muddled

I was at my local fish store, looking for some Oto cats to help calm down the brown algae in my 30 and 75 gallon tank. They didn't have any Otos, and I have had looked at all the local stores and the Petcos and Petsmarts. I asked if the salesperson if she knew of any type of Plecos or other fish that might help with the algae, and she suggested snowball plecos, because they grow very slowly and stay sort of small. I got two snowball plecos, one for each tank.

The thing is though, that these Plecos are very shy... both of them. I hardly see them at daytime, they're always hidden. And when it comes to eating algae, they both don't really do a good job at it. Sometimes I'll notice that a little area of the tank looks like a Pleco might have visited for a little while, but no comparison.

Then a couple of weeks later in my 10 gallon tank for a betta and some neon tetras and cories, and when it started getting some algae, I managed to finally find some Otos which took care of the algae in a day! I'm amazed at these little guys, though out of 5 only 3 managed to make it past the month. :<

Would it be safe to add some Otos to the 30 gallon tank to help out with the algae? I know that Otos are probably too small for the 75 gallon, and if so, what kind of other Plecos could I add to the tank to help out with the algae? Honestly, I'm pretty much fully stocked in both tanks, but I'm hoping a couple of extra water changes could help. I've also heard that Plecos can be territorial, would this be an issue if I added more plecos?

Shawnie

the brown algae is diatoms and considered "new tank algae" ...Ive had the best results with corys as you have..they do a fantastic job for me anyway...pleco's are big poo'ers and leave alot of waste so if you are already overstocked, those wouldnt work well

before adding anything else, id test the water perimeters because of the loss of your ottos..are the tanks done cycleing?

depending on whats in your 75 gallon would depend on if the ottos would be ok...you dont want them to be a snack for something ...what are your fishies int he tank?

mathas

One thing that a lot of pet stores don't seem to either know or tell customers, is that not all plecostomus varieties are algae-eaters.

Another issue with plecos is that common names, such as "snowball pleco", aren't really standardized. If you have an Hypancistrus inspector, you do not have an effective algae eater, unfortunately. If you have one of the other pleco varieties that has a dark body and white spots, it's hard to say whether they eat algae or not without knowing exactly which species you have.

If you want a pleco that's good at algae reduction and stay small, most members of the Ancistrus genus (bristlenose plecos) do a good job.

And to address your question about how territorial they are, it would depend at least upon which species of plecostomus you have, if not species and gender.

muddled

Yep the drag of the tank cycling has been long done with, the tanks have been established for a couple of months, and last time I checked the permiters were 0 ammonia, nitrites, and 10 nitrates, and the pH for the 75 gallon is 7.4, the ph for the 30 gallon is 7.6.

In the 75 gallon come to think of it I wouldn't want to add Otos... the fish are Silver Dollars, Angelfish, Boesemani Rainbows, Pictus Catfish, Raphael Catfish, and the snowball pleco. They'd probably be a snack in the first second! In the 30 gallon it would be safer since I only have 2 bolivian rams, neon tetras, panda corys, and the pleco.

The snowball plecos are brown, with very light yellow-ish spots. I tried to look for pictures to compare the plecos, but I don't see a difference -- also, how can I sex the plecos?

mathas

To sex them, the best way is to first identify what species you have. The link I provided earlier, for example, has this to say in the 'sexing' section:
But if you don't have an Hypancistrus inspector, your first step would be to identify what you do have. While I'm not a pleco expert, I would imagine different species have different characteristics between the sexes.

PlanetCatfish's Cat-eLog is a good place to find out information.

EDIT: Brown with yellow spots sounds almost like a gold nugget pleco, or Baryancistrus sp.

muddled

Argh, I'm sorry! :'D I didn't notice that you provided links tharr. I'm going to check them out, thanks very much!

EDIT: Definitively not the gold nugget pleco -- the spots aren't yellow, but not pure white either -- how to describe it... sort of like a light creme color I suppose. Looks a lot like this pleco:



EDIT 2: I've done my googling on the Bristlenose Plecos, and they seem to do an amazing job at eating down algae, so if I buy another Pleco(s) then I'll definitively go with Bristlenoses. The only thing that concerns me is that I read that bristlenoses are territorial -- would this be an issue with the snowball plecos? Ah, little snowballs are so cute but they don't do their job. :c Anyone interested in two lovely snowballs??

Shawnie

take a pic of yours...theres plenty of experts on plecs here that would love to help

mathas

So far, my two haven't been territorial, but they are still young.

There is one that's definitely more aggressive at feeding time, especially if I put the zucchini slices too close together, but when there's no food in the tank, they get along fine.

I agree with Shawnie, though. Get a picture of yours if possible, there's bound to be someone who can ID it for you.

muddled

Finally found the elusive little snowball, one of them at least! Was hidden under the driftwood. I tried to take a picture of it inside the tank, but since the light of the tank makes most things look green, you can't really tell its true color. I always see Plecos outside of water in pictures, how could I get around this? Can I do it by myself, is there a special way to hold the plecos, and how long can they be out of water? They don't pinch too bad, riiight? :c