Clean Up

[Mybbygotsauz]

Hi,
im wondering what the best cleaner is of a tank
as far as fish go, or crustaceans/whatever
what freshwater specimen is the best cleaner of tanks
preferably a species that is rather peaceful would be appreciated
any help helps
thanks

 

[Malawi MaD]

Hi,
im wondering what the best cleaner is of a tank
as far as fish go, or crustaceans/whatever
what freshwater specimen is the best cleaner of tanks
preferably a species that is rather peaceful would be appreciated
any help helps
thanks

Shrimps/plecs/Bristlenose Catfish all pretty good at cleaning the tank and are all relatively peaceful.

 

[Mybbygotsauz]

Are there any specific ones that are better than the others?

 

[coldcazzie]

Depends on:
1 what size the tank is
2 what your other inhabitants are
3 what it is you want cleaning...

Answer those and you'll get an answer that is appropriate.

 

[Mowbz]

The best cleaner of the tank, is you.

 

[Mybbygotsauz]

Obviously Mowbz, if you had read the post it said fish species lol
but the tank is a 60 gallon
guppies, tetras, mollies, rubber lip and common pleco, ghost shrimp, and a ram cichlid pair
I just recently put the shrimp in to help with the clean up
and basically just the fish waste is what i would like to be cleaned up, it seems to be excessive but hopefully the shrimp can make a difference
but im wondering if there are other more effective species that could do a much better job and quickly
any suggestions?

 

[Essjay22 137]

If by fish waste you mean food that the fish don't eat, then almost anything that lives on the bottom of the tank will eat it. If you mean fish poo then nothing will. There are no animals (fish, crustaceans, whatever) that eat fish poo. You have to remove that. And the shrimps will only add to the poo.

 

[coldcazzie]

basically just the fish waste is what i would like to be cleaned up, it seems to be excessive but hopefully the shrimp can make a difference

Shrimp don't eat fish poo. You have to remove that by vaccing when you do a water change. Any living being in the tank will almost always make more mess than it removes.

 

[This Old Spouse]

If you have excessive poo in the tank, it's likely due to the common pleco. As lovely and graceful as they are, they are without a doubt the biggest poo producers I've ever seen. I was using a turkey baster every day to try to stay ahead of it, but it pooped faster than I could suck it up. I finally rehomed the big guy to some folks with a 75g tank, and within a day the poo vanished into my filters.

 

[soybean]

My amano shrimp produce more poo than any fish in my tank. They eat any leftover food and any decaying vegetation, but nothing eats fish waste except gravel vacs and filters.