A fish that eats plants animals and algae?

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RAV777

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
13
Location
New Jersey
Hello, my name is Ryan. I'm new to this forum but I hope to be an active, and, at least in the future, helpful member. But, I am currently only a novice, and I have yet to even own an aquarium. So, anyway, on to the point of this thread: I have a question. Is there a fish, or, more specifically, a small (less than 4 inches max, preferably more like 2), hardy fish, that is carnivorous (will eat black worms, scuds, daphnia, fry, shrimp, and the like), as well as herbivorous (will eat leaves and). Optimally, it would eat algae as well. Yes, btw, I do know that the word for such a fish would be omnivorous, but I wanted to be more specific. I also know there are omnivorous fish, but I can't seem to find any that are small, and known to consistently eat plants, as opposed to only algae. Responses would be greatly appreciated :)! Thanks in advance :thanks:
 
I wish I could help better, but you can go to liveaquaria.com and select 30 gallon as a qualifier. Then, mostly 2" size or less should show up.

My emerald green corry cleans all my plant leaves but I don't think he eats them. ( Some snails eat plants and most plants end up bringing snails into your aquarium, unless you treat to kill the snails and do a 45+ day quarantine to ensure no snails. )


Friend of Bill W.
One day at a time
 
Anyone else have any other ideas? I've been considering platys and guppies, but though they're omnivorous, it doesn't seem that they're very keen on eating plants.
 
Just realized, you might like the sparkling gouramis. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+882+1562&pcatid=1562

I have 3 in QT. Mine are 1/2" and haven't croaked ( made the cricket like singing sound) yet.

A LFS special ordered them for me. Since you don't have a tank, yet, you could let your LFS know the fish you will be choosing and they might have a list like my LFS does. ( I'm on the list for more emerald cory and for false julii cory ( the false julii are fun, but they are jumpers. I had two jump out... 1 b4 I knew they were jumpers and 1 that jumped so high and hard it pushed the taped cardboard baracade I had away from the tank and got stuck to the tape. ) I now have plastic needle point sheets covering all my QT tanks.

So, the Sparkling gouramis, make this really cool sound. You can see & hear them here:
http://youtu.be/LE1H3EUryeE
And
http://youtu.be/i5_z-tiUIPo

The 2nd video gives you a more true perspective of their size and color.

Also, you'll need to set up your tank in advance. In the classifieds Mr Fisher sells some seeded sponge filters that will speed up your N cycle.

I initially bought all the wrong stuff for my tank. So, if you need help, you can message me and I can either help or refer you to the people who helped me.



Friend of Bill W.
One day at a time
 
Wow! Thank you! I looked them up and they might just work. It says they require meaty foods as well as algae, but it also says on a forum that they munch plants. Plus, they're beautiful and make cool noises which is an added bonus X D I'm not sure if they're the best suit, as there are other criteria for the fish that i'll choose for my aquarium (which isn't quite going to be a normal aquarium), but these seem to be the best option I've seen so far!
 
Mine are only a few days in QT. They are still very shy. They got more normal when I added clumps of moss to the QT. Your LFS might give you some for free and you can grow it in a container and get a big wad by the time you get your fish. I give my containers fresh water every 3 days. I use a couple drops of Leaf Zone and a couple drops of SeaChem Flourish ( on different days once a week). And, a couple drops SeaChem Excell ( but that one is really not necessary; it's to furnish what CO2 furnishes)

People are always selling moss in the classifieds. I gave my gouramis a mix of flame and weeping moss in QT.


Friend of Bill W.
One day at a time
 
About the only fish that clearly comes to mind in your question is a mbuna. They are algae grazers, demolish plants with glee, and will opportunistically eat other things that cross their path. However, they need a larger tank than a 30g.
 
First fish I can think of is the American flag fish. Just gotta be careful as they can get nippy with certain timid and slow moving fish.
 
Thank you for the responses :)

Monk: Is algae their main food source?

Mebbid: Hm, they eat meat? I'm trying to research them and it seems that feeding them meat is frowned upon, and that black worms in particular are a big no no, which would disqualify them for use in my project unfortunately :(

Azmodan: Another good suggestion possibly! I'll have to look into them more, but they're diet seems to be a good match. Are they aggressive towards each other or only other species?
 
What are the parameters of your experiment? What do you want to accomplish? Maybe if you start there we can help you out more.
 
some of the smaller loachs, (not clown loach), brisle mouth pleco gets about 5" but usually will not bother all but the smallest fish
some of the smaller south American cichlids ( Africans are not for beginners or a small tank )
 
Mebbid: Well, i'd rather not talk much about it at the moment because I haven't worked out all the specifics, and it's a bit of a controversial topic, but I'm working on plans for a self-sustaining aquarium. As for specifics, like PH, I haven't decided yet, but will work the rest of the tank, for the most part, around the requirements of the fish I choose.

Micey: Unfortunately a five inch fish is probably too big. Loaches as it appears need to be kept in larger groups, and that also probably would not work with what I'm trying to do :( Thank you for your input though! I'll look into it further, just to make sure. Why aren't africans good for beginners? Are they delicate (As in, not hardy)?
 
It can be done, provided you do it right.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=150555

That's the most successful aquarium of this sort I've ever heard of. The fish he used feeds off of micro organisms and is endangered so its nearly impossible to find. A fish that eats plants will kill off too many plants for a planted tank to be self sufficient when feeding. Guppies are the live bearers I'm assuming you're going to use, no predator will get all of the Guppy fry and your tank will become overpopulated. This will be maintained by the fact that your fish will starve due to lack of food. A very large colony of shrimp will be absolutely necessary.

We can only really help you if you give us specifics, controversial or not.
 
Mebbid: Thank you! I've actually seen that before, as well as many other (mostly failed) attempts, as i've been looking into this for a while. I'd like to give specifics but I really haven't made any absolutely definitive choices yet, so there isn't much else I can say except that the fish is going to have to work in this project. In a few days though i'll post a thread with my plan. For now i'm just looking to come up with a good list of various fish with the right type of diet, and from there i'll compare them and find the one that suits the project best.
 
Idk what they like, yet. I'm trying to get mine to eat Repashy. I read they love shrimp, but mine aren't eating much of anything yet. I did get some movement from FD Tubaflex.

I think they have to settle in a bit and chill out b4 they let me know what they like. I'm going back and getting 2 more if they still have them on the weekend. I'm hoping that will make them feel safer.

There is a real good book at Amazon about the type aquarium you are planning. I can't remember the name, but I remember it was $$$

Good luck!!!


Friend of Bill W.
One day at a time
 
......goldfish,carp.....eats plants animals and algae.
Except that most goldfish get well over 1ft long and are far too large for this project. Not to mention they need too much food for a tank like this to keep fed, and produce too much waste to stay healthy in a self sufficient setup.
 
Africans need a high ph which are hard on most plants also high ph makes ammonia much more toxic , most Africans are very aggressive and the common way to fight agreetion in them is to crowd them (overstock)
 
Monk: Oh okay thanks ^^ Are you talking about Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad? I've heard very good things about the book, but the overall idea / plan seems to be readily available online, and the book, as you said, is rather pricey, so I don't plan on actually purchasing it. However if you're talking about a different book I'd love to see it! Thanks again :)

Matt: I've considered goldfish but as Mebbid pointed out, they get too large and demand too much from such a small system.

Micey: Oh okay, thank you for your advice, i'll stay clear of them in that case, as well as high PH fish in general. I didn't realize the PH of the water affected how toxic ammonia was O.O
 
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