Not everyone has room for a pleco, especially the common or sailfin variety. Here is a small collection of alternative algae eating fish for your aquarium. Enjoy! FOR EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS CHECK OUT MY PATREON PAGE: www.patreon.com/EverydayAquarist
Good information! Is there a more common name for Panda Gara? I my state, there are Animart, Petsmart, and a few other fish retailers, but I have never seen that name. One major drawback of buy fish online is that they tend to be smaller than the size described. I can’t pick them before I buy. But if they are affordable to my budget, I will certainly buy a bunch of them because I have algae everywhere. UV sterilizers don’t get rid of them, especially the black/green/red beard algae. Will this species eat the black beard algae,too? Thank you!
What a weird video for TH-cam to recommend me. Not saying its a bad video, but we just set up a tank specially for two bristlenose plecos for the 8-year-old because he loves catfish lol
Just a couple of things I would take issue with, you did not include the Siamese Algae Eater which must rank pretty highly and secondly you warned about the breeding rate of shrimp and you might become overrun with them. Whilst that may be true of the Cherry Shrimp it's certainly not true of Amano Shrimps. They will berry up but the larval stage needs to go into brackish water to develop before returning to fresh water as young adults. They simply will not breed in a fresh water aquarium.
Had a 90 gallon that was getting too much sun. Algae went nuts, pleco ignored the agae and ate cichlid pellets and flake. Got about an inch of algae growing on everything in the tank. Was looking gross. Asian dude ran this shop that i'd wander into from time to time. Not my usual shop. He had garra pingi for like 2 dollars each. I picked up a handful of them and put them in the tank. After the first hour they had eaten little trails zigzagging thru all the algae. By morning all the algae was eaten. Had to buy a big bag of algae pellets for them after that. Not the prettiest of fish, bud damn could they clean a tank.
No,they also eat the algae on the wood. They will eat algae off SOME plants..but others they wont. They also will never take on hair algae,blue green algae. But the stuff that looks like lush lawn on the walls of the tank? Sure,they keep that clear.
Very informative! I also love otocinclus and didn't know they should be kept in groups ,so thankyou. My understanding about nerite snails is that they are saltwater snails, that can only reproduce in saltwater, but can live quite nicely in freshwater or brackish ,which is nice for people that dont want snails to take over their tank I love the pleco rating scale!
True. Reduce nitrates and phosphates. Water changes help,but not a cure. A bigger biofilter and pump and I found roots of live plants like Pothos really do a number on algae. But!..only if they are getting very bright light themselves and growing fast. The catch.
Lol, don't use lights? Plenty of us have perfect water conditions but still get algae due to lighting. If someone likes having the lights on, why not get an algae eater?
Keriel Watson Practically every tank still gets a very gradual coating of film algae on their panels but that growth is drastically slowed if nitrates and phosphates aren’t present. Tank lights are only one part of the equation and if the other two parts are lacking, then algae simply won’t grow. Lastly, excess phosphates can still be present even if a test kit reads zero. It’s just trapped in algae for the moment. This is why most well kept planted tanks have squeaky clean panels. The plants in the tank absorb all of the nutrients and even though the lighting is extremely bright, there’s no food left over for nuisance algae.
The fascinating part about snails is how they make there own oil other wise they would run out if there weren't enough plants. They store it as a sugar then they make alcohol after they convert it to oil.
I have a pair of neon gobies and they are little characters mine do sit on the front of the glass and munch away, they have cute frog faces been my best purchase upto now and they love been around my corydoras and not fazed by any of the other fish in their tank! I have a rainbow shark and siamese loach they leave little patterns on the glass algea in my second tank and i also have an albino red fin shark in a third tank!
Nerites for glass, Amano Shrimp for everything else. Cherry shrimp are small enough to get picked off by any fish that feels like it. Also get Otos because dey cute.
I hate plecos, from where I came from they kinda scary and often grow to the size of an arm. They were not agressive but I hate them. Had to buy one for my tank and it get sparkly clean overnight, but the poop is everywhere 😨 had to relocate it since it start to attack the betta. I don't mind corydoras (which is weird bcoz they basically look the same) but cannot handle a pleco. The pleco was living in my water container now. It's a five inch spotted one.
I've never found Otocinclas to be very effective, whilst not being very cheap nor highly interesting. Shrimp are great but can become prey with the wrong fish. I'm not keen on snails. I'd really like to try the pandas and borneos though.
Everyone seems to had their giant pleco somehow either from the tank or pond your family kept from your childhood lmao But to all seriousness, just a friendly reminder, don't throw them in a wild when you got the excess of them because they are invasive and have almost no predators. Keeping them as your friend in home and make their life as easy as they can is the best that we could do for them
BimBim I don’t even understand how people can ‘throw them’ out into the wild. I have attachments to my fish and they are part of the family. I did research when I got my pleco and knew what I was in for when I got him as a baby.
@@thephantomdragon big Problem is, Alot people who get into the hobby dont relly know what there doing so when the shop keeper says "this pleco would be good for keeping your tank clean" even tho he knows the size of the tank wouldut keep for long term they just want to sell. seen it to many times. before i moved i had 6 tank that had fully grown plecos in them got them all for free since people dont know what to do when pleco gets to big. sad thing is. shop wont buy them so people either throw them in wild "which is big no no" or they kill them. people just need to educate themselfs before going into the hobby thats all.
I accidentally bought 4 once bc I confused them for Otocinclus and overnight they totally scrubbed the aquarium clean. It was literally insane, but I had to take them back because they were too aggressive for my oto.
Welp, k have 2 sae in my tank, they keep it clean, and leave my anubias alone🤷♂️ never played with moss due to research. Dont like the idea of it. But theyre great algae eaters
Warning: I wish I had seen more info about this before purchasing. Nerite snails, while very active and great at eating up algae have one downside. Their little white eggs!! These snails lay eggs like crazy, everywhere! And the eggs are very difficult to remove, especially if they're on your rocks and driftwood.. they're embedded and you need a razor blade to remove them, only to see 50 more the next week. Also the eggs won't hatch, only in brackish water. Something to ponder before purchasing.
Dave Scheer Puffers also tend to be hate machines. If you have other fish in the tank, I don’t recommend adding a puffer. They’ll also eat the adult snails as snails are a favorite of most puffers.
@@jdogeddy98 You either have all males, or all females (which didn't get pregnant soon before you got them). They can breed in freshwater, but the eggs will only hatch in brackish water yet still leave a mess if conceived & laid.
The fact that nerite eggs/larvae cannot successfully come to term in FW is one of the main reasons I recommend them over rabbits, trapdoor, mystery, apple, bladder or even malaysian trumpet snails, all of which can get out of hand in their own ways if left unattended in an aquarium suited for them. If your fish can find/reach them it's just another source of enrichment and protein for them, at least the eggs don't go to waste that way!
I have a bristlenose pleco! He’s really pretty but he hides under a rock all day, so I can’t say he does much for the aquarium. I also have a twig catfish and he does a lot more for the tank (as well as look awesome). He’s always out and about eating stuff off the glass and rocks. :)
A couple of fish you left off your list I think should be included are flying foxes and TRUE Siamese Algae Eaters. They both are fun and playful fish and the SAE's are also one of the few that actually eat black beard algae.
Good info video, i like it. Thumbs up. I have a bristle nose albino, amano shrimp and bamboo shrimp. Along with the other fish i have. But i did not get them to clean for me but with me. ( pleco just eats the drift wood and waffers, it wants nothing to do with my the algae :p ) I have very little algae to begin with. In my opinion if someone has an algae bloom, or just cant get it to go away, look for the problem, can be loads of things, but most of the time its to high and to much light or overfeeding that causes an excess of nutrients in the water. But when you have it in controle and you find a balance, all these fish and shrimp do an amazing job at keeping the algae away.
In my tanks I chose to go with the farlowella catfish, ghost shrimp, and a zebra snail for my main algae eaters, I only have 1 pleco which is a rubbernose but it's mainly for looks in the tank
I think rainbow shark is one of the best algae eater for an aggressive tank. I've kept one with oscar, convicts & severum. Keeps my 90G tank algae free.
You are lucky they did not get eaten by the Oscar! The Oscars Zi heard & have seen are very ferocious & would attack anything that moves! I believe I had 1 rainbow shark before, but It did not survive. It was too small to be adequately “hardy” in a new tank.
It's the type of snail. I bought the wrong plant for an empty tank and ended up with endless snails. A full month before fish which means i never fed the fucking snails, and they did just fine. God, they ended up in the filter and absolutely everywhere else. Some types of snail won't breed, though, and there are assassin snails that clean the tank of snails, as well.
Entertaining and educational! I had to sell back my sail fin pleco due to him outgrowing my 30 gallon planted tank, so now I need other options besides yet another pleco! I have snails that came off of my plants, I have 3 otocinclus, but that's not enough for my tank!
My gold fish became algee eaters. They peck at the glass until it's all gone. It sucks because I want to keep algee on the back glass to clean the water but they keep eating it all. Fuckers.
I'm looking for another Algae eater for my 5 gal Betta's tank. I have two incredibly lazy Nerites that don't do much more than lay eggs EVERYWHERE. And the Pleco? Poops. Everywhere. Nonstop. It will ALWAYS have a string of poo trailing behind it, leaving poo everywhere in the tank in mass amounts, and it's utterly ridiculous. It needs to go, as the poo is honestly getting way too much to keep tabs on.
Plecos should _never_ be in a 5 gallon tank, not even the smallest species belongs in one. And yup, they are nearly as misunderstood by the average hobbyist as goldfish (equally dirty, need minimum 20-30 gallon long, not a fishbowl). I'm so sorry you were sold the idea that they are good as cleanup crew!
@@annethornton9938 Honestly though... I'd even discussed my doubts with the fishkeeping 'professional' at the pet store, and he was quite adamant that I get a pleco, because it would be sooo helpful. But nope, just a waste of money. Like good Lord, I spent less time cleaning up the poo of the three large dogs I had than this dude. It's not anywhere near worth it when he doesn't even hardly touch the algae... It's still very tiny, barely over an inch and a half still, but I think I'll take it to my father's house for his large tank, since he's got one already. Though I'm concerned however, as one of my Nerites fell upside down yet again, little clutz, and I righted it up as soon as I noticed, so at most it was like that for a few hours while I was asleep, but now it's not moved since I righted it. In the morning if it's still not moved I'm going to remove and inspect it to make sure it's not dead, as when I'd flipped it, it still looked rather healthy, but in case.
Awesome video. I ended up getting the Panda Garra because of your recommendation. It just sucks that where I am, they are selling it for $18 ea. I thought it was a bit pricey. Oh well they are as you described, very active during daytime and eating up algae like crazy. Although I haven't seen them eat up the string algae I have in my tank, mostly ones in the glass.
I like plecos a better in my opinion because i feel like my fish with kill the others algae eaters, i had 3 snails and my fish killed them, plecos have tough skin that can literally cut you, thats why my blood parrots, Jack Dempseys, and convict dont mess with the pleco
I like the choice of fish here, and agree with a lot of what you said, but i think importantly you missed off a fish very similar to a pleco and also very entertaining at a much smalles size, what about hillstream or butterfly loaches? very good algae eaters, a lot smaller then plecos and do very well solo or in groups.
As it turns out I did include this fish when I made this video but my footage was corrupted and I couldn't reshoot it, otherwise this fish would have featured.
Thank you, I’ve been looking for something that would do the job of a pleco but not nearly as big as one. I am now going to get me some Garra’s because of this video.
No kidding! I looked into how to breed them and whew! you'd need a dedicated, specialized setup for them to transition to all the different salinities they need.
A shrimp or snail problem is easy to fix, get a firgure-8 freshwater puffer. They stay small and are VORACIOUS eaters. I had one in a 55-gallon semi-brackish (1 teaspoon freshwater salt to 10-gallons of water). That single puffer took care of the excessive shrimp and snails.
The common/sailfin get up to a foot to a foot and a half in length... Wrong they can get up to 3 feet long in the wild with those in captivity rarely break 2 foot. They get a lot bigger than you think mate
I recently got a baby bristlenose he's the cutest thing ever lmao. I'm wanting to get some other cleaners for his tank as well. I've heard rabbit snails can't go in a planted tank which is bad cause my tank is planted
Be careful with chinese algae eaters. They may eat SOME algae when they're young, but they go full on goldfish mode when they get older, plus they will harass any tank mates
Where did you get them, and for about how much, if you did not mind to share. I have not heard or seen that name any of the local fish stores. I need some! I have algae in every single tank!
Rabbit Snail. 1 out of 5 Plec rating. Nerite snails. 4 out of 5 Plec rating. Goby. 2 out of 5 Plec rating. Amano/ Cherry shrimp. 2 out of 5 Plec rating. Otocinclus. 4 out of 5 Plec rating. Panda Garra. 5 out of 5 Plec rating.
One of the feeder goldfish I gave her in now 5 or 6 inches so they're buddies. I'll often catch the turtle napping snuggled up with the pleco and goldfish.
I find the rams-horn snails make a pretty good clean up crew too. They eat algae, uneaten food, dead plant matter, and some claim to eat fish detritus. Sure, they can breed rapidly in the established aquarium and are considered illegal in some states. But I say if you get one from one of your new aquatic plants by accident, you're lucky.
Justin Titus I wouldn’t recommend putting a bristle nose in anything smaller than a 10 gallon at the absolute bare minimum, preferably a 20+ gallon tank for them to live comfortably
Depends on the species, the smallest species is Nannoplecostomus elenorae which grows to about 1.8cm SL the largest is Acanthicus hystrix or A. adonis which can grow to 1 meter long standard length. There are over 1000 currently classified species of Loricariidae and hundreds more undescribed. Generalising is like saying all carnivores are obligate carnivores.
I don't call them common plecos unless I'm talking about the aquarium hobby. When talking about the invasive population in Florida, for example, I call them armored catfish.
I have a rainbow shark and the suction fish. They love each other! They clean they're tank very well. They're also attracted to the pump filtering the water.
My Rhinogobius (goby) eat snails and Amanos. I will put a group of stiphodon in it. Important: at least 6 of these guys. If they fight, I switch on the powerhead. Fighting stops immediately. Btw my females are more fighting than the males (2f/4m).
You didn’t talk about the ancistrus en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancistrus, it looks lika a pleco, but the pleco is african and the ancistrus comes from the amazon river, the pleco grows up to 50cm when the ancistrus will stay at about 8-10cm max in an aquarium
I have two Nerite snails in my small tank and I love them, my only dislike is that I ended up with 1 male and 1 female so they are constantly breeding and laying eggs. While the eggs never hatch, they are annoying to see these small white dots everywhere and are hard to clean off of whatever surface they lay on. They get around to everywhere tho, large leaf plants, substrate, rocks, and glass so they are amazing at getting around! I love both of them but my only dislike is the constant egg laying since I couldn't tell who was who in sex, otherwise a great option!
algae not a problem, its natural , its natures way of trying to fix something thats out of balance in your tank. to much minerals and such can cause different types to grow. ✌
I just bought a green phantom Pleco for my 35 gallon apisto tank. I can’t WAIT for him to arrive. Rabbit snails are super cool. Love those cute little faces.
dragon thunder 1 I found a false zebra Pleco L129 at pet supermarket for $24. I highly recommend picking up one if you can find it. It’s a beautiful Pleco that stays small. I have a picture of him on reddit. My username is shanedabot if you want to check him out
Can u plz help me? I have a 30lit tank with one goldfish that has grown to almost 4 or 5 inches, can I buy a companion like a algae eater or another goldfish or the tank is small?
If your going to buy plecos that get big, find a local pet store that will buy them from you. My local store will buy my big plecos for $20, and they sell them to people with huge tanks and ponds, and snails work best. I have 8 snails in my 55 gallon, and my tank is spotless. And the snails are massive.
So I have a single purple mystery netrite snail that had TONS of babies. Not sure what to do. Currently in a 10 gal. Freshwater with 1 ghost shrimp, and a fighting fish (name is escaping me at the moment)
Is it ok to keep black snail 🐌 in aquarium with gold fish what you suggest and will this black snail 🐌 will grow I have more than 10 mini snail 🐌 in my aquarium
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Not everyone has room for a pleco, especially the common or sailfin variety. Here is a small collection of alternative algae eating fish for your aquarium. Enjoy!
FOR EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS CHECK OUT MY PATREON PAGE: www.patreon.com/EverydayAquarist
Nice video bro
Good information! Is there a more common name for Panda Gara? I my state, there are Animart, Petsmart, and a few other fish retailers, but I have never seen that name. One major drawback of buy fish online is that they tend to be smaller than the size described. I can’t pick them before I buy. But if they are affordable to my budget, I will certainly buy a bunch of them because I have algae everywhere. UV sterilizers don’t get rid of them, especially the black/green/red beard algae. Will this species eat the black beard algae,too?
Thank you!
@@tiensu1 no the common name is panda garra
An Otto fish is actually not so effective to clean. It only cleans a bit I have a pet Otto and pleco.
Pet stores need to quit over stocking sucker fish that get too big for aquariums and get more clown Plecos that stay small.
Who else thought the pleco was the one talking at the beginning!
Me
Me too.
Me! Lol! I was amused. Was kinda disappointed when I realized it wasn't going to be our host
And me lol
🤣
Подскажите, пожалуйста, совместима ли Гара с креветками?
What are those green color things in 7:49, are they fish?
What a weird video for TH-cam to recommend me. Not saying its a bad video, but we just set up a tank specially for two bristlenose plecos for the 8-year-old because he loves catfish lol
Can I keep Panda Garras with breeding Blue Rams??
Just a couple of things I would take issue with, you did not include the Siamese Algae Eater which must rank pretty highly and secondly you warned about the breeding rate of shrimp and you might become overrun with them. Whilst that may be true of the Cherry Shrimp it's certainly not true of Amano Shrimps. They will berry up but the larval stage needs to go into brackish water to develop before returning to fresh water as young adults. They simply will not breed in a fresh water aquarium.
Yes I was referring to cherry shrimp and I left out siamese algae eater because they can get pretty large
Had a 90 gallon that was getting too much sun. Algae went nuts, pleco ignored the agae and ate cichlid pellets and flake. Got about an inch of algae growing on everything in the tank. Was looking gross. Asian dude ran this shop that i'd wander into from time to time. Not my usual shop. He had garra pingi for like 2 dollars each. I picked up a handful of them and put them in the tank. After the first hour they had eaten little trails zigzagging thru all the algae. By morning all the algae was eaten. Had to buy a big bag of algae pellets for them after that. Not the prettiest of fish, bud damn could they clean a tank.
I have a twig catfish. His name is Twig, he looks like a twig, and eats algea. I like Twig
Me too
One Eyed Ember Tetra i’ve had one since i was four or five. his name is shovel. shovel is good.
Beautiful
They grow big tho
PLECOCITY Rating 😂
I give this vid a 5/5 on the PLECOCITY rating too
😂
To be fair, plecos dont actually eat much algae, they eat wood.
And once big enough they also need there own food or they will eat your plants if they aren't getting enough protein
Depends on the species.
one of my old pleco ate my cory catfish :(
@@mangoeosgive them some mussels twice a week
No,they also eat the algae on the wood. They will eat algae off SOME plants..but others they wont. They also will never take on hair algae,blue green algae. But the stuff that looks like lush lawn on the walls of the tank? Sure,they keep that clear.
Got one rabbit 🐌 in my 180 litre fully planted jungle tank ... Total badass goes all over the tank even up 2 the edge ...
Nice they're cool 😎
Very informative! I also love otocinclus and didn't know they should be kept in groups ,so thankyou. My understanding about nerite snails is that they are saltwater snails, that can only reproduce in saltwater, but can live quite nicely in freshwater or brackish ,which is nice for people that dont want snails to take over their tank I love the pleco rating scale!
Brother those Panda Garra's are absolutely underrated 💯👌 I have one and he is amazing. I also have a Panda Loach
Don’t add fish to deal with algae. Deal with the conditions that cause algae.
Exactly! No Fish eats a lot of algae.
True. Reduce nitrates and phosphates. Water changes help,but not a cure. A bigger biofilter and pump and I found roots of live plants like Pothos really do a number on algae. But!..only if they are getting very bright light themselves and growing fast. The catch.
Lol, don't use lights? Plenty of us have perfect water conditions but still get algae due to lighting. If someone likes having the lights on, why not get an algae eater?
Keriel Watson Practically every tank still gets a very gradual coating of film algae on their panels but that growth is drastically slowed if nitrates and phosphates aren’t present. Tank lights are only one part of the equation and if the other two parts are lacking, then algae simply won’t grow. Lastly, excess phosphates can still be present even if a test kit reads zero. It’s just trapped in algae for the moment. This is why most well kept planted tanks have squeaky clean panels. The plants in the tank absorb all of the nutrients and even though the lighting is extremely bright, there’s no food left over for nuisance algae.
No algae? Simple plant more aquatic plants.
The fascinating part about snails is how they make there own oil other wise they would run out if there weren't enough plants. They store it as a sugar then they make alcohol after they convert it to oil.
Have have a 6in bristle nose and he’s a freeloader lmao
But I have 4 Amano shrimp and they are amazinggg
I have 3 Bristlenose, they are always munching on the glass and gravel...🤷♀️
@cj7 doll That's clever Ha HAHA
I have a pair of neon gobies and they are little characters mine do sit on the front of the glass and munch away, they have cute frog faces been my best purchase upto now and they love been around my corydoras and not fazed by any of the other fish in their tank! I have a rainbow shark and siamese loach they leave little patterns on the glass algea in my second tank and i also have an albino red fin shark in a third tank!
If I ever get a goby for my aquarium I'd just stand there watching it for hours and I won't be bored
That's good, rather you stare at it for hours on end versus ignoring it
Shout out from South Africa for using Liters instead of gallons
Gallons are so much more ambiguous whether it's US or UK
Nerites for glass, Amano Shrimp for everything else. Cherry shrimp are small enough to get picked off by any fish that feels like it.
Also get Otos because dey cute.
I hate plecos, from where I came from they kinda scary and often grow to the size of an arm. They were not agressive but I hate them. Had to buy one for my tank and it get sparkly clean overnight, but the poop is everywhere 😨 had to relocate it since it start to attack the betta. I don't mind corydoras (which is weird bcoz they basically look the same) but cannot handle a pleco. The pleco was living in my water container now. It's a five inch spotted one.
I've never found Otocinclas to be very effective, whilst not being very cheap nor highly interesting. Shrimp are great but can become prey with the wrong fish. I'm not keen on snails. I'd really like to try the pandas and borneos though.
I miss my common placo, he lived a long full happy life and whenever he hit a growth spurt i upgraded tank sizes specifically for him
I spoil my baby, and i plan on growing up with him. Im glad yours was given a great life :)
Everyone seems to had their giant pleco somehow either from the tank or pond your family kept from your childhood lmao But to all seriousness, just a friendly reminder, don't throw them in a wild when you got the excess of them because they are invasive and have almost no predators. Keeping them as your friend in home and make their life as easy as they can is the best that we could do for them
BimBim I don’t even understand how people can ‘throw them’ out into the wild. I have attachments to my fish and they are part of the family. I did research when I got my pleco and knew what I was in for when I got him as a baby.
Hi mine is 17 years old she is still going pleco brissllnose .
@@thephantomdragon big Problem is, Alot people who get into the hobby dont relly know what there doing so when the shop keeper says "this pleco would be good for keeping your tank clean" even tho he knows the size of the tank wouldut keep for long term they just want to sell. seen it to many times. before i moved i had 6 tank that had fully grown plecos in them got them all for free since people dont know what to do when pleco gets to big. sad thing is. shop wont buy them so people either throw them in wild "which is big no no" or they kill them.
people just need to educate themselfs before going into the hobby thats all.
Great vid ross and really pleased with the exposure :)
Thanks pal. I'm happy 😊
I’m calling them plecs from now on.
Another good one is the siamese algae eater, ive never had one pass 4 inches, and they are algae vacuums
I accidentally bought 4 once bc I confused them for Otocinclus and overnight they totally scrubbed the aquarium clean. It was literally insane, but I had to take them back because they were too aggressive for my oto.
But they also eat Java moss and other mosses
They eat the "moss" because its algae. Its literally a ball of algae
@@ASadP1ckle Moss are not Algae at least not "literally"
Welp, k have 2 sae in my tank, they keep it clean, and leave my anubias alone🤷♂️ never played with moss due to research. Dont like the idea of it. But theyre great algae eaters
Never heard of Panda Garras before, thank you so much for introducing them to me
Your welcome!
Darth Bader panda garras are awesome
@@EverydayAquarist Are Pandas suitable in a Discus aquarium?
@@MORE1500 yeah should be
I'd recommend them too, busy little fellas.
Warning: I wish I had seen more info about this before purchasing. Nerite snails, while very active and great at eating up algae have one downside. Their little white eggs!! These snails lay eggs like crazy, everywhere! And the eggs are very difficult to remove, especially if they're on your rocks and driftwood.. they're embedded and you need a razor blade to remove them, only to see 50 more the next week.
Also the eggs won't hatch, only in brackish water.
Something to ponder before purchasing.
Just a thought, you could add a couple of small pea puffer fish they love to eat snail eggs 🤔
Dave Scheer Puffers also tend to be hate machines. If you have other fish in the tank, I don’t recommend adding a puffer. They’ll also eat the adult snails as snails are a favorite of most puffers.
Their larvae can't survive in freshwater they can't breed in freshwater I have 4 in my 55 for years and still only have 5 and never seen an egg
@@jdogeddy98 You either have all males, or all females (which didn't get pregnant soon before you got them). They can breed in freshwater, but the eggs will only hatch in brackish water yet still leave a mess if conceived & laid.
The fact that nerite eggs/larvae cannot successfully come to term in FW is one of the main reasons I recommend them over rabbits, trapdoor, mystery, apple, bladder or even malaysian trumpet snails, all of which can get out of hand in their own ways if left unattended in an aquarium suited for them. If your fish can find/reach them it's just another source of enrichment and protein for them, at least the eggs don't go to waste that way!
I wouldn't consider them a huge algae eater, but i like hillstream loaches
Garras are great active algae eaters but just make sure you have a tight fitted lid as from my experience they are persistent escape artists.
Amano shrimps and otocinclus are my personal favourite😁
What's your's?
Garra Flavatra!
same here
Finally got a panda garra and I love it! Fun fish.
I have a bristlenose pleco! He’s really pretty but he hides under a rock all day, so I can’t say he does much for the aquarium.
I also have a twig catfish and he does a lot more for the tank (as well as look awesome). He’s always out and about eating stuff off the glass and rocks. :)
The intro is very funny, REALLY
A couple of fish you left off your list I think should be included are flying foxes and TRUE Siamese Algae Eaters. They both are fun and playful fish and the SAE's are also one of the few that actually eat black beard algae.
I love the flying Fox, they're awesome and very active.
SAE's have such personality to them. also add a few. ive seen people keep one and they always look sad.
I believe Amano shrimp eggs won't hatch in freshwater so you don't need to worry about them overpopulating
No they don't, I was referring to cherry / crystal shrimps
@@EverydayAquarist Ah, I see
Very true. My blue velvet Neos breed like roaches while the Amano's need saltwater for hatching.
my cherry shrimp are beast at eating algae, especially on anubius and crypts😊👍🏾
Good info video, i like it. Thumbs up.
I have a bristle nose albino, amano shrimp and bamboo shrimp.
Along with the other fish i have.
But i did not get them to clean for me but with me.
( pleco just eats the drift wood and waffers, it wants nothing to do with my the algae :p )
I have very little algae to begin with.
In my opinion if someone has an algae bloom, or just cant get it to go away, look for the problem, can be loads of things, but most of the time its to high and to much light or overfeeding that causes an excess of nutrients in the water.
But when you have it in controle and you find a balance, all these fish and shrimp do an amazing job at keeping the algae away.
I have 2 hillstream loach's and they really keep the tank algae at bay, brilliant fish and they only get to around 3inchs
I'm fascinated by those and would love to have some!
Yes I actually overheard a kid on summer break working at Petco tell people that Common Plecos only get to be about 3 inches!
Panda garras and otocinclus are my favorite on the list. Love mine
Panda and garrarda
In my tanks I chose to go with the farlowella catfish, ghost shrimp, and a zebra snail for my main algae eaters, I only have 1 pleco which is a rubbernose but it's mainly for looks in the tank
I think rainbow shark is one of the best algae eater for an aggressive tank. I've kept one with oscar, convicts & severum. Keeps my 90G tank algae free.
Nice addition
Those are one of my favorites but can never keep them. I've lost 6-7 of them
You are lucky they did not get eaten by the Oscar! The Oscars Zi heard & have seen are very ferocious & would attack anything that moves! I believe I had 1 rainbow shark before, but It did not survive. It was too small to be adequately “hardy” in a new tank.
Woah those goby holding on the rock looks cool😮 i need one🤤🤣
I had 2 snails in my tank and then the next morning there were 20 of them so no snails for me!
Cleann feed less and this should be an issue that self resolves.
Nerite snails only breed in brackish water. This is why I suggest these guys in fresh water.
It's the type of snail. I bought the wrong plant for an empty tank and ended up with endless snails. A full month before fish which means i never fed the fucking snails, and they did just fine. God, they ended up in the filter and absolutely everywhere else. Some types of snail won't breed, though, and there are assassin snails that clean the tank of snails, as well.
AWESOME educational video! I never knew there where other options than a Pleco for solving the green slime problems.
Entertaining and educational! I had to sell back my sail fin pleco due to him outgrowing my 30 gallon planted tank, so now I need other options besides yet another pleco! I have snails that came off of my plants, I have 3 otocinclus, but that's not enough for my tank!
What is your sail fin pleco’s color? What type is it? Is it still available?
My gold fish became algee eaters. They peck at the glass until it's all gone. It sucks because I want to keep algee on the back glass to clean the water but they keep eating it all. Fuckers.
Like Hillstream loaches because they look like mini stingrays
Otocinclus & Panda Gara are awesome :) I just wish they were easier to breed in captivity.
Since switching to LED lighting I don't have an algae problem .
Whats the best algea eater that doesnt shit everywhere like plecos do
Panda Garra are the best on my opinion!
I'm looking for another Algae eater for my 5 gal Betta's tank. I have two incredibly lazy Nerites that don't do much more than lay eggs EVERYWHERE. And the Pleco?
Poops.
Everywhere.
Nonstop. It will ALWAYS have a string of poo trailing behind it, leaving poo everywhere in the tank in mass amounts, and it's utterly ridiculous. It needs to go, as the poo is honestly getting way too much to keep tabs on.
Plecos should _never_ be in a 5 gallon tank, not even the smallest species belongs in one. And yup, they are nearly as misunderstood by the average hobbyist as goldfish (equally dirty, need minimum 20-30 gallon long, not a fishbowl). I'm so sorry you were sold the idea that they are good as cleanup crew!
@@annethornton9938
Honestly though... I'd even discussed my doubts with the fishkeeping 'professional' at the pet store, and he was quite adamant that I get a pleco, because it would be sooo helpful.
But nope, just a waste of money. Like good Lord, I spent less time cleaning up the poo of the three large dogs I had than this dude. It's not anywhere near worth it when he doesn't even hardly touch the algae... It's still very tiny, barely over an inch and a half still, but I think I'll take it to my father's house for his large tank, since he's got one already. Though I'm concerned however, as one of my Nerites fell upside down yet again, little clutz, and I righted it up as soon as I noticed, so at most it was like that for a few hours while I was asleep, but now it's not moved since I righted it. In the morning if it's still not moved I'm going to remove and inspect it to make sure it's not dead, as when I'd flipped it, it still looked rather healthy, but in case.
I keeping koi with the tank water slightly salted. Unfortunately all aquatic algae eaters are not salt tolerant.
Awesome video. I ended up getting the Panda Garra because of your recommendation. It just sucks that where I am, they are selling it for $18 ea. I thought it was a bit pricey. Oh well they are as you described, very active during daytime and eating up algae like crazy. Although I haven't seen them eat up the string algae I have in my tank, mostly ones in the glass.
Nice, they are expensive everywhere!
2 dollars here from where im from
My rosy barbs eat hair algae, they even eat my Singapore moss when they can't find string algae. Little shits 😂
I like plecos a better in my opinion because i feel like my fish with kill the others algae eaters, i had 3 snails and my fish killed them, plecos have tough skin that can literally cut you, thats why my blood parrots, Jack Dempseys, and convict dont mess with the pleco
I like the choice of fish here, and agree with a lot of what you said, but i think importantly you missed off a fish very similar to a pleco and also very entertaining at a much smalles size, what about hillstream or butterfly loaches? very good algae eaters, a lot smaller then plecos and do very well solo or in groups.
As it turns out I did include this fish when I made this video but my footage was corrupted and I couldn't reshoot it, otherwise this fish would have featured.
Thank you, I’ve been looking for something that would do the job of a pleco but not nearly as big as one. I am now going to get me some Garra’s because of this video.
Just picked up some ottos yesterday for my 10 gallon. They live it so far
I don't know why, but I thought the fish was talking for the first 5 Seconds
OMG!! Iam gagging it looks so funny😂🤣🤣0:02
You will not have any issues with Amano shrimp breeding.
No kidding! I looked into how to breed them and whew! you'd need a dedicated, specialized setup for them to transition to all the different salinities they need.
A shrimp or snail problem is easy to fix, get a firgure-8 freshwater puffer. They stay small and are VORACIOUS eaters. I had one in a 55-gallon semi-brackish (1 teaspoon freshwater salt to 10-gallons of water). That single puffer took care of the excessive shrimp and snails.
I have a few pea puffers to keep the snails in check. Had a zebra loach, but he stressed all the other fish to death one by one.
I don't like the way you pronounce anything in this.... You driving me crazy 😭😭
how many fucking times is this person going to say plec holy shit
Plec
What family does panda garra belong to so I can buy some please
Latin name is Garra flavatra however if you can find them then Garra rufa are good as well
The common/sailfin get up to a foot to a foot and a half in length... Wrong they can get up to 3 feet long in the wild with those in captivity rarely break 2 foot. They get a lot bigger than you think mate
I recently got a baby bristlenose he's the cutest thing ever lmao. I'm wanting to get some other cleaners for his tank as well. I've heard rabbit snails can't go in a planted tank which is bad cause my tank is planted
He lives in my nano oddball/invert tank. I have to a play a game called spot the pleco every day to make sure he's alive
Get Malaysia trumpet snails, good cleaners but breed a lot
U FORGOT Chinese algae eaters, Siamese algae eaters, and golden algae eaters
Be careful with chinese algae eaters. They may eat SOME algae when they're young, but they go full on goldfish mode when they get older, plus they will harass any tank mates
@@realcreamofwheat7728 well Siamese ones are the best
The Panda Gara is indeed the BEST. I have 6 of them in a 125 gallon community tank and they really keep my tanks algae free.
Where did you get them, and for about how much, if you did not mind to share. I have not heard or seen that name any of the local fish stores. I need some! I have algae in every single tank!
I give this video 5 out of 5 plec's
nice vid /you got a new sub...
I've got two Otocinclus cocama, they do a really good job at keeping algae at bay, plus they are cool little catfish.
Rabbit Snail. 1 out of 5 Plec rating.
Nerite snails. 4 out of 5 Plec rating.
Goby. 2 out of 5 Plec rating.
Amano/ Cherry shrimp. 2 out of 5 Plec rating.
Otocinclus. 4 out of 5 Plec rating.
Panda Garra. 5 out of 5 Plec rating.
Everyday Aquarist I was wondering what type of fish is ok to put with red eared slider turtles
Sorry I'm not familiar with turtle care
Not a good idea. Sliders will eventually hunt down and eat just about any fish you put in with it.
Red ears will consume anything they can catch no matter the size
I have a very large pleco with my turtle. They've been tank mates for 15 years.
One of the feeder goldfish I gave her in now 5 or 6 inches so they're buddies. I'll often catch the turtle napping snuggled up with the pleco and goldfish.
p l e k s
I find the rams-horn snails make a pretty good clean up crew too. They eat algae, uneaten food, dead plant matter, and some claim to eat fish detritus. Sure, they can breed rapidly in the established aquarium and are considered illegal in some states. But I say if you get one from one of your new aquatic plants by accident, you're lucky.
them fuckers breed like its friday swingers club. i remember having few lucky i had preadtory fish who eat them so all good.
Learned a lot from this pana garras it is. Seems idea for my yellow Lab tank.
I was told rabbit snails don’t eat alagae at all. I heard they ate detritus
I bought a bristle nose today at a full grown 3.5" he will be permanently residing in my tetra tank. Perfect size for a 5-10" tank.
Justin Titus I wouldn’t recommend putting a bristle nose in anything smaller than a 10 gallon at the absolute bare minimum, preferably a 20+ gallon tank for them to live comfortably
It was sarcasm :/ (hopefully)
What was that silver molly in the beginning?? I want one!
Actually plecos get up to 24 inches my freind has a 16 inch pleco
Zach mine was 16” last summer. He looks like a log, lol
Depends on the species, the smallest species is Nannoplecostomus elenorae which grows to about 1.8cm SL the largest is Acanthicus hystrix or A. adonis which can grow to 1 meter long standard length. There are over 1000 currently classified species of Loricariidae and hundreds more undescribed. Generalising is like saying all carnivores are obligate carnivores.
What a well trained talking fish. Look at it making his own channel.
I don't call them common plecos unless I'm talking about the aquarium hobby. When talking about the invasive population in Florida, for example, I call them armored catfish.
I have a rainbow shark and the suction fish. They love each other! They clean they're tank very well. They're also attracted to the pump filtering the water.
Panda garra
My Rhinogobius (goby) eat snails and Amanos. I will put a group of stiphodon in it. Important: at least 6 of these guys. If they fight, I switch on the powerhead. Fighting stops immediately. Btw my females are more fighting than the males (2f/4m).
You didn’t talk about the ancistrus en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancistrus, it looks lika a pleco, but the pleco is african and the ancistrus comes from the amazon river, the pleco grows up to 50cm when the ancistrus will stay at about 8-10cm max in an aquarium
Very educational, thank you!!!
I have two Nerite snails in my small tank and I love them, my only dislike is that I ended up with 1 male and 1 female so they are constantly breeding and laying eggs. While the eggs never hatch, they are annoying to see these small white dots everywhere and are hard to clean off of whatever surface they lay on. They get around to everywhere tho, large leaf plants, substrate, rocks, and glass so they are amazing at getting around! I love both of them but my only dislike is the constant egg laying since I couldn't tell who was who in sex, otherwise a great option!
0:03 at first .. I thoguht the catfish was a newsreporter... oh my I thoguht it was tallying about an underwater adventure 🤣🤣🤣
do panda garra's have venomous spikes/ spines like corydoras and otocinclus?
also, which pleco's grow up to max 1 foot long?
algae not a problem, its natural , its natures way of trying to fix something thats out of balance in your tank. to much minerals and such can cause different types to grow. ✌
I just bought a green phantom Pleco for my 35 gallon apisto tank. I can’t WAIT for him to arrive.
Rabbit snails are super cool. Love those cute little faces.
Green phantoms are awesome!
I just got a bristle nose would like a zebra pleco but they r 150 in my local pet shop
Everyday Aquarist my green phantom was delivered today! He’s amazing. I’m going to try to find you on Facebook so I can share a picture of him.
dragon thunder 1 I found a false zebra Pleco L129 at pet supermarket for $24. I highly recommend picking up one if you can find it. It’s a beautiful Pleco that stays small.
I have a picture of him on reddit. My username is shanedabot if you want to check him out
Can u plz help me? I have a 30lit tank with one goldfish that has grown to almost 4 or 5 inches, can I buy a companion like a algae eater or another goldfish or the tank is small?
If your going to buy plecos that get big, find a local pet store that will buy them from you. My local store will buy my big plecos for $20, and they sell them to people with huge tanks and ponds, and snails work best. I have 8 snails in my 55 gallon, and my tank is spotless. And the snails are massive.
So I have a single purple mystery netrite snail that had TONS of babies. Not sure what to do. Currently in a 10 gal. Freshwater with 1 ghost shrimp, and a fighting fish (name is escaping me at the moment)
Is it ok to keep black snail 🐌 in aquarium with gold fish what you suggest and will this black snail 🐌 will grow I have more than 10 mini snail 🐌 in my aquarium
My albino chocolate pleco has a huge personality wouldn’t trade him for anything