Good Fish For Stirring Sand?

[Tsi_User]

Well today is a sad day, our two ADFs have died (while we are on vacation) in a 10 gallon with great water starts and a Betta fish as an inhabitant. They were both doing great and one of them we've had for a year . We believe that the problem might have been that the sand substrate is not stirred up enough by the frogs (it is about 2.w5 inches deep in the back) and gases built up and killed them.

So, now we're looking for a tank mate that can A) stirr up the substrate B ) live a happy life in a 10 gallon with a betta and C) preferrably not a Kulhi loach or snails.

Thanks in advance.

 

[n3ont3tra]

You could have a few small cories, like panda cories.

 

[three-fingers]

I seriously doubt it was the substrate, if it was the fish would be more affected since they breath in the water and they would be dead....
However malaysian trumpet snails are always a good bet .

 

[Fishkrazy1]

This may be a little bit risky... But you could try a clown loach if you were going to upgrade to atleast a 20 gallon tank... Clown loaches usually don't exced 7" but they have been know to get to 12-14" I've seen one at 11" and that was in a 29 gallon tank... felt bad for the little guy but I know they are very good at digging up substrate... Other than that you could try most bottom dwellers oh and PS three-fingers just so you know mate he did say "preferrably not a Kulhi loach or snails" lol just thought I'd make that apparent... anyways good luck

 

[n3ont3tra]

I wouldn't do a clown loach. One of the main reasons you don't see them past 7 is because they die way earlier then they should, parially because they're kept in small tanks. Besides, cories do just as good a job. Anda 20g isn't nearly enough for a clown loach.

 

[three-fingers]

PS three-fingers just so you know mate he did say "preferrably not a Kulhi loach or snails" lol just thought I'd make that apparent... anyways good luck

Missed that. Snails are still best though, corys aren't even nearly going to sift through 2 inches of sand, and the only fish i can think of right now that dig in the sand are too big or unsuitable. Maybe a smaller species of spiny eel(think the tanks too small though)...but still MTS are the best .

 

[ImperfectFaerie]

Here's the reason we think that it didn't affect the fish- it's a Betta- therefore a labrynth breather. The gasses are the only thing we can think of as the tank has been set up for awhile, but we switched to sand a month or so ago.

 

[three-fingers]

It would take much longer than a month for grasses to build up in the sand. And i don't really understand what your trying to say about the betta, it should have been as much affected as the frogs were because it breathes air, but even more too because it takes oxygen from the water . ADF's breath AIR, so there would have had to have been ALOT of grasses built up under the sand, then for the gasses to be trapped under the hood(which wouldent of happened anyway but especially not if you have an air pump) .

 

[Nerwign]

I've had the fortune to see a clown loach at over 2ft long. Please do not get them for a 10 or 20 gallon.

I just got 4 khuli loaches for my tank and I love them, but if you are not interested in that specific kind of loach you might try a horse-faced loach. I was considering one of them instead of the 4 khuli's, as the horse-faced loach only gets to be 6 inches or so.

Just a thought.

-Nerwign

 

[Tsi_User]

It would take much longer than a month for grasses to build up in the sand. And i don't really understand what your trying to say about the betta, it should have been as much affected as the frogs were because it breathes air, but even more too because it takes oxygen from the water . ADF's breath AIR, so there would have had to have been ALOT of grasses built up under the sand, then for the gasses to be trapped under the hood(which wouldent of happened anyway but especially not if you have an air pump) .

Well it's my understanding that frogs have much more porous skin (for lack of a better term?) and if things are going south they are going to be the 1st indicators of something wrong.

 

[andywg]

The build up of toxic gasses in sand is often banded about but I have a couple of problems with it. Firstly unless your current fish actually dug up an anaerobic pocket that released the gas then it would not affect the tank. Secondly, the gas is not guaranteed to form. A number of people used deep sand beds of 6" or more in marine tanks, and more are starting to do so in FW tanks as the DSB allows anoxic and anerobic bacteria to grow which convert nitrates into nitrogen gas.

As mentioned above, I do not forsee any toxic gasses building up within the first 6-12 months, certainly not in the sort of quantities that allows them to be released into the tank and kill frogs instantly. The problem with the gas (I seem to recall it is Hydrogen based, but forget exactly which) is that it kills the animal on contact when it is released as a bubble (which will rise very quickly and gas off at the surface very quickly). The gas does not slowly infiltrate the water and send the water stats south.

 

[Fishkrazy1]

you could try a yoyo botai always a funny fish to watch... but I don't know their max size... a 10gallon might not be big enough though I haven't see one that large