Can someone suggest a good 'waste' feeder for me?

[J'sRamAir]

I was thinking about a clown pleco (since they don't get very big) or some ottos. Here are my concerns: I've read a little that clown plecos aren't very good at eating algae and that they will eat live plants (I have two I just bought). Those are the downsides to the pleco. As for the ottos, I'm afraid that once my knifefish gets bigger that it will eat the little ottos. I'm just looking for a fish, one preferably, that will eat the leftover flake food that sinks to the bottom and the frozen blood worms that my knifefish leaves behind. I also thought about corys, but I only want one (two max if small enough) and I hear they do much better in groups. Also my gravel isn't very small so they may cut themselves. I may just use ghost shrimp instead, but that's only if my knifefish doesn't eat them too. Any ideas?

 

[Lotus]

Clown plecos aren't big algae eaters, but they don't eat plants, as far as I have seen. They are cute, though. Ours like to suck on driftwood, and they tend to like meaty things like shrimp pellets more than veggies. You could see if you can find a rubber-lipped or bristlenose pleco, neither of which get more than 6". We had a clown pleco and two rubber-lipped in our 55g for a while, and there didn't seem to be a territory problem with them. One of the rubber lips has since been moved to a new tank.

You could get a couple of cories if your gravel isn't sharp. Large size isn't really the problem, it's sharp edges that can damage the barbels. Otos don't really clean up the leftover foods that effectively, they're more useful for brown algae.

Ghost shrimp may be a good answer. If you can get them fairly cheap, it won't be too much of an issue if they become occasional snacks for the knife. They LOVE bloodworms, and are generally good at cleaning up the leftovers. They're quite good at hiding in plants, so they probably won't be snacks too often.

Edit: have you thought about loaches? They're not really cleaner-uppers, but they will pick over the substrate for bloodworms and flake that other fish missed. Yoyos or dojos might go well in your set-up.

 

[pablo111]

I would suggest Corrys

You can just get 3.

If you think about it the 6" that the 3 would eventually take up is only another inch over a large clown pleco so its like splitting a fish into pieces. They are excellent cleaners.

Ghost shrimp can be found for less than a quarter so I dont think it matters if they get eaten.

Plecos arent really scavengers.

Have you considered snails? Like 5 Golden Apples will clean up and golden apples wont touch plants.

Or loaches too but I think the best is corys since i got them there is never a crumb of food in my gravel.

 

[exodon]

scavengers and algae eaters

It's a good idea to first determine what u need to be done in the tank.
(I used common names for fish for simplicity.)

Scavengers
Weather Loach, (dojo), Corydorus, Rapheal cats, flying fox,
are generally low maintenceand will scavenge the bottom for food. They tolerate a range of temp and water chemistry (pH,etc.)
Clown loaches, pictus cats, eels (tiretrak, spiny, fire), whiptail cats, botia, are a few that require a little more attention, in both tank conditions and dietary needs, however still preform a function. (workers)


Algae Eaters. Grazers.

Loricaridea, Plecostomus, Farrowella Cat, Chinese Algae Eaters, Otocinclus, Hong Kong Loach or Chinese Butterfly Pleco.,
Flying Fox, Siamese Algae Eater.

Mild Grazers include mollies, platies, and Swords. Guppies do a little.

You'll find that each species developes its own habits in the tank and will work certain areas and not touch others. Algae Eatrs and scavengers often develop territories.
Sometimes you have add more than one kind to balance the work load.

Otocinclus - stay small but are fast. Good glass cleaners.

Farrowella Cat, or Twig Cat. (Not Whiptail) - Excellent algae eatr.
Gentle on plants and works hard. Med. care.

Pleco - usu. the toughest and steadiest. Can get big. Can develope attitude. Will become spoiled and eat fed food rather than work. Much like having a big log in yer tank that eats, and poops. Long poops.
There are awesome creatures tho. Some ppl appeciate them, others not.

My personal choice, based on what u have in there...

school of clown loaches, say 6-9 (start em small), an eel, and a rapheal cat. (nocturnal, but excellent nighttime cleaning crew)
and garnish it all with 3-4 corys. Albino and bronze are most common. Corydorus juli, punctatus, paleatus, Schwarti, Metae, are nicer, a little more, but showy.

Well, thats my attention span.
Hope this helps.

Exodon.

 

[catfishmike]

snails would be much more accurate scavengers vs. fish.snails can get into places fish can't and eat a wider range of algae and detritus that fish will.only catch is that many people find snails to be a pest.

 

[J'sRamAir]

I think I'm going to get some ghost shrimp and I might try some snails. Haven't decided which kind yet. I hear that BGKs may eat snails, so if he does then I'll breed them in a separate tank. Or I may just get a big snail that he won't eat (or reproduce asexually). I don't want to get anymore fish if I can help it. Once my current fish get full grown my tank will be a bit crowded. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[fishydude22]

if your so worried about your knife fish then get rid of him!. They are going to kill pretty much anything you have with them hint hint the name "knife fish". If your gravel has sharp edges then unfortunatley cories are out .

 

[rtbs!!!]

What about the kuhlii loach? they come out usually at night in my tank if there is anything on the bottom then it's always gone by morning. they even go under the gravel. The problems are they are small and you hardly ever see them!

 

[J'sRamAir]

Knifefish will not kill everything that's in the tank with them. They are called knifefish because of their shape, not from any type of personality.

If I get anymore fish it will be a type of fish that you can see. Also, I think my gravel might be too big for a kuhli loach to burrow in anyway...he might hurt himself. So far I'm happy with the ghost shrimp and snail that I bought. However, I'm just now starting to develop some algae because I leave my lights on much longer for my new live plants. I 'might' get an otto or two for that, but it's green algae and they may not eat it.

 

[Lotus]

A bristle nose or rubber lipped pleco would do a good job with the algae. Both stay about 5". They are both pretty nocturnal, so you might not see a whole lot of them during the day. The snail will also clean some of the algae, but one in a 55g won't be able to clean it all. If it's green spot algae on the glass, it's often just easier to scrape it off every couple of weeks.

You should only keep your lights on 10-12 hours for the plants. If you're having algae, it's probably due to an imbalance somewhere (ferts, light or CO2).

 

[J'sRamAir]

I might not mind one of those plecos, but my LFS has a very limited supply of plecos. I think they only have 3 different kinds. One of them is like $75! They call it a vampire pleco or something like that...looks very similar to a starlight pleco? I think that's the name. Those are huge anyway. Course, I can always order some. I'll keep those types you mentioned in mind.

My lights are on for about 9 hours a day, but there is a decent amount of sunlight shining through the window (most of it not directly) for another 5-6 hours. I guess that's more light than they need, but they are growing like crazy! Well, my green hygro is anyway. My sunset hygro isn't growing much, but it still looks healthy. Right now my algae isn't bad at all, but I'm sure it'll keep getting worse. So far it's just on one fake plant I have, just at the very top of it. I have used some fertilizer, but not a full dose. I don't inject CO2 either. I'll just keep an eye on it and see how things progress in the next few weeks. Thanks for the help.

 

[Lotus]

I don't know how many watts per gallon you have, but if it's high, then a lack of CO2 and fertilizers can lead to algae.

Sometimes the LFS have uncommon plecos, sometimes they don't. You can always ask them if they can order one in for you. The vampire plecos do get huge, and are very expensive. I think they're supposed to be black with white spots, but if the one in the LFS is unhappy, he may not be showing his true colors.

 

[J'sRamAir]

Well my plants are on one side of the aquarium for now. I have two 19w bulbs and I only use one bulb (the bulb on the same side as the plants). My knifefish has a driftwood cave on the opposite side so I leave the light off for him. Anyway, if my plants keep growing well then I'll get more real ones and I can get rid of the fake ones with algae on them. Then I won't have to worry about algae so much.

Actually, those vampire plecos in the store looked very good. Very black and had lots of white dots. They look awesome, but they're not for me.

 

[smalltank99]

it might be on the dangerous side but a couple male crabs might help. they can get anywhere with their pinchers