# Good algae eaters for cichlid tank



## campbem (Sep 22, 2010)

Hey all,

I've had my 50G cichlid tank setup for about a year and a half. I have the following:

2 yellow lab
2 bumblebee
1 female yellow top mbamba 
1 red zebra (I think it is, peachy orange in color)
2 clown loaches

I'd like to add a couple of good algae eaters to the tank to help keep my glass clean.

Looking around one fish that keeps popping up is the bristlenose pleco. Any opinions on how that will do in my cichlid tank? Some say that these plecos don't eat that much algae as they get older.

Also one issue is I would like to get something 4+ inches mimimum because my bumblebees are fairly large and tend to be dominant. But since my tank is only 50G I don't want anything that's going to get too large - over say 6" or so.

My LFS don't have much of a selection except for small fish. Any recommendations for online fish purchases?

Thanks all,
Mike


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## soulpride (Aug 30, 2009)

bumble bee require a 75g+ tank with 1m/6-7f. for labs 1m/4f . red zebra 1m/4f. the red zebra will breed with the labs so don't keep any fry or sell these fry unless it for your own pleasure then it fine to save a few. i would add more yellow top 1m/4f. bn or any pleco is really a hit or miss thing. same with loach. for algae eater bn pleco or just clean the front glass and side n leave the algae on the rocks for your mbuna it good for them.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

A bristlenose pleco stays small and would work in your tank size, but with more aggressive mbuna (like some of yours), the plecos are attacked and it's not really worth the risk IMHO. Plus, algae on glass is easy to take care of yourself. You don't need a pleco to do that. If you limit the light on to times when you're viewing, that will also cut down on the algae (I'm assuming you don't have plants.)


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## campbem (Sep 22, 2010)

Thanks for the notes. I've kept the glass clean myself and it's not a huge deal. But since I was thinking of adding a few more fish anyway I was considering plecos. So far everyone has played pretty nice together. I hadn't lost a single fish since I started the tank over a 1.5 years ago up until recently when a female yellow top mbamba jumped out of the tank. I thought she was hiding but found her behind the tank stand on the floor .

My wife has already said no way to a second tank or a bigger tank and I've been wondering what to do with the bees. While aggression seems to be spread around the tank and not a big deal they are getting much larger then the others even though they started the same size. They're 5-6" right now and most of the others are 1/2 that size or less.


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## soulpride (Aug 30, 2009)

bee can get to 8-10" . you can always return the bees to the lfs for store credit or sell them. i'm beleive that the female yellow top who jumped was harassed and stress out so to escape the aggessiveness in the she jump out.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What are the dimensions of the 50G?


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## campbem (Sep 22, 2010)

thanks, I don't have the dimensions handy, I'm at work.

I've thought about selling the bees and getting some new fish. My LFS have pretty small size cichlids for selections. But I might see if they could place some special orders for an exchange or something.


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