# Algae eater for a planted tank



## Itsadeepbluesea (Mar 23, 2015)

I fairly new to planted tanks. I was wonder what are good algae eaters for planted tanks that will not obliterate my plants. Right now I just have amazon swords and Java ferns, but will be looking to expand eventually. The tank is a 36 front.


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## IntotheWRX (May 13, 2016)

Aunduril said:


> I fairly new to planted tanks. I was wonder what are good algae eaters for planted tanks that will not obliterate my plants. Right now I just have amazon swords and Java ferns, but will be looking to expand eventually. The tank is a 36 front.


snails: nirite
shrimps: amano shrimps the best, cherry red shrimps eat too
fish: there is a algae fish i forget whats it called but its silver and black and long shape


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Note that no algae eater east all algae types. Most only eat diatoms aka brown algae. A few eat others. Nerites can scrape green spot algae off of glass. Supposedly sae eat bba, and amano hair algae (I might be twiddling these) but its not their first food choice.
If you don't ave a large bioload with other fish you could try a bristlenose pleco, but they make a LOT of poop and can knock loose plant that aren't well anchored in the substrate.
Nerites can be tricky as they typically don't eat prepared fish foods though some have success with repahsy gel foods or snello. So you need a tank with a lot of naturally occurring diatoms or gsa for them to munch on.
I have a ton of cherry shrimp in a 12g long, they don't make a noticeable dent in algae in there.

edit: in the long run its better to identify what algae you have and correct the imbalance in your aquarium that is causing it and manually remove what has formed yourself. Algae eaters have a large biolaod (excluding shrimp) for their size so you trade off cleaning algae for siphoning poop.


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## Acro (Jul 7, 2012)

I've found Ramshorn Snails to be the best for me. I don't like most colors, but PINK Ramshorn snails are beautiful! That's what I have now. If interested, I could hook you up. 




.


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## latchdan (Sep 7, 2007)

My favorite algae eaters are RCS/otos/Amano shrimp

I get brown algae in my riccia that floats, tank contains amano and otto cats. I occasionally transfer the floating pads into my RCS and they completely clean the riccia in 1 day. Although, in the RCS I get brown algae on the glass that the shrimp don't clean. In the tank with otos I have no brown algae on the glass. Each one does there own job.


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## patfat (Oct 23, 2015)

bristlenose pleco/otos/Amano shrimp/nirite/SAE/Silver flying fox

All these eat different types of algae..SAE eat BBA not sure about hair algae..I just got two and see what their eating so far also not aggressive..Silver flying fox eat both BBA and Hair algae but get aggressive when they get big..Pleco are alright poo alot and if have more then one can get aggressive..amano are nice i some times see them eat algae most the time it was just regular food. Oto are great but if you dont have the right conditions can die pretty easy..Nerites snails are great but be warn they will leave eggs... even though the eggs wont survive you will get a little trail of white shells on every thing.. get your levels right and you can get an SAE or two and maybe some other little things just to keep algae in its place..if you have a full blown out break again its get the levels right and then have the little dudes get the little stuff here and there


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## Itsadeepbluesea (Mar 23, 2015)

Thanks for the replies everyone. The algae isn't bad, I was just looking from something to help keep in minimal.


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## Bananableps (Nov 6, 2013)

Do people still use SAE for algae control? I thought they stopped eating algae as they got older.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Farlowella is under appreciated and is a good algae eater. IMHO


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## latchdan (Sep 7, 2007)

Bananableps said:


> Do people still use SAE for algae control? I thought they stopped eating algae as they got older.



And become aggressive too!


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## theDCpump (Jul 22, 2016)

Itsadeepbluesea said:


> I was wonder what are good algae eaters for planted tanks that will not obliterate my plants.


*Stick fish/farlowella cats.*


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## PlantedRookie (Mar 4, 2012)

Are you guys thinking of Chinese algae eaters (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) and not SAE (Crossocheilus oblongus)? The aggression and lack of actually eating algae in adulthood sounds like the Chinese and not at all like the SAE.


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## theDCpump (Jul 22, 2016)

Acro said:


> I've found Ramshorn Snails to be the best for me. I don't like most colors, but PINK Ramshorn snails are beautiful! That's what I have now. If interested, I could hook you up.
> .


PINK Ramshorn snails
Whoa. Gorgeous! 

lol, 'Take my monayyy!


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I personally love the blue leopard ramshorn snails. But they're a bit harder to find (and cost $)


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## latchdan (Sep 7, 2007)

PlantedRookie said:


> Are you guys thinking of Chinese algae eaters (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) and not SAE (Crossocheilus oblongus)? The aggression and lack of actually eating algae in adulthood sounds like the Chinese and not at all like the SAE.


Nope sae get aggressive never had the Chinese variety


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## n25philly (Dec 12, 2013)

latchdan said:


> Nope sae get aggressive never had the Chinese variety


If they got aggressive you probably had flying foxes. They look alike and are often confused. Flying foxes get aggressive when they get older


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## latchdan (Sep 7, 2007)

n25philly said:


> If they got aggressive you probably had flying foxes. They look alike and are often confused. Flying foxes get aggressive when they get older


Maybe, but I'd like to think i had a SAE, here is a picture, has all the signs of SAE, black to end of tail fin, barbels, scale shape on back.


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## bbroush (Sep 13, 2012)

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but two things: 

1) My Florida flag fish DEMOLISHED all the hair algae and other algae in my 20 gallon and continually graze on algae on the glass. 

2) I'm interested in adding Ramshorns into my tank to help battle algae, but also because I know my assassin snails would keep them in check like they do with my MTS. (I never actually see MTS bigger than the head of a pin, and even then only in the substrate) I'm probably up to 15-30 assassin snails at least? I used to use nerites but the problem is my nerites eventually were all picked off by the assassins  

Does that seem like a good idea?


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## Krispyplants (Apr 15, 2014)

That's a lot of assassin snails. I have about 4 in my 22 gallon long and they are able to maintain the ramshorn and Malaysian trumpet's population. I do have a few dozens of crs too so not much crumbs are left for the snails to munch on.


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## bbroush (Sep 13, 2012)

Krispyplants said:


> That's a lot of assassin snails. I have about 4 in my 22 gallon long and they are able to maintain the ramshorn and Malaysian trumpet's population. I do have a few dozens of crs too so not much crumbs are left for the snails to munch on.




Yeah I didn't have shrimp until last week, and they're still a little shy. Plus when I originally got the assassin snails four years ago I was a Noob with a huge MTS problem. So I have had many generations of assassin snails. I actually probably have less than 30 it's just all of the Shell stand out against my substrate. I have this weird mutant variation where the yellow stripes are a dark red. I only have a couple of those at most. But they are way cool I'll have to get a picture. But yeah they generally are the main cleanout for what my fish couldn't get to. And they would work as a team to crowd out algae wafers I would throw in.


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## Krispyplants (Apr 15, 2014)

I want to see the mutant red assassin snails lol


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

latchdan said:


> Maybe, but I'd like to think i had a SAE, here is a picture, has all the signs of SAE, black to end of tail fin, barbels, scale shape on back.


that's a flying fox


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## bbroush (Sep 13, 2012)

Krispyplants said:


> I want to see the mutant red assassin snails lol




I'll have to hunt for him tomorrow


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## Krispyplants (Apr 15, 2014)

BettaBettas said:


> that's a flying fox


That is a sae. The black bar runs all the way through the end of the tail. I use to have 6 at one point of time.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Krispyplants said:


> That is a sae. The black bar runs all the way through the end of the tail. I use to have 6 at one point of time.


hm:nerd:


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