# Farlowella catfish: why don't people keep them?



## Isis24 (Dec 10, 2008)

I have one of these, and he is the most amazing algae eater I've ever ever seen! He actually doesn't have a "permanent tank". I move him from tank to tank because he's SO good at cleaning algae, that within 24 hours of being in one tank, there's nothing left to eat! I try to feed him algae wafers, but the other fish get to them way too fast (even when I drop them into the tank at 2 in the morning).

So my question is.... why don't people keep these catfish!? When someone has algae issues, the first fish that aquarists think of are bristlenose plecos and otos. Why not farlowella? Seriously...if you ever have a chance to get one, they're amazing. Mine eats everything off the glass AND plants! They do get large, but they grow extremely extremely slowly. Actually, I have two. One is 6", and I bought him at 6" 3 months ago. The other is a tiny female--3.5", I've had her for 5 months, and she hasn't grown much. She doesn't put much of a dent into the algae, but poor little thing--she's a tiny fish!

I'd love to hear opinions on why these aren't often kept. I'm flabbergasted!

I'll get a picture up in a bit, for those who are interested!


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## Isis24 (Dec 10, 2008)

Ok....turns out he's "busy". His name is pinocchio (surprise, surprise). This is all I could get for now:


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

interesting fish....have a top or side view?


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## Isis24 (Dec 10, 2008)

I will try to get one today. I think I may have one stashed away somewhere (by somewhere....I mean my camera!!).


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

Isis24 said:


> I have one of these, and he is the most amazing algae eater I've ever ever seen! He actually doesn't have a "permanent tank". I move him from tank to tank because he's SO good at cleaning algae, that within 24 hours of being in one tank, there's nothing left to eat! I try to feed him algae wafers, but the other fish get to them way too fast (even when I drop them into the tank at 2 in the morning).
> 
> So my question is.... why don't people keep these catfish!? When someone has algae issues, the first fish that aquarists think of are bristlenose plecos and otos. Why not farlowella? Seriously...if you ever have a chance to get one, they're amazing. Mine eats everything off the glass AND plants! They do get large, but they grow extremely extremely slowly. Actually, I have two. One is 6", and I bought him at 6" 3 months ago. The other is a tiny female--3.5", I've had her for 5 months, and she hasn't grown much. She doesn't put much of a dent into the algae, but poor little thing--she's a tiny fish!
> 
> ...


I've kept them and I liked them... but they're not the best algae eaters out there. Nothing is better than SAEs, they even eat hair and BB algae. So now I keep a school of SAEs in my tang tanks, I find them to be a bit more visible and a lot more exciting.



Also, they're very friendly. :lol:


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I've enjoyed farowella's in the past but they are so slo and clumsy at swimming that I've found them to have a limited number of setups that they do well in.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

I enjoy them as well, but IME they aren't nearly as good at devestating algae as bristlenose or oto's. Bristlenoses can handle the larger to medium sized cichlids, where the farowellas can't. And their adult size can make a mess in heavily planted tanks, so most use oto's or SAE there. They are also a bit more sensitive, the fact yours is doing well speaks volumes about your fish habits. :thumb:


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## msjinkzd (Mar 18, 2009)

I keep them as well, i really enjoy them but they are so slow and passive that i could see how they would not fit into most setups. For algae, i always use nerite snails as they do not reproduce in fw, have a very low bioload, and are very attractive and easy to transfer from tank to tank. My farlo:


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## SidGuppy (Sep 9, 2002)

actually, they're a bit popular over here and have been for decades.

and it's because of what you say; they are very good algae eaters.

a lot of Dutch people have densely planted tanks, and Farlowella doesn't harm plants the way a pleco or bristlenose does

so, they aren't as common as dirt, but not that rare either; they're also almost year round available. 
smaller ones are about 10 bucks or so, if you pay double or more, you can have a nice adult wildcaught hairy stick.

of the Twigs and Whiptails, the most popular is ofcourse Sturisoma.
but Sturisoma does harm plants. it can turn any Echinodorus into a lacey plant.

after that it's Loricaria simillima and the smaller Rineloricaria's; but none of these are great algae eaters.

afther the Whiptails, it's the Twig that is most commonly kept of it's group.


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