Scavenger for my Convicts. Which one?

[DKWICK]

I want to pick up a scavenger for each of my two tanks. One has Convicts and the other has Zebras. Can you tell me which I should choose but I am looking for one in each tank so I do not want to get one that needs 4 more with it.

Can you help? Thanks!

 

[drobbins27]

Are convicts and zebras not the same thing??? Any way, I wouldt reccomend keeping many fish with Convicts...maybe a plec?

 

[drobbins27]

Ask cichlidaddict that guy is amazing

 

[DKWICK]

A pleco is not a scavenger. It eats algae and I need one that eats left over food.

They are differant. A convict is a south american cichlid and a zebra is an african cichlid.

Thanks I will see if he helps!

 

[Mustang5L5]

My convicts nearly killed my pleco so i had to take him back.

Not many bottom feeders work well with convicts because their territory tends to be the bottom of the tank. You would need a HUGE footprint to be able to put some in.


In my tank, i just use ottos for upper level algae and snails for the lower levels

 

[DKWICK]

Thank you but I am not looking for algae eaters. I am looking for a scavenger to pick up left over food. Like a cory or loach. I want to find one that does not need to be in schools.

 

[modernhamlet]

Thank you but I am not looking for algae eaters. I am looking for a scavenger to pick up left over food. Like a cory or loach. I want to find one that does not need to be in schools.

Where did you get the idea that corys or loaches eat detrius?

 

[Nina7777]

hello there,
Try a Chinese Algae eater. Some people don't like these because they say they are mean and stop eating algae when they get older.

But for your case, they don't need a friend, they do stop eating algae (you said you didn't want them to eat algae anyways) and they can hold their own against convicts! I had two in with my convict and it was quit amazing to watch them try to pick a fight with each other.

Plus mine never ate algae but they sure did clean the bottom of left over food like little vaccumms.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Thank you but I am not looking for algae eaters. I am looking for a scavenger to pick up left over food. Like a cory or loach.

You will still need something that can hold it's own.

I have a Red Claw Crab as a bottom scavenger but even he gets picked on. I thought his hard shell was doing a good job protecting him as well as those two big RED claws but one day i came home to find the Male con had ripped one claw right off.

The crab now spends his days under a peice of driftwood and darts out here and there for food.

Moral of the Story, if a convict doesn't like a fish, watch out

 

[OscarCichlid]

I have two pictus cats in with my con in a 30 and there fine together. The con picked on them a little when i first added them but he learned to live with them. Now he doesnt bother them and they keep the tank very clean. Just be sure to get ones bigger that the cons mouth. I have also kept cons wirh Channel cats (but you need a huge tank they get a couple feet long), and a school of clown loaches would work to.

 

[missyintx_99]

Try yo-yo loaches. I've kept yo-yo's with many of my cichlids and they do very well.