Recommended helper fish

[kathleen55]

i have a 10 gallon aquarium. what would you recommend for helping clean up the tank a little?

 

[Fishkeeper26]

What's in it currently?

 

[uh.oh...]

^ occupants are very important. I'm guessing some sort of snail, or some cherry shimp or ghost shrimp. Maybe an albino pleco.

 

[kathleen55]

- 2 guppies
- 1 threadfin rainbowfish and 1 tetra (adding to their school soon should be upgrading or getting another 10g for them soon)
- 1 fin friendly beta
- 2 mickey mouse platys
- 1 ADF
so i wouldnt get the helper fish untill i move some of the fish over to another tank so its not overcrowded

 

[kathleen55]

^ occupants are very important. I'm guessing some sort of snail, or some cherry shimp or ghost shrimp. Maybe an albino pleco.

do plecos get very big?

 

[Fishkeeper26]

IMO I would go with some shrimp, since a group if Corys would be pushing it I think

 

[uh.oh...]

albino bristle nose plecos max at 5 inches, but i've never had one past 3...but that was only for a year, he died when my co2 went berserk. regular plecos get very large.

 

[xfactor6699]

do plecos get very big?

Plecos get way to big for ur tank

 

[kathleen55]

okay thanks so much. how many shrimp would you recommend?

 

[kathleen55]

Plecos get way to big for ur tank

oh okay

 

[Fishkeeper26]

I would go with 6 red cherry shrimp

 

[xfactor6699]

okay thanks so much. how many shrimp would you recommend?

I would do like 2 amano

 

[HUKIT]

do plecos get very big?

There really isn't a plec that's suited for a 10g, are you looking for algae control or left over food? I'm not fan of buying fish for certain maintenance issues, things like overfeeding, light control, and proper cleaning should be done by us. Otherwise with algae oto's or shrimp would work, bottom grazers would be a small school of Pygmy corys.

 

[xfactor6699]

I would go with 6 red cherry shrimp

U do rcs they might turn into food

 

[kathleen55]

There really isn't a plec that's suited for a 10g, are you looking for algae control or left over food? I'm not fan of buying fish for certain maintenance issues, things like overfeeding, light control, and proper cleaning should be done by us. Otherwise with algae oto's or shrimp would work, bottom grazers would be a small school of Pygmy corys.

algae control

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Then I would go with otos

 

[xfactor6699]

There really isn't a plec that's suited for a 10g, are you looking for algae control or left over food? I'm not fan of buying fish for certain maintenance issues, things like overfeeding, light control, and proper cleaning should be done by us. Otherwise with algae oto's or shrimp would work, bottom grazers would be a small school of Pygmy corys.

I just have a quick question I think ur right in some sense because we keep them in a tank we should take care of them but why not get fish to help with maintenance that's how it is in the wild and isn't that what we are trying to reproduce in our tanks at home

 

[HUKIT]

I just have a quick question I think ur right in some sense because we keep them in a tank we should take care of them but why not get fish to help with maintenance that's how it is in the wild and isn't that what we are trying to reproduce in our tanks at home

There's many times when a fish or inverts are purchased to control or perform certain things like left overs or algae issues, the majority of the time this is covering up or adding to the problem. If the root cause of these issues are not addressed whether its overfeeding or related issues your just covering up the problem and not fixing it. Search how many posts are out there with what fish eat snails or what fish for left over food? There are easy fixes for the majority of these concerns without adding fish. In some cases maybe you really want the fish, but don't buy them for the wrong reasons.

 

[xfactor6699]

There's many times when a fish or inverts are purchased to control or perform certain things like left overs or algae issues, the majority of the time this is covering up or adding to the problem. If the root cause of these issues are not addressed whether its overfeeding or related issues your just covering the problem not fixing it. Search how many posts are out there with what fish eat snails or what fish for left over food?

I understand but somethings like algae need some help.. My light stays on for 10 hours because of my plants so I have rcs to help with that

 

[Mr. Limpet]

There's many times when a fish or inverts are purchased to control or perform certain things like left overs or algae issues, the majority of the time this is covering up or adding to the problem. If the root cause of these issues are not addressed whether its overfeeding or related issues your just covering up the problem and not fixing it. Search how many posts are out there with what fish eat snails or what fish for left over food? There are easy fixes for the majority of these concerns without adding fish. In some cases maybe you really want the fish, but don't buy them for the wrong reasons.

I'd have to disagree about a cuc especially in the case of shrimp, since they will clean a lot more than they ever leave behind. AES (amano) in particular will go after anything from algae, food or poop, so their impact on the total bioload of tank actually creates a negative effect if you will, due to the minuscule output (vs intake) as opposed to a pleco, or oto that adds positive effect, or large amount to the bioload (no matter the intake). I also don't have to (or rather won't) supplement the feeding of my (minimal) shrimp population since I want them hungry and going after every molecule of detritus they can scavenge, whereas a pleco (et al) needs wafers to get a balanced diet or it suffers/dies IMO/E.

As for the algae itself? Welcome to the real world, it is part of a nature and IMO the lack of it shows an unnatural balance (as was pointed out), since it can be found in every freshwater environment (I've ever been in/seen anyways) in one fashion or another.