# convicts + algae eaters



## maxima423 (Jun 20, 2010)

what kind of algae eaters can i put into my convict tank? i plan to have my tank cycled in a few weeks so i wanted to be ready and get some algae eaters before i put in my 3 convicts ( 2f 1m ), i am going to have a 55g, i want algae eaters around 3-5inches, nothing TOOO BIG, another question i have is, are the females as aggressive as the males?


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

Chinese algae eater (CAE) --- Commonly available. Eventually they can get 6"+ but it will take many years for them to get this size. Even at longer lengths, they are still a small fish --- there long and skinny. IME and IMO, they are by far the most active and affective algae eater at a young age. Like any algae eater, they will become less affective as an algae eater, when they get older, but are still very usefull for eating uneaten food and crumbs on the bottom of the tank.

Another option is a Bristle nose plecostomus (BN plec). A larger fish then a CAE, and will eventually get 8" or so.

Yes, in a very general sense, female cons are less aggressive then males. Though, paired up with a male in breeding mode, the female can be the more aggressive of the two. But their often can be quite a bit of aggression between competing females.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

maxima423 said:


> what kind of algae eaters can i put into my convict tank? i plan to have my tank cycled in a few weeks so i wanted to be ready and get some algae eaters before i put in my 3 convicts ( 2f 1m ), i am going to have a 55g, i want algae eaters around 3-5inches, nothing TOOO BIG, another question i have is, are the females as aggressive as the males?


I'd keep only 1 algae eater...Speaking from personal experience i have never been able to keep more then 1 pleco at a time in a 55 gallon before as they will kill one or the other for territory claim...Which always happens @ night...For me anyways lol

For the convicts one of the females will pair off with the male, the female thats left will be harassed-harassed-harassed & eventually beaten to death as she will be seen as a threat to the pair...2 females alone is trouble in its own right as well...Convict females have some serious jealously issues when theres other females around lol...They will spawn as well even if there's no males in the tank which is it's own bit of drama in itself...Unless your able to deal with the breeding issues that will happen i'd stick with just 1 male or female...I always joke about how convict drama which there is plenty of holds a real good resemblance to a real bad human relationship, it requires a psychology degree to sort them out lol...They are some very interesting fish...


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

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## jamesman_1994 (Jun 23, 2009)

what is also good is 2 males 1 female i had that set up for about 2 years and it was great the femal swapped partners because as one bred the other grew and vise versa (while breeding their growth is stunted and in the end the smaller of the 2 at the beguinning became the bigger and more domanant when i swappd them out


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