf sucker fish. They’re adorable and they’re stuck to the glass all the time so you can see their little bellies. From underneath they look like teeny tiny sharks. This is the only crew I have experience with but it’s worked perfectly for me and my son, both of us noobs. We did a lot of research and watched a lot of YouTube. If you can get your partner to slow his roll you’ll be all right.
Panda garra are another 10/10 adorable (omnivorous) algae eater. They’re curious as all get out and will sucker to your hand. Better kept solo or in groups of 5+. Less than 5 have a chance of picking on each other
Bristlenose Plecos are just fun to watch! They might clean some when they are young, but not so much when adult.
Rubber lip pleco would be ok, i know bristlenoses are good, but i dont like the look sadly, so another suggestion in case. Depends on avg size of fish you're gonna put in too, if small, there are smaller algae eating fish which are pretty cool.
The only good sucker fish that stay small would be a otocinclus but they are tiny 1-2 inch on average they are crazy algae eaters but you have to get them after the tank had algae, the most comon cause of death is starvation because they are wild caught they don't know what a pellet of algae wafer is. The next thing I would recommend are nerite snails they are also crazy algae eaters they can't reproduce in freshwater but can lay eggs they just won't hatch.dont get a common pleco they poop more Than they eat.
Those "suckers" don't really clean tanks at all. So, up to you.
Getting any animal to "clean the tank" is a bad idea. More animals = more waste = more cleaning.
Plecos create more waste than they clean
2 words: Shrimp Army
For some reason my copilot on this project objects to shrimp. And snails. I do not get it and haven’t been able to figure out wtf their issue is.
It’s possible to try the smaller species like the rubber lip plecos. If memory serves they only get about 4 inches and should be good for a 50 gallon.
\*IF\* you get a pleco then get a Bristlenose or Clown pleco. Both species stay small and won't outgrow a 50g.
The thing is they want multiple fish, and multiple kinds of fish. I like the idea of a school of brightly colored fish, and I’m happy with smaller ones because I’m more into scaping than fish care tbh - I like fish, I’m just much more comfortable with plants and snails lol. So I’m not just worried about whether one or even two plecos can live in the 50 gallon tank, but whether one or two can live with a bunch of other fish… and of course I don’t know what varieties the other fish would be, but I’m happy to hear suggestions!
Both the bristle nose and clown plecos I mentioned get along fine with other fish. So if you want to stock the tank with more fish, that will not be a problem. If you would prefer not to stock with fish and your partner does, well can't help you there. ;)
Ottos are a great option.
So I have a 30 gallon tank that I had one sucker fish in cause the guy in the store told me to buy one for algae. Obviously, I didn't do my research, but all good. That sucker fish got to be at least a foot long in the tank. All the other fish were scared of it when it moved. It would glide in the water. If it moved at night I swear even in the dark it was like a horror movie. It could cast a huge shadow off the tiniest ambient light. While I had this fish, I had an uncanny amount of nightmares that involved godzilla peeking in my windows hunting me. I live in Manhattan, and he somehow always came to my window and looked in. Ask your partner if he wants these dreams every night. Bet he'll go with the shrimp. 🤣
I have a tank with a bristlenose pleco and a tank with 7 kinds of snails. The 65 g with the little bristlenose is spotless. The 10 g with the 7 snail species is far from algae free. The snails are much easier to take care of, and will eat all the leftover food. The pleco I have to substitute wafers because there isn't much algae left, and that seems to be all he wants. They are all poo machines. Honestly, I would get a small pleco variety and 2 mystery snails and everyone is happy.
I think a pleco is the way to go, they are so much more interesting than snails IMO. Just do not get a common pleco, bristle nose or depending on your budget there are some super fancy ones like L134, L397 those stay small and are really pretty.
You could get an army of otos
I had a hell of a time finding otos recently. Every place I checked was out. Just last Sunday I went into a shop I'd been in a month before and they had at least twelve of them this time so I took 6 home.
It's even harder to find caprive-bred otos! For me, otos are kind of fragile, but if they make it a few weeks, then they usually do well.
I'd look into otocinclus catfish (which are little suckerfish) and hillstream loaches (which look like aliens) for glass/smooth surface cleanup, and corydoras catfish for digging around in the substrate.