Otocinclus catfish

Otocinclus (ahto SINK luss) "Oto" catfish are native to South America and make terrific additions to a planted tank. I recently picked a group of ten for my 72 gallon tank. Luckily all of them survived the trip from the local pet store and are very active. They cleaned brown algae from two large pieces of driftwood in a single day and are constantly cleaning the plants. They are peaceful community fish, and I've found them to be compatable with the typically aggressive red tail shark.

Vetrapoint's website, "Keep sufficient Otocinclus and yamato numa-ebi shrimp in the aquarium from the start to prevent algae growth. As a guide line, keep about 20 Otocinclus and 50 Yamato-numa-ebi (Caridina Japonica) to every 100 litres (26 gal) of water for them to work effectively." Quick info on Otos can be found here.

Random Planted tank on the net #6. National University Singapore, Raffles Hall. View of the tank here. Their blog can be found here.