Algae eater suggestions requested

[Eric Schreiber]

I've got an Eclipse 3 gallon tank, which has a small to medium sized
Java Fern growing in it. The fern is doing reasonably well under the
standard lighting for this tank, but it is developing a fair amount of
unsightly algae on the older leaves.

The only resident of this tank is a single freshwater Dwarf Puffer.

I'm looking for suggestions for algae eating critters of any sort.
I've tried a variety of snails (apple, pond, MTS), but the puffer
kills the smaller ones and eats the tentacles of the larger, so snails
aren't going to work. Shrimp probably won't work for the same reason.

I briefly tried putting in a SAE, but it was immediately clear that
the tank was much too small (my SAE's are about 3").

I suspect that Ottos are my best option, but as fish go, I don't
really like them. I don't dislike them, either, but I've got an
unknown number of them in my 20 gallon plated tank, and I never see
them. They just hang on the back wall, hidden. The only reason I even
know I still have any is that another fish will occasionally chase one
out.

I don't suppose there are any plecos that are small or slow growing
that wouldn't look like lunch to a dwarf puffer?


--
www.ericschreiber.com

[RedForeman ©®]

"Eric Schreiber" > wrote in message
...
> I've got an Eclipse 3 gallon tank, which has a small to medium sized
> Java Fern growing in it. The fern is doing reasonably well under the
> standard lighting for this tank, but it is developing a fair amount of
> unsightly algae on the older leaves.
>
> The only resident of this tank is a single freshwater Dwarf Puffer.
>
> I'm looking for suggestions for algae eating critters of any sort.
> I've tried a variety of snails (apple, pond, MTS), but the puffer
> kills the smaller ones and eats the tentacles of the larger, so snails
> aren't going to work. Shrimp probably won't work for the same reason.
>
> I briefly tried putting in a SAE, but it was immediately clear that
> the tank was much too small (my SAE's are about 3").
>
> I suspect that Ottos are my best option, but as fish go, I don't
> really like them. I don't dislike them, either, but I've got an
> unknown number of them in my 20 gallon plated tank, and I never see
> them. They just hang on the back wall, hidden. The only reason I even
> know I still have any is that another fish will occasionally chase one
> out.
>
> I don't suppose there are any plecos that are small or slow growing
> that wouldn't look like lunch to a dwarf puffer?
>
>
> --
> www.ericschreiber.com

Kinda in the same boat as you, with a 5g eclipse bowfront.... have several
guppies in it, several JFs and a crypt or two.... grows great... just have
to prune when it gets ugly... like now.... I've never come across anything
that I can trust in there.... lemme know when you decide....

--

RedForeman ©®

[Eric Schreiber]

"RedForeman ©®" > wrote:

>Kinda in the same boat as you, with a 5g eclipse bowfront.... have several
>guppies in it, several JFs and a crypt or two.... grows great... just have
>to prune when it gets ugly... like now.... I've never come across anything
>that I can trust in there.... lemme know when you decide....

I would have liked a pleco, but while there are some species that
appear to stay pretty small and could probably have been started in a
3-gallon, I don't trust the stores to label them accurately, and *I*
certainly am not qualified to tell one species from another.

So, I ended up going with the ottos. I bought six of them under my
standard theory that half of all ottos die within the first week after
you bring them home. So far, I'm surprised to say, only one has died,
so eventually I may have to move a couple to my big tank. Five ottos
and a dwarf puffer seem a bit crowded in the 3-gallon.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

[Donald Kerns]

Eric Schreiber wrote:

> I don't trust the stores to label them accurately, and *I*
> certainly am not qualified to tell one species from another.

I have high confidence that you can identify a male bristlenose pl*co.
;-)

It looks as if they have a BUNCH of short twigs growing out of their
snout.

They stay at 2.5 - 4 inches. And are as ugly as all git-out!

Unfortunately it is the females that are more "social."

-D
--
"When you've lost your ability to laugh, you've lost your ability to
think straight." -To Inherit the Wind