# I need an algae eater for my guppy tank. Help?



## BD217 (Jun 28, 2007)

Hi!
I have a 75 gallon aquarium with 3 adult female guppies and roughly 35+ young guppies of all sizes. I have 3 amazon swords (1 large, 2 small), about 15 aponogetons, and a driftwood arrangement. The lighting is a Reptisun 5.0 that runs 12 hours a day, the filter is a Rena Filstar XP4, and substrate is sand. There is no lid on the aquarium. It's 70-75*F at all times, and the water is pretty calm. The filter outlet is below the waterline and I don't have any airstones.

I think that covers everything. :wink: 

This is my guppy breeding tank. I'm looking for something -- anything -- to take care of the algae that grows on the glass, sand, and plants. I'm not too particular about WHAT it is, as long as it doesn't breed out of control, take over the tank, get too large, or eat my guppies/guppy fry or live plants. And because I don't have a lid, it also can NOT leave the water. :shock: I don't care if it is a snail, shrimp, fish, etc. I'd like it to be as _small_ and _efficient_ as possible, yet I'd prefer to not have snails. I'm open to *all* suggestions, though!

I was looking at the pitbull plecos. Any other options or suggestions? I don't mind having several to get the job done, I just don't want it to turn into an algae-eater-breeding-tank, and I don't want to have to build a pond to contain it later in it's life. :shock: (That is, NO large plecos! Yikes.)

Thank you!


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Welcome to Fishforum.com.:wave:

Otocinclus catfish?


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## lioness501 (Jan 9, 2007)

yeah otos r good, or clown pleco, they dont get too big. ancistrus? i have a little clown pleco and he does a great job, and he looks good too!!


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## Mating Slinkys (Apr 17, 2007)

My Little Gold Ancistrus (Clarence) is an awsome algae cleaner. I didn't get him for the purpose of algae cleanup, but when i put him in i had a bit of an algae problem, within 2 days it was all gone! He loves the stuff and i don't believe that ancisturs get too big either. He also loves potato too, when there's not much algae around and i pop a slice in, he sits on it all day!


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## leifthebunny (Mar 13, 2007)

Farlowella catfish are good for handling algae.


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## BD217 (Jun 28, 2007)

Thank you! :mrgreen:  Does anybody else have suggestions or opinions? Is there any information on pitbull plecos or where to get one? I haven't been able to find too much info on them. Again, thank you!


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## fish_4_all (Nov 13, 2006)

Well ht eonly thing I see with plecos is they may deicde the move your plants for you especially since you have sand and they may be able to easily uproot the plants. 

Other than that, any of smaller pleco would work that have been names as well as BN plecos. I would even think that 2 BN or other smaller plecos and 6-8 otos should work really well to control most of any algae you might get as far as the soft stuff.


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## soco1125 (Jan 5, 2007)

cherry shrimp! they eat algae like it's going out of style, don't add much bioload, and are just plain cute. they won't harm your baby guppies and the adult guppies will probably eat some of the baby shrimp when they reproduce. yes, they will reproduce, but the good thing about cherries is you can sell them to your lfs


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## leifthebunny (Mar 13, 2007)

soco1125 said:


> cherry shrimp! they eat algae like it's going out of style, don't add much bioload, and are just plain cute.


Though I like Cherry Shrimp, I would recommend Amano (Caridina Japonica) as they get larger. Cherry shrimp also tend to hide as much as possible where the amano are willing to pull the algae off glass. I'd recommend a LOT though.


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