Caring for sucker fish

silkyuk9

Ive put a sucker fish in my 60 gallon tank to help clean the algae. Ive been given a tub of algae wafers and told to put one in the tank every other day.

I can see the fish has begun to slide up the tank obviously eating the algae that's collecting on the tank side.

Is there anything I should know or need to know about suckerfish?

Its about 1.5 inches long at present.

Paradigm

What kind of "sucker fish" is it?

This http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fish/sucking-loach.html ?

shegirl

First thing you need to know is what type of fish it is!

Is it a loach?A pleco (catfish)?If it's a pleco (likely)what type is it?

silkyuk9

Paradigm wrote: »

What kind of "sucker fish" is it?

This http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fish/sucking-loach.html ?

Yes that seems to be the one, however it maybe has a black line on the body, not really sure.

Paradigm

silkyuk9 wrote: »

Yes that seems to be the one

They're ok when young but soon move on to the food you give the other fish & give up algae eating to a large extent.

They can grow quite large (5-6 inches), eat any delicate plants & become aggressive.

The wafer might keep it away from you're plants, if you have any, but it's not essential to it's diet.

stsarina

Is it an otocinclus?



Easy to care for so long as you're careful with water quality. Do supplement their diet with algae wafers and occasional treats of blanched veg - mine love broccoli leaves or courgette.

silkyuk9

so you can basically blanche bits of veg and just drop into the fish tank, yes?

Froglet

They like lightly boiled peas, and cucumber as well.One wafer every other day is not enough in my book.

silkyuk9

Froglet wrote: »

They like lightly boiled peas, and cucumber as well.One wafer every other day is not enough in my book.

Raw cucumber?

I tablet per day?

Any other veg they like,

Froglet

Yes,a slice of raw cucumber,you need to peg it down though! Take the shell off the peas first.If no veg then maybe one wafer now and up it as it grows.The veg is more of a treat,whereas the wafers have more nutrients in.They will also enjoy flake .

silkyuk9

Froglet wrote: »

Yes,a slice of raw cucumber,you need to peg it down though! Take the shell off the peas first.If no veg then maybe one wafer now and up it as it grows.The veg is more of a treat,whereas the wafers have more nutrients in.They will also enjoy flake .

Its kind of small and wont stay still. The girl in Petland said give it one tablet every other day,She never mentioned it was a veg eater. Ill try the cucumber but more important will it be ok with one wafer every other day?