What do you all think?

[Whitney]

Hi all,

I want to add some bottom feeders and cleaner fish to my new 30 gallon tank and I'm trying to decide what will get along well with my blue ram, harlequins rasboras, and diamond tetras.....The tank has been running for about a month....it should be ready for some algae eaters by now- right?

any ideas? I've been considering getting a pair of clown loaches and maybe an upside down catfish or two. Should I be thinking about getting some type of glass cleaning fish?

I'm very open to suggestions. Thanks!

-Whitney

 

[Mom2Angel]

I have Panda Cories! Love them! I have three and they are always so busy cleaning the bottom of the tank of any leftover foods. I also have otos for algae control. I have heard of people having problems keeping them, and I did lose one the day I got it, but I have three that have done just fine for about 5 months now.

 

[MissFishy]

How long has your tank been up and running? Did you cycle the tank yet? Rams are very sensitive to water conditions, so I'm hoping you "seeded" your tank with something from another tank to get it going, because most tanks won't be ready for rams within a month.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I would suggest an upside down catfish and a group of cories (whichever kind appeal to you). The clown loaches need to be in a group of at least 3, and will outgrow a 30g tank... they get to about a foot long.

 

[Bandito_41]

Cories are excellent for cleaning up the bottom of the tank. I think Cories would be a better choice for cleaning than the Upside-Down Catfish. My Upside-Down Catfish don't do very much, they stay upside down untill i feed them then they move around to get some food and go back to their resting place. Otos would be good for algae control.

 

[Lotus]

By the way, clown loaches aren't suitable for a 30g tank. You need a group of at least three of them to be happy, and they will need a much larger tank in the long run.

Cories would work.

 

[Whitney]

Thanks for all of your responses.

My tank has been running for about a month...but I started it with BioSpira, which jumpstarted the cycle. I have my water checked regularly and the levels are all good. Ammonia and Nitrites are 0 and the Nitrates are very low. Algae has begun to form on the rocks and sides of the tank.

Today I went to my local fish stores too see what fish they had.....here are my options....

leopard cory cats
sidthimonki botias (chain loach)
yoyo loaches
dogo loaches
tiger loaches

Any thoughts on which of these I should stay away from or should be particularly interested in? Can I mix fish?

I also think that I ought to get some algae eating fish....
My LFS is getting clown plecos in on Tuesday, what do you all think....good idea?

 

[Lotus]

Can you tell us how many of each fish you already have (the rams, rasboras and tetras)?

Definitely stay away from the tiger loaches, they're very aggressive. Any of those loaches or cories would need to be in a group of at least three, so it will depend on how many tankmates you already have on which would work in the long term.

 

[Bandito_41]

Clown Plecos do not eat a lot of algae so they wouldnt be a good choice for algae cleanup. If you want a pleco for algae control i would recommend a Rubbernose or Bulldog Pleco. They stay pretty small for Plecos (up to 5"). I think a group of Otos would be just as good.

 

[Whitney]

At present, I have 3 diamond tetras, 6 harlequin rasboras, and 1 german blue ram.

I've attached a couple of pictures of the tank to give you a better idea of my set up.

I'm now leaning towards getting some corydoras. Question about them.....Should I get all my corys of the same species or mix it up (3 leopards, 3 pandas)?

Also...is there a difference in the algae eating of plecos and otos? I haven't seen otos in my lfs, but I can look more. My aquarium is acrylic...will the suckermouths scratch up the tank? Also.....the backround in my tank is a foam faux rock (it's very neat and has a built in bubbler)....do you think that an algae eater will accidently eat some of the foam and get sick?

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[MissFishy]

Your tank looks very pretty! I love how the rocks are different levels! How did you do that? I think a group of 3 ottos (otocinclus) would look wonderful in there with the colors and the set-up. Corycats don't really do anything for any algae problems you may have. Lots of stores sell ottos, so they shouldn't be hard to find (I know PetSmart, Petco has them). They stay small too (mine were only about an inch long) and don't create much waste, so they are easy on the bio-load. Make sure to get a group of at least 3, they like friends.

 

[Grumpy_Marine]

I have the dojo loach, kuhli loach, black loach... all they do is eat the food i feed. Sometimes i see them eating food on bottom that was forgotten, but for cleanup crew they are not all that in my opinion. I would go with the cory's that were suggested i wish i had some but my tank is full so i must wait till bigger tank or fish move on.

I am keen on loaches as they are snakey and sneaky like me...lol

 

[bsmall05]

my dojo eats his own food and any thing everyone else leaves behind. they are fun and very active, mine eats out of my hand. maybe a gold dojo? it wold look great in your tank!

 

[VirgoWolf]

I'm not a fan of cories, I have 3 and I am thinking I am going to give them away so I can use the space for something better, so if you want cories, don't listen to anything I have to say about them LOL. I am a sucker for suckers!

I would suggest a small pleco for mess controll (Bristle nose, rubber lip, or if you are willing to pay a little more for a nicer fish, definitly a flash pleco, I LOVE mine, or other not-so-common small pleco) and 3-5 ottos for algae cleanup/controll. They may be small, but the little biggers are awesome at cleaning algae!

After that (and you can change the pleco to 3-5 cories if you'd like, but I'd keep the otos) I say your tank is pretty stocked, maybe 1 more GBR if you keep up on the water changes. I love having a pair of GBRs, even if they never mate, they just seem happier to have another one to hang around with and chase every now and again.