PlanetCatfish.com

They have been in my quarantine tank for 2 weeks. The tank is newly set up and has fuzzy colorless stuff growing on all surfaces.

Questions:
Do they eat only green algae?
Do they need time to settle in? I've read of people getting results in one day.
Could they be another type of pleco (not bristlenose)?

I did ask for females because I don't find the bristles attractive. And I really don't see much if anything in the way of bristles. The fish are about 3".

They won't eat black hair and black brush algae. Fuzzy stuff all over doesn't sound like green algae to me. Is it a well cycled tank? I got some weird fuzzy stuff on my bogwood in an uncycled tank - I removed it by taking the piece out and boiling it. For BHA and to a lesser extent BBA you need SAEs, or people use Flourish Excel to kill it (turn off circulation, use a turkey baster or similar to apply concentrated stuff right on the algae). My SAEs will sort of eat the BBA, but they largely ignore it. They have completely rid my tank of BHA though. My Ancistrus eat green algae, and whatever vegies I give them (they love zucchini). I find that they vary quite a bit in their utility - I had an albino that was fantastic - always out and about working away. The three I have now rarely come out, except for one that seems to be blind in one eye.
I bought what I thought was two females, but they turned out to be males. They were about 2 inches when I bought them. Apparently females are hard to come by, because the buyers don't pay for them (there was a thread about this a while back I believe) since they "aren't bristlenoses". Hopefully you have females, though.

That sounds like your tank has not cycled... With insufficiant bacteria presant, excess food or poo may not decompose fast enough with the good bacteria and a white hair rot amonia type thing sets in. They know a bad thing, they won't eat it. Suck it out and do a partial water change.

Some info about what filtration you have in your tank would help.

I use sponge filters. I can take a seasoned sponge filter and put it in the tank with declorinated tap water and a piece of wood. Heat to 76 degrees please. Instantly cycled. I spawn a trio of bushy nose plecos L183 in that exact set up. After a while some mulm will build up and it's not a bad thing.

Is that NYCichlids mulm?

Very wise, teknikAL, I did not know there was "ammonia algae". It is a quarantine tank, and although I used an established filter, I think I put in too many fish. I DID have an ammonia spike. Did a couple of PWCs, added another sponge from an established filter and all is back to Ammonia=0, Nitrite=0 and Nitrate=10.

I'll add a rock from my other tank to see if they eat the algae. Do they eat the algae that grows on the glass and waves in the current?

DJRansome wrote:Is that NYCichlids mulm?

Very wise, teknikAL, I did not know there was "ammonia algae". I'll add a rock from my other tank to see if they eat the algae. Do they eat the algae that grows on the glass and waves in the current?

"ammonia algae" = Rot and mildew, the white hair is mildew I believe.