Bottom feeder for the 40 gallon

[bloodlucky]

Ok so I'm cycling the tank right now and I'm brainstorming a good bottom feeder for the 40 gallon. I am already planning to move my 3 plates from the 10 gallon and I am cycling the 40 with 6 danios, which totals up to at least 10 fish already (I have a baby platy) so I want to determine a good bottom feeder before my tank is overstocked.

I hate plecos. They have no appeal to me and are nasty when they die. I also thought about corydoras except they don't really bottom feed. Ghost shrimp would get eaten. My dad thought about clown loaches as we had a bit of experience since we had them in our 72 gallon, but I don't even know if they bottom feed well...

I'll take just about any fish even the crazier ones

 

[Obsessedfishlover]

Ok so I'm cycling the tank right now and I'm brainstorming a good bottom feeder for the 40 gallon. I am already planning to move my 3 plates from the 10 gallon and I am cycling the 40 with 6 danios, which totals up to at least 10 fish already (I have a baby platy) so I want to determine a good bottom feeder before my tank is overstocked.

I hate plecos. They have no appeal to me and are nasty when they die. I also thought about corydoras except they don't really bottom feed. Ghost shrimp would get eaten. My dad thought about clown loaches as we had a bit of experience since we had them in our 72 gallon, but I don't even know if they bottom feed well...

I'll take just about any fish even the crazier ones

Well personally my favorite are mystery snails they are GREAT cleaners of my tank for a forty gallon I would look into three snails or two about medium sized.... Cory catfish are so fun to watch to research on them they are so cool... Another fish is a golden algae eater they are pretty and don't look like plecos.... But if you don't like any algae eaters than I would suggest going with Cory catfishes....

 

[bloodlucky]

Well personally my favorite are mystery snails they are GREAT cleaners of my tank for a forty gallon I would look into three snails or two about medium sized.... Cory catfish are so fun to watch to research on them they are so cool... Another fish is a golden algae eater they are pretty and don't look like plecos.... But if you don't like any algae eaters than I would suggest going with Cory catfishes....

I heard they don't bottom feed though. I have a mystery snail in my 10 gallon and they're great!

 

[Obsessedfishlover]

I heard they don't bottom feed though. I have a mystery snail in my 10 gallon and they're great!

Your probably right mine sorta clean up my rocks but not really.... The best bet is getting some kind of algae eater I recommend the golden one they are way prettier than the plecos...

 

[vanimal]

You could do Pictus Cats. They're awesome if you get a little school!

 

[bloodlucky]

Thanks everyone! I will think of all of these but I may just get cories for the hell of it because they're so cute

 

[Wolfsblood]

You could do Pictus Cats. They're awesome if you get a little school!

Pictus cats get way too big for a 40 gallon. Cories are definitely bottom feeders. You could also go with some shrimp

 

[vanimal]

Pictus cats get way too big for a 40 gallon. Cories are definitely bottom feeders. You could also go with some shrimp

Not a 40 gallon breeder. They max out at 5".

 

[bud29]

Not a 40 gallon breeder. They max out at 5".

....However they are insanely active, and want to be in schools. Despite the great footprint, you really need a bigger tank for them IMO.

Have you looked into amano shrimp? You could get some with your cories as well, and amanos eat algae like nobody's business.

 

[Wolfsblood]

Not a 40 gallon breeder. They max out at 5".

They have the potential to grow to 12" and like bud said they pretty much never stop insanely swimming through the tank.

 

[Rivercats]

Corys are in fact bottom feeders and forage the bottom of the tank constantly for any little tidbits. You could also do loaches. Clown loaches get too large when mature but something smaller like Yo-yo loaches would work.

 

[vanimal]

They have the potential to grow to 12" and like bud said they pretty much never stop insanely swimming through the tank.

I've never seen them break 6". If you left the tank bottom mostly bare I think two would have lots of swimming room due to the large width of the tank.

 

[bloodlucky]

Well I went ahead and got 3 peppered cories, they're great but as we predicted they don't bottom feed. There aren't really Chinese algae eaters in my LFS or petcos. If I have a 55 gallon QuietFlow filter running in my 40 gallon, with that be enough current to have a bamboo shrimp? They do a good job of snatching crap out of the water

 

[bloodlucky]

Any suggestions?

 

[Sunnystang]

I just got an albino bristle nose pleco. Super cool and very active, and loves to take care of algae. I always had a pleco but with this 29g I wanted something that wouldn't get to big, the bristle nose grows 4-5in. Good luck

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I just got an albino bristle nose pleco. Super cool and very active, and loves to take care of algae. I always had a pleco but with this 29g I wanted something that wouldn't get to big, the bristle nose grows 4-5in. Good luck

+1 to this. I have an albino as well and I LOVE him. They also appreciate a medallion of zucchini; all you do is bring water to a boil, either slice the entire zucchini (this is easiest, you can put all other medallions in the freezer in a ziploc bag and use as needed) and cook it all or just cook a few pieces, let it cook for no longer than a minute, let it cool and drop it in your tank. It took my pleco a little while to find it but once it did it would stay on the zucchini for hours on end!

 

[vanimal]

My Plecos eat cucumber raw. Cooking is just extra work IMO.

 

[bloodlucky]

But are there any good bottom feeders? Bamboo shrimp?

 

[Rivercats]

What are you considering bottom feeders? Cory cats are bottom feeders, their mouths and barbels are turned down for foraging and eating.

 

[bloodlucky]

What are you considering bottom feeders? Cory cats are bottom feeders, their mouths and barbels are turned down for foraging and eating.

I have 3. Should I get more? I found myself between two decisions, one big main bottom feeder (pleco or something) or a large variety of little ones. Since I already have 3 peppered cories I might get a few more, and some mystery snails to get some algae.