what kind of fish is good to eat excess fish food of the bottom of the tank?
Byi have a 55 gal which i just transfered the fish and decals into a 65 gal, while emptying the water out of the 55 i relized i had little hairlike white worms in the black rocks (which i didnt trasfer to the other tank) after researching it , i came up with that its due to food left on teh bottom of the tank. is there any fish that eat flake food off the bottom of a tank? its a freash water tank i have a type of sucker/cleaning fish im not sure what is called and its huge but obvously not doing its job when it comes to food on the bottom.and its not a placosomes..any sugesstions on what kind of fish i should buy? also algea eater fish that dont get huge? im convenced no worms or hardly any got into my new tank cuz everytrhing is new in the new tank other than the fish and one accessorie house thing.
i try not to overfed but when i fed what i think is enough, my angle fish stares at the top waiting for more(hes full of personality)and he only does that when hes hungry…i have the asian cleaning fish that looks like a placosomus but doesnt get as big yet it has gotten huge lol…i have what i THINK is a catfish but i dont know what it is, infact i only know what 2 of the fish i have are
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11 Comments
July 28th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
I would use cat fish they don’t go to the top to eat. They got to the bottom and eat the left overs. They also prevent algae. I know they are not that pretty but give it a try. Also if you want when you get it ask the pet person how big it grows.
July 28th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
I believe corys eat the uneaten food off the bottem…that’s what I’ve used before. Or just don’t overfeed.
July 28th, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Couple of good size catfish will take care of it. They’re skilled bottom feeders.
July 28th, 2011 at 9:10 pm
Cory catfish are one of the best bottom feeders out there in my opinion. They will endlessly hunt the bottom for bits of food as well as any little worms they can find. Personally I would suggest them over any sucker mouthed type cats for cleaning up leftover bits of food.
If you are looking to replace the huge pleco with another type of algae eater in addition to getting something for the flake food, then replace him with a bristle nosed pleco. They are odd looking ( what pleco isn’t though) and don’t get nearly as large. There are a wide variety of plecos available that don’t get big, but the odd or well colored one’s usually command a quite high price tag, but bristlenose are usually very affordable.
MM
July 28th, 2011 at 9:26 pm
i dont know what the technical name is but a chinese algae eater or rather several of them will help. they eat a range of things including green algae, brown algae, as well as fish food. they also don’t get very big. any type of synadonis catfish will help too… they root through the gravel ALOT. also be careful how much you are feeding… if theres lots of food in your gravel, you are probably over feeding your fish. feed them once a day, and only enough that the food doesn’t have a chance to reach the bottom.
July 28th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
A good bottom feeder is a pleco a.k.a. Plecostamus. Another good one is a Chinese algae eater. Cory cats and Clown loaches also work well.
July 28th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
I think you should get a Cory(Corydorus) they help clean up. Also I would recommend Plecostomuses they are major at cleaning up.
July 28th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
Gravel Vac. 20% water change every weeks. No fish is a garbage disposal.
July 28th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
You should try to purchase a algea eater, preferably a brittlenose catfish. They have been known to clean tanks very well. Make sure there is some algea in the tank for it to feast on though.
-r3ptile5
feel free to email me
July 28th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
WARNING: Plecos are NOT scavengers. I had to learn this the hard way. I was told at the pet store that they were, but mine nearly starved when in w/ my goldfish. On a pleco owners bulletin board, I learned otherwise, but only AFTER they attacked & killed my mama & daddy pair of goldfish (both 11 y/o). Now the plecos are in a tank by themselves & fed veggies, etc. The goldfish get fed a lot less, too, because in the process of visiting to vet w/my big pleco, I learned that the excess flake food (NOT eaten by plecos) was turning the water toxic. LESSON: (1) Overfeeding the top-feeders does not satisfy the bottom feeders. They need their own food. (2) Goldfish & many other fish will eat themselves sick & just pollute the water for ALL their tank mates.
July 28th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
Crayfish, they will look through every peice of gravel to find food (just be careful, the crayfish might not want the food at the bottom and might attack and eat your fish.
Here is some info on crayfish i made:
Ive had alot of experience with crawfish ( I call them crayfish). Yes, as long as ther whole under side is kept wet .Get a good filter, feed him only a maximum of 3 shrimp pellets every 4 days, DO NOT PUT RAW SHRIMP IN TANK( shrimp carry deseases fatal to crawfish), Put 2 or three live feeder fish fish every week or so , gat him a bubble maker to put oxygeg in the tank, and about 2-3 hiding places. If you evr think of getting 2 crayfish get a 20 gallon( for best results get a 30gallon) and 5 hiding places. Remember this rule, it applies to most species of crawfish: 1crayfish per 10 gallons. If he molts(shed off his shell) he will get bigger and lost limbs will start to regenerate, leave the molt in there so he can eat it and regain calcium from the molt to harden his shell(do not touch it after it molts, its body is fragile at that time.
oh yea, they can live in partly salt water but would prefer fresh.
So They are extremely hardy and can live without food for weeks!