i put two alge eaters in my 46 gal tank i was surprised how them little guys cleand up my tanl as far as brown alge. i'd change 30% of my water and vac my tank every week but before the week was up i have bad brown alge but not anymore.

That sounds great, lol they eat brown algea? I didn't know that.
What type of algea eaters did you get?

-Alex

Do they eat other types of algae like hair algae as well?

wow...do tell us what breed of algae eaters you got...I could use some of them...

i don't know the name but they don't get big like pelco. they have black spots down both sides top are gray with a silver belly and are slender. they cleaned my plastic plants better than i couldthe little buggers are go getters

I need a couple of 'em!! Are they Chinese Algae Eaters? (Somewhere in the back of my mind that rings a bell)

Many of the algae eaters that are commonly sold in fish stores are the Siamese Algae Eater look alikes - and some are called Chinese algae eaters. They do, however, also have a bad side to them.

I have found, at least around here, the true Siamese Algae Eater is a difficult little beastie to find!

Chinese Algae eaters and some of the Siamese look alikes will eat algae when they are young (not hair algae, unfortunately). But when they grow bigger, they develop at taste for meat. A slow moving, or sleeping goldie is considered a great snack and they can kill a fish overnight. You may just see frayed fins or small wounds or you may lose a fish. A chinese algae eater can grow fairly large. I have one in a tank by himself - he does a bang up job of eating all the alage on the tank, but will also eat any fish that he can catch in that tank. That is why he is alone. He ate 4 guppies. He is about 5 inches long. His appetite for sushi may be why he was dumped on my doorstep in the first place!

There were several nice threads about Algae eaters and the best types for Goldfish tanks.....I shall see if I can locate them.

yea they get big aswel 25cm plus!! i had one, evil little thing he was, tried to eat my fish
i also made the mistake of buying two.. they are territorial and eat each other

I bought two otos (a while ago) to eat brown algae and they ignored the bad stuff and just ate all the green stuff! You are very lucky!

Are they Dwarf Otocinculus'? They are so cute! but, not to be left with goldie when he gets big!

Graham, lucky us, the otos don't get big at all 1 1/2 inches is the max, maybe 2 inches, but that's it. I had my first one for over 4 years, and he never bothered any goldies. I think they are one of the most timid algae eaters there are out there. They are so shy, you really have to look to find that little thing - in my case mostly on the intake tubes of the filters.
The new one I got for my 55 gl tank is tiny and little, but a hard working fella,. He never touches my 3 telescopes in that tank, and I see him on the glass day and night. THose are the only algae eaters I ever have in my tanks.
The last pest that took me 3 hours to catch out of that same 55 gl tank was a albino chinese algae eater, and although he was much smaller than the telescopes, I catched him on the poor guys more than once. He went back where he came from!