Algae eating fish?

[shawn114]

what kinds of cool looking fish could I buy that will eat all kinds of algae, for my 20 gal?

 

[taikonaut]

Unfortunately, I feel you might be disappointed. But there are some fish that will eat some of the algae, for example, tangs and rabbitfishes.

 

[Anonymous]

No tangs really suitable for a 20 gal, though.

Maybe a smallish blenny of some sort?

 

[taikonaut]

Good call, Sharkky! Did not notice the tank size.

But what's wrong with having a couple algae-eating tangs in a 20 gal :? <jk>

 

[Anonymous]

I think a blenny is about it. Invertebrates do a better job though mostly.

 

[ricky1414]

algae eating blennies are cool for algae. i love to watch him hop from rock to rock munching algae.

 

[Anonymous]

I just bought a lawnmower blenny and I am still waiting for him to start munching away. He picks a little right now but nothing I can see

 

[shawn114]

Thanx everyone, I thought about the tangs myself, until I looked into the tank size requirements.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm going to get my chops busted bigtime for this one, but there's a big disclaimer. In a 20g, you *could* do a tang, but for such a short amount of time, you probably wouldn't get much enjoyment out of the fish. I've noticed a trend in the LFS lately of every now and then getting in some seriously small tangs. I've seen yellows the size of 50-cent pieces and hepatus blues less than an inch long. If...IF...you got a healthy specimen (and I've *rarely* seen a tang that small look good), a 20 g could handle it, but probably for only a few months until the tang got even slightly larger. Then he'd either have to go back to the LFS or into a larger tank.

 

[ricky1414]

my lawnmower ate from day 1, he has the fattest belly and wont stop eating. he's quite the pig

 

[ChrisRD]

Two or three Mexican Turbo snails will eat a wide variety of algae and would keep a tank that size pretty clean.

 

[litlfisher]

I have to agree with Ricky. My blenny is a hog. And he really has
a lot of character. When he props up on a rock and looks around,
I just can't help but wonder "What is he thinking?"

 

[Wiggler]

I'm glad your blenny is doing well, mine is so skinny and slim I think i'm going to lose him. He started eating like a pig and got fat, then all of a sudden stopped eating.

I've tried romaine and brine shrimp with no success.

 

[Anonymous]

snails are your best bet....if they die, theyre cheaper to replace than a fish just to rid algae...i have a scooter blenny that is really thin...i cant figure out why he aint eating???