Algae Eating Fish

[neon]

What's a good fish to get as an algae eater besides a common pleco?  They get too big.  My tank is 33 gallons, with 2 bala sharks, 2 mollies, 1 angelfish, and 10 cardinal tetras.

[babblefish1960]

The true siamese algae eater, and to some extent, otocinclis. Common plecos don't really do much reliably with algae, and for sure they don't as they get larger. Bushy nose and bristle nose plecos are better.

[neon]

I had a siamese algae eater, but it bloated up and died.  I was also told they get very agressive.  I was also told the otos are hard to keep alive.  Is there anything else?

[Nerine]

bushy nose pleco is good.
but your bala's will outgrow the tank before the common pleco will.

[BigDaddy]

I had a siamese algae eater, but it bloated up and died.  I was also told they get very agressive.  I was also told the otos are hard to keep alive.  Is there anything else?

You likely were given a chinese algae eater... these get very aggressive as they age.  Siamese algae eaters aren't the same, they are pretty docile and are very good algae eaters, chinese algae eaters are not

Same recommendations though, SAE, otos, BN pleco...

[RedFish]

Oh oh!   Bushynose pleco, I got an LDA08 from OttawaDiscus (Loyed) on this forum, grows to a max of 3inches.   I have him in my 29 gallon and in 10 days he removed every spec of algae and keeps it very clean.   I highly recommend one for a smaller tank.

[beowulf]

You have 2 bala sharks and you are worried about the size of a common pleco?  Sorry for bring OT but since this site is to educate, they can reach about a foot or so http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_bala.php

All the choice mentioned are good for algea but often it is better to get a "crew" each one seems to have its preference on which algea it likes best.  Another choice are amano and other shrimp.

[jgolden]

If you have a hair algae invasion, American Flag fish are amazing. I threw 6 into my 10G nursery tank that was almost plugged solid with hair algae. Inside of 30 hours, there was no hair algae left (of very, very few strands).

[neon]

I ended up getting a Thailand Flying Fox.  I was told by LFS that it belongs to the same family as the Siamese Algae eater, and would do as good of job.  I will be getting an bushynose pleco also.  I've only seen the Flying Fox eat flake food so far though...

[neon]

Anyone know where I can get American Flag Fish?

[kennyman]

I saw a bunch at BA innis on Sunday

[beowulf]

I ended up getting a Thailand Flying Fox.  I was told by LFS that it belongs to the same family as the Siamese Algae eater, and would do as good of job.  I will be getting an bushynose pleco also.  I've only seen the Flying Fox eat flake food so far though...

I have had flying foxes and while they are in the same family, they are also more agressive towards other fish and while young they do eat a certain amount of algea but as they grow they almost never do.

[groan]

would the americal flag fish do ok in a malawi cichlid tank or would they become algae eating snacks?
i have always got hair algae growing..i guess i'll just heve to do a blackout and hope for the best.

[Toss]

Flying fox does not really eat algae if there is other food available. SAE is a better choice by far. Sorry to hear that you did not get the "complete" advise from LFS staff. Good luck.