Fish And Other Creature Compatibilities

[Danno]

Well, since my tank has slowly died down to one fish, I was think that I would start from scratch and look into making a neato tank that had a freshwater cleanup crew similar to those of a marine tank. I was looking in the latest magazine from Drs Foster and Smith and they were selling Freshwater Clams, Japonica Amano Shrimp, and Ghost Shrimp. I've never owned any of those but they really caught my interest since I will be going to college in two months (man that caught up fast). I have Monday morning off of college and then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off completely so i'll be home then to take care of my 20 (possable upgrade to 29) gallon tank. But back to the fishies, are Freshwater Clams, Japonica Amano Shrimp, and Ghost Shrimp compatible with most community fish? I know that the shrimp are omnivors and will eat fry but I don't want to have livebearers like I did before. I used to have my hands in my tank for hours with a turkey baster sucking them out so they con get canabalized. But since clams are filter feeders they could help eat all the nitrates (or was it nitrites?) out of the water. And the shrimp could eat some of the fish poo and extra food that goes in the tank. And since they clean up and all, do they contribute to the fish-per-gallon rule? Sounds kind of odd, buthow much waste cana clam make? I dont know much about them but I cant say I ever saw clam poop before . Is there certain fish they get along perticularity well with these creatures? Maybe have a simbiotic realationship or something. Im hopefully going to have a webcam setup on the internet so I can see my tank at school whenever. I was thinking of maybe having one Otocinclus Catfish, one Freshwater Clam and five Ghost Shrimp for my clean up crew.

Any help would be great, thank you

-Danno

 

[moray]

It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this, the ghost shrimp are fine with smaller less nippy fish though you would have to make sure they have plenty of hiding places for when they shed. The clams I would not touch though, if a clam dies it can ruin your water quality like you wouldn't believe and also their young are parasitic to fish (attatch themselves to the gills) - also though they are filter feeders their impact on an aquarium is minimal. Amano shrimp are also harmless and interesting so they to would be a good choice.

 

[millym]

hi
i agree with amano shrimps great little creatures/clean up crew as long as the fish you are getting arent really big should be safe. see my sig to see what ours live with ( we've just lost a couple of 3+ year old shrimps and are going to replace them as soon as we can find some)
otos are really good too but they prefer to be in a group so if you could get more than one your otos will be much happier & you will see them out an about in a little gang grazing away on the algae together......

 

[Danno]

Wow,I never knew that freshwater clam babies were parasitic! Glad I asked here first. Is there a certain group of otos that are expecially good at cleaning a tank and remain expecially small for there species? The smallest ones I found where Otocinclus Catfish. Do you have any recommendations on some fish that would go well with them (maybe even a climate similar to them in the wild) ?