As title says, i quite like whiptails and they get large enough for my other fish not to eat, but not sure if they are hungry for the greens?

the short answer is yes.

the long answer is that they will eat whatever they like. some will eat only algae but some will mostly eat prepared foods and anything in between the two extremes. they are very cool fish though, I love watching mine. watch out for jumping.

mine seemed to prefer frozen bloodworms. but would graze on algae wafers if thats all they got given

Royal whiptails are probably one of the better algae raspers.

L010A and similar prefer actually eating something substantial, and meat should be included in the diet for most if not all whiptails.

But you can't keep them happy and healthy only eating algae.

If you're after algae eaters ottos and GAE (if your tank suits them) are the best bet.

Well, tankmates include: Jar, Festae, Gt's, Bichirs, silver sharks. I have seen some 20cm+ common whips and thought they were pretty cool, possibly a good addition to my tank, hopefully some BNs would be inconspicuous enough also? Nothing in my tank is agro atm, jar is behaving and suprisingly the festae is quite mellow - waiting for the day though :roll: Are different whip species compatible?

Yeah they are compatible with each other, but only the Royal whiptails will get large enough. They do take quite a while to get big though.

What about the commons? Seen them about 25cmish

what is a common whiptail? do you have an image or any thing?

Then I can look up PC

Pretty sure its this one Loricaria_filamentosa, sold as a common whip is most stores that have them I believe, not the twig, royal or red whip.

my little black whiptails don't eat algae. they prefer protein based food but will eat algae wafers.

saw a new one (to me anyway) the other day: black tailed whiptail. sandy brown body with dark tail.

also I have seen lancalots, blacks, reds, the odd twig, and royals, but never a 'common whiptail'

Perhaps im thinking of the lancelot one...