Goldfish bottom dweller?

[ilovefishys18]

Hi, I was wondering what is a good bottom dweller/cleaner for a goldfish tank. It is cold water.
Anything helps.

 

[coralbandit]

Common plecostomus if the tank is big enough ..

 

[ilovefishys18]

Common plecostomus if the tank is big enough ..

Thank you.

 

[Autumnsky]

Also dependent on tank size, 36-48", Weather Loach aka Dojo Loach
(Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Hi, I was wondering what is a good bottom dweller/cleaner for a goldfish tank. It is cold water.
Anything helps.

If you want a bottom dweller that's great, but don't expect any fish to be a "cleaner" of any sort. They all poop. They all produce ammonia from their gills (mostly from their gills).

 

[BBradbury]

Hello ilove...

You can't mix tropical fish with Goldfish. The water stays too cool for the tropicals. Goldfish are bottom feeders by nature, so you don't need anything else to do that job. If you're concerned about the organic material that builds up on the bottom material, just vacuum it up when you do your large, weekly water change.

B

 

[Fresh2o]

Yes, the dojo loach would fit the bill, however, as BBradbury pointed out, goldfish constantly peruse the substrate looking for things to eat. Bottom dwellers generally NOT needed but can be added for the sake of having an interesting specimen in the tank.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Hi, I was wondering what is a good bottom dweller/cleaner for a goldfish tank. It is cold water.
Anything helps.

What size tank are these goldfish in?

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Fresh...

I'm a little skeptical on the Dojo Loach fitting in with Goldfish. The Goldfish tank doesn't need a heater, so their water can drop to the low to mid 60 degree range and they'll think nothing of it. I've never kept loaches, but I thought they were tropical and needed warmer water at least approaching 70 degrees at the lowest. I may be wrong.

B

 

[Angellove78]

A gravel vac. And water changes are best. Getting a catfish or anything else would just make more cleaning for you to do. Imo

 

[Fresh2o]

BBradbury - Dojo or weather loaches can be kept between 59-77 F though I suspect the range is greater than that considering that they have been banned in several US states such as VA and NY.

 

[Toad]

Most people keep their houses at a comfortable 68-73F, so for the most part you can mix goldfish with fish that are normally at that range(of course you HAVE to take in account other factors, such as size, aggressiveness etc.), which can include bristlenose plecs, danios, green and three-line cories (most people do not recommend cories with goldies as the cories can become lunch and lodge their spikes into the goldie), white clouds, and dojo loaches.

Subtropical fish are the best bet to look into, but you have to be really, really careful for the safety of all the fish involved, and consider the type of goldfish as well, and all the usual aspects of any aquarium like bioloads, swimming areas etc.

 

[MaggstAa]

I have a CAE (Chinese algae eater) in with my goldfish and he cleans like a champ, but they are VERY territorial, so you need to have a big tank. Mine is now 50gallons and he mainly keeps to himself but before I had him in a 5 gallon and he was super aggressive. Other options are aquatic snails but they make more mess than they clean up and depending on what kind you get they reproduce like crazy even when there’s only one (so NO apple snails!). Catfish are also options.

 

[Autumnsky]

I have a CAE (Chinese algae eater) in with my goldfish and he cleans like a champ, but they are VERY territorial, so you need to have a big tank. Mine is now 50gallons and he mainly keeps to himself but before I had him in a 5 gallon and he was super aggressive. Other options are aquatic snails but they make more mess than they clean up and depending on what kind you get they reproduce like crazy even when there’s only one (so NO apple snails!). Catfish are also options.

Extreme caution with CAE because they seem to like the slime coat on fish (slower and fatter fish and slimy GF are easy targets) and will suck on them, I hear of this often happening.

 

[ilovefishys18]

I ended up getting a pleco last night. I plan on getting another one soon.

 

[MaggstAa]

Extreme caution with CAE because they seem to like the slime coat on fish (slower and fatter fish and slimy GF are easy targets) and will suck on them, I hear of this often happening.

Mine has only done this with dead and ill (weak/almost dead) fish. Otherwise in the small tank he just chased them around like a little jerk but like I said now that he’s got space he mainly keeps to himself. But yeah he does his job but doesn’t like a lot of company.