Convict Tank Cleaner

cleaning what? left over food? If it's a single convict and doesn't have a mate you could some cory cats to help clean up left over food bits... If you plan on adding a mate later on I would go with a more armoured catfish like a Raphael Talking Cat (either striped or spotted).

BTW what sort of pleco is it? A common pleco will get way to big for your tank and if your current 'mess' is actually fish poop I would bet dollars to donuts the pleco is the real culprit!

As far as algae cleanup goes I like bushtnose (bristlenose) pleco's the best...

PS: You can add more serpae tetras if you want...

bernie comeau said:

IME, chinese algae eaters (CAE) make good cleaners and do eat small bits of uneaten food.

Click to expand...

Agreed - but they can get pretty big & nasty... I put 2 small ones in a tank I had my keyholes & festivums in and they did an amazing job at eat algae etc. but once they passed about 4" they started chasing the cichlids trying to suck their slime coat... I promptly gave them to a buddy that had a Rift Lake cichlid tank and his africans were able to keep these guys in line... SO I would think convicts would be able to as well... Also, these fish are now with my buddy and are at least 3 or 4 years old and they still haven't passed 6 inches yet - but I have heard they can get to a foot long (it could take awhile).

^You're right I've never seen a CAE that big - but apparently they can get to that size... I just thought the O/P should know as some LFS in my area won't sell them and those that do certainly won't take them back!!!