Custom clean up crew needed

[Guyb93]

I need a clean up crew and not a pleco they create more waste than they clean , I mean I want some disgusting waste eating creature that has to fit a few requirements
They would have a big job in my 500l with a bunch of messy cichlids like a silent nanny lol my requirements are ... stay alive!! With Sev’s ,geophagus blue acara all decent enough size don’t want to be buying them dinner
Second don’t eat my eggs and fry , don’t really want to loose all eggs and fry to the garbage man
Thirdly don’t eat my plants , I’m desperately trying to plant my tank a combo of the large footprint and stupid fish is going against me already

a spanner for the works . I hate snails , really don’t want them I’d spend my life planning there destruction but if the benefits are there and maybe there nocturnal I could forget about them ahahah , any suggestions are more than welcome because even I think this sounds ridiculous but there has to be some thing lol

 

[Colin_T]

There's no such thing. The best you can get is a gravel cleaner.

 

[Guyb93]

There's no such thing. The best you can get is a gravel cleaner.

Ahahah i thought so but is there no small shrimp or anything that could work , I have a lot of wood and slate and it’s just not practical to move to clean behind I know snails would be a better chance of what I want but mehhh

 

[Colin_T]

Snails and shrimp don't eat fish waste, but they do eat left over food.

Having big cichlids with small shrimp will end with the shrimp being eaten.

If you go for freshwater crayfish, they will either get eaten or might try to eat the fish at night. They also dig and you end up with gunk coming out of the gravel and rocks can fall if they dig under the rocks.

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The best thing for big cichlids is big regular water changes, gravel cleans, and regular filter cleaning to keep the nutrients and disease organisms down so the fish don't get hole in the head disease.

If you have gunk building up behind rocks, maybe put an internal power filter or powerhead with a sponge in the tank and angle it so it blows the gunk out from behind the rocks and the main filter can pick it up.

 

[Guyb93]

Snails and shrimp don't eat fish waste, but they do eat left over food.

Having big cichlids with small shrimp will end with the shrimp being eaten.

If you go for freshwater crayfish, they will either get eaten or might try to eat the fish at night. They also dig and you end up with gunk coming out of the gravel and rocks can fall if they dig under the rocks.

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The best thing for big cichlids is big regular water changes, gravel cleans, and regular filter cleaning to keep the nutrients and disease organisms down so the fish don't get hole in the head disease.

If you have gunk building up behind rocks, maybe put an internal power filter or powerhead with a sponge in the tank and angle it so it blows the gunk out from behind the rocks and the main filter can pick it up.

Not so worried about substrate cleaning as my corys do most the work with food , I’m having algae, after changing my light to full spectrum only small diatoms but it’s a daily clean now it’s never bad but it’s noticeable only on the glass all rocks and wood are algae free , iv played with the light intensity to try and balance plant growth with keeping the diatoms away but it’s one of the other , plant growth or algae , I was hoping there was a snail or shrimp solution rather than actual care and attention lol