I love plecos and hate algae so I thought hey why not get a pleco that will eat algae! I know some plecos, like the commons, don't actually eat algae (or very little of it) even though they may be sold for that purpose to unsuspecting buyers. So is there a species that is generally recommended by aquarists?

Rubbernoses and common bristlenoses are the best algae eaters to my knowledge.

I could be wrong but I think the common plecos are actually good algae eaters. The issue is they get very big and messy so most fish keepers aren't prepared to keep them for very long!

saratang wrote:Out of interest why a bristlenose over a rubbernose? What's the difference?

Bristlenoses are more hardy, they're very common and inexpensive (more so than rubbernoses I believe), they don't need high amounts of oxygen, they don't mind higher temperatures, they're pretty easy to breed if you're into that, I believe they're less shy too. That's not to say rubbernoses are terribly difficult, they're a good pleco if the tank meets their requirements i.e. a goldfish tank. But if you just want any old pleco to watch and to eat algae I'd recommend a bristlenose over them.

Yeah you can't go wrong with a bristlenose, they're kind of multi functional.

I find rubbernoses just as easy to keep though, TBH. They are a bit timid though and some people say that their rubbernose hides all the time.

reefer171 wrote:Are bulldog plecos the same as rubbernose? How big do they get - I read 4" somewhere and then 6" somewhere else. Is 6" even small for a pleco? I don't know what size range I should be aiming for.

Yeah, bulldogs are the same as rubbernose. They're also called rubberlip.

I think they're a small to medium pleco, so yes, 4" - 6" sounds about right.

How big is your tank? What's your stock? Water change routine? Filtration? This will help determine if your tank can handle a small/medium sized pleco. They are pretty messy - I've had a couple of smallish plecos and they poop a lot!