need a bottom dweller

[megnmick]

This is, another, of my problems. I need a good bottom dweller. I have a 10 gallon tank. Within the first two months I put in 3 black tetras, 6 serpae tetras, 2 african dwarf frogs, 1 sucker fish, 2 flounder. Now I know that's a lot. But everyone was alright together for about two weeks. First I lost the sucker fish (sorry I don't really know his formal name), I think I lost him due to not much algae. Then I lost a frog. I think it's because the fish were snatching all the food, and none of it would sink to bottom. Then I lost the two flounder. I ended up moving the frog to a two gallon, then a 1 gal. He's doing fine. When he was in the 2 gal. I bought another frog to put in there, but the new frog didn't even last a week. But the first one is doing great by himself, and is actually pretty active. I lost a tetra in a recent power outage, but that has nothing to do with the others. But all I have in my 10 gal. is 2 black tetras and 6 serpae tetras, and all the food sinks to the bottom. I need a bottom dweller!

 

[Allivymar]

Corydoras. Active, small (between 1- 3 inches), good bottom feeders and a lot of fun. A small school (3-6) would do well in your tank with the other fish.

 

[TankGirl]

I really think you are on the verge of being overstocked. Get some floating food (Hikari micro pellets are great) and that way it stays on the surface for longer. Do gravel vacs with weekly water changes and that should take care of it. The only thing you could really add would be shrimp, which do eat leftover food, but they are remarkable waste producers themselves so you would have to be quite vigilant with your water changes. Cory cats need a school and I personally think that would overstock your tank. Those 2 black tetras and 6 serpaes are starved for space to swim as it is, I am sorry to say. If you want the tank to have a bottom dweller, that would be maybe 3 pygmy cory cats, but I would reduce the serpaes by at least 3 to accommodate the corys, which carry a greater bioload fish for fish than the serpaes.

 

[megnmick]

Really? 3-6 in a 10 gal. tank? I thought that was one of my problems was TO MANY bottom dwellers

 

[lmw80]

I don't think you are overstocked. I think putting in more middle fish would make your tank overstocked, but I don't think putting 2 bottom dwellers is going to have your tank as being oversrocked. I agree with Alivymar....corydoras. I suggest 2...as they don't like being in anything less than pairs. I have 2 in my 10 gal. They are PERFECT for getting the food that falls to the bottom. They are very hard workers at scavanging, AND they are so fun to watch.

 

[MicroFish]

Sounds like overstocking issues to me too. 10 gallons really isn't that much... we have a bunch of small fish in our 20 gal and I think it's almost too many... but they seem to be doing fine.

I like loaches for bottomdwellers and my favorite is the Pakistani Loach (aka YoYo Loach), but they are sometimes hard to find.

Sheila

 

[guppylove]

well after reading what everyone has got to say about your tank i think you shoud get a biger tank or think about stock before you put fish in....please dont take it the wrong way as it is not inteneded.....

 

[Allivymar]

I dunno. There are only 8 fish in the tank (the 2 black tetras and the 6 serpaes) if I am understanding megnmick correctly. Is it really that overstocked? The blacks get to be about 2 inches, the serpae top out around 1 inch; I think there is plenty of room for some corys. Of course, keeping on top of water parameters is paramount, but it should be anyway. Pls someone explain why they think the tank is overstocked; I'm not understanding.

 

[TankGirl]

I think it is overstocked simply because I just recently kept 7 serpaes in a 10 gal Q-tank, and they were very tight in there. The are about 2 inches each and they are very quarrelsome and behave much like my tiger barbs with lots of zooming around and bickering. I was very glad to get them out of the 10. It is not just the size or number, it is the particular personality of the serpae. By the time I got them through quarrantine, there was one missing a tail and another missing an eye! All wounds healed with Melafix once they moved to the 55-gal, and now they have room to get away from each other, no new injuries. This is not necessarily how things would be for Megnmick, and it certainly could work out, but I just had a similar setup and would not have kept those fish in there long-term.

 

[Allivymar]

Ah ha! Now I get it; not the size thats an issue, its temperament. I've never had serpaes, and sorta thought they were like neons in behavior as they are similar in size.

Thanx Tankgirl

 

[Terry]

I agree with Alli, corydorus would be a good fish to add to the bottom of the tank. There is a pigmy corydorus you could get Aspidorus fuscoguttatus or Aspidorus rochai which only grow to 4-4.5cm (1.5in). But i don't know the availability in the USA.

 

[LondonGman]

Why not get another “sucker fish” specifically the bristle nose pleco. I have both corydoras and plecos and while corys are fun to watch, if you have the time, the pleco keeps the tank algae free and I do not believe you need more than one. Also they do not grow bigger than 6 inches.

I know you said you lost one but I would give them another go since you now have less fishes in the tank. It could be that the oxygenated water did not get to the bottom of the tank instead of lack of algae. To get more algae in your tank for the pleco, simply, keep the lights on longer,

I do not know anything about loaches.

 

[Mr502go]

I love my lil Plec Kirby, he's in a 10 gallon as well, and is quite the worker. Make sure you give him/her plenty room to hide, also he seems to like the Hikari Algae wafers, I usually break one in half, and let him suck on it once a day or every other, depending on my ammonia levels. Stick with the Bristlenose, as they don't get huge, but the still are quite eager to tidy things up.

 

[Catalina]

If you are going to get bottom dwellers, get two cory catfish. I have two, and they are fine. I say this tenatively, however, as I've never kept serpae tetras, so I don't know much about their tempermant. But, corydoras are small, incredibly peaceful fish that don't get bothered by much. Ideally they would be kept in huge schools, but you (and I, who also have them in a 10 gal) don't have room for that. Just be sure you get two of the same species.

They are the smallest, most effective and peaceful bottom feeder that I know of.

 

[saberry]

Probably everyone else did what I initially did, which was to skim the original post and not pay attention to the actual total fish count - minus all the deaths. Just skimming your post, it sounds like a lot of inhabitants!

My concern would be to get your tank under control b/4 adding more fish. You have a pretty high mortality rate there.

I know nothing about keeping frogs and am very much a newbie myself, but I would seek advice as to what might be an overall solution to your problem, not just what type of bottom dweller to put in - you may just be adding to the grave pile

-Perhaps things such as water parameters and as TankGirl alluded to, what kind of tank mates will fit into your 10 gal.

Any of you more experienced enthusiasts have any thoughts on this?

 

[mother]

I'm also looking for a bottom feeder, more of a cleaner even. I have a 30 gallon tank with no live plants.
Fish:
(1) 7 inch long comet(carnival fish thats lived on toast crumbs in a soup bowl his first few days, and was stuck in a green fuzzy algae tank when I got him. I saved him from the green bowl and named him Toast)
(2) small orange comets (new store bought named oranjello and lemonjello)
(2) small black moores (store bought named George and Weezy)
(1) spotted cory? small cory stays small(store bought named Ren from Ren and Stimpy)


I was thinking of adding some snails for bottom scavenging, but i'm worried about the cory, as well as waking up to several hundred new snails from my original 3 or 4.
Any thought would be much appreciated.

 

[MicroFish]

>>Within the first two months I put in 3 black tetras, 6 serpae tetras, 2 african dwarf frogs, 1 sucker fish, 2 flounder.

I simply meant that overstocking might have led to the problems the poster had w/ some of these critters dying off.

Sheila

 

[cindywindy]

Saberry is correct in the assumption that it looks very much like there is a very high mortality rate in this tank and I'm a bit surprised no one has explored the previous deaths before recommending more fish for this 10g tank.

We all know that chemical imbalances such as ammonia and nitrIte accumulation is much more fatal in small tanks than for big ones, so in good conscience and for the well-being of any future inhabitants of the tank, I would first ask the question what are your water parameters ?

Perhaps if we could be sure the tank was fully cycled before suggesting an even bigger bioload, we could prevent further deaths or even an outbreak of a life-threatening disease. JMO.

 

[cindywindy]

Mother,

A 30g tank is extremely too small for a 7-inch fish, and 4 more fish that will grow to be its size as well. Goldfish need 20g of swimming space EACH ! The common varieties of goldfish will exceed a foot long at their full size ... in which case a 30g will be woefully inadequate to house them. My suggestion is that since Goldfish are huge waste producers besides being entirely too large for this tank, is to hold off on any more fish until you can secure a more appropriately-sized tank, THEN perhaps obtain an additional bottom feeder !

 

[mother]

Unfortunately, I am now down to three two comets, one of the smaller comets has moved on to better water.

on another note...

WHAT? 20g per fish? geeeez...who knew...so that means for my 4 fish (two comets one large one small, and two moores both small) I need an 80 gallon tank. Won't that bit a pityfully empty looking tank? I'm not complaining or nothing, it just seems like an odd number. What happened to the rule of thumb about 1 gallon per inch of fish?

thanks for replying btw... and ignore my ranting its just a new tank and it seems suddenly I might have gone the wrong way.

Mother