This is part vent / part question
I would like to get an algae eater for my 20 gal which currently has 4 Panda corys, 1 Pepper cory, and 4 tetras (2 pristella, 1 black neon and 1 gold pristella). I get some brown buildup on the tank walls and plants (some are live) and thought a small algae eater would be a great addition. I have been researching and figure a chinese or siamese algae eater (if I could even find one which I'm in the boston area so it's definitely probable) are too big and probably too aggressive for this peaceful little tank. I had a clown pleco who recently died along with a beloved gold Inca snail which I'm laying the blame completely on a horrible Petco fish purchase (part of the "vent part" I'll elaborate later) So I was thinking an oto would work - they're small and from what I've read don't seem to get aggressive. Slowly integrating them in isn't an unfamiliar process as my pandas were very sensitive. Any opinions on the otos - does anyone think it's a bad idea. and is it bad that this tank is mostly bottom dwellers - I think it's a fun tank to watch so I don't mind (even the tetras tend to feed off the bottom because everyone else does)
As for my vent - I HATE MY LOCAL PETCO!!! I know there are some good ones out there but my local one stinks. The fish are in such bad shape even the ones that look good. I decided to add more tetras to my tank (there were currently only two pristellas) so I kept checking down at my local petco every week or so to to see the fish conditions (they had a bit of an Ick epidemic a couple of months ago) I also tried not to buy on tuesdays because that's when they get their fish in. So anyway one month the fish had been looking good so I bought 3 black neons and 3 gold pristellas. Less than a week later I have 1 black tetra left and 2 gold pristellas and they gave ick to my clown pleco. I did what I could and raised the water temp, made sure water was kept clean, etc... then my snail died (not sure if this was related) then a week later my poor little pleco couldn't take it anymore. I would of gone to my trusted fish guy but he rarely has little tetras. So there's my vent (for what it's worth)
