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Clean up crew/bottom action for a 10 gallon

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Bhuggins

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I have a planted 10 gallon with gravel. I’m looking for something to help a bit with uneaten food and algae. Here are the common ones I’ve come across that are on my list of potential tank mates (ember tetras are the only fish in there)

Pygmy cories - not too interested in them because everything I keep hearing you need at least 6 and that seems like quite a hit to the bioload plus not sure if my 10 would be big enough for them to be happy

Oto cat - if so how many? I’ve seen 3 min

dwarf crayfish -love these guys but Im - if it has claws, it kills

shrimps - I do have a decent set up of a whole mess of shrimp

snails - sigh, I just don’t like snails

Kuli loaches - while my gravel isn’t sharp, I’m afraid it’s not a good set up for them


Any other suggestion of bottom dwellers I should look into? I do need some action on the bottom
 
For a "clean up crew" the only think would be snails and shrimp. Otocinclus will eat algae but after that is gone they need veggies. Pygmy corydoras and kuhli loaches need sinking pellets for food.

You should safely have 8 pygmy corydoras in a 10 gallon with ember tetras. You would need to do 75% water change weekly but it would be fine, although you want a cleanup crew and they do not do this

Edit: I would not risk a pygmy crayfish.
Shrimp are very active and are fun to watch scavenge for food. Colorful too
 
Corys need sand. They also eat fish food, not waste or algae. Otos are strictly vegetarian so won't touch fish food or waste. A 10G won't provide enough biofilm so you would have to feed extra to support them. Shrimps will eat fish food but not waste and usually not algae.

I'm afraid keeping the substrate clean is the job of the fish keeper. Hint: If you have left over fish food you could feed less.
 
If you want a bottom dweller besides shrimp, you will need sand. Kuhli loaches and otos need a 20 gallon or larger. No good in a 10.

Pygmy cories id go at least 10 in a 10.... too shy in lower numbers. And they need sand too. But they can be housed just fine in a 10 gallon. I keep 10 in my 10g with 8 kubotai rasboras and 3 sparkling gourami. Plus the usual ramshorn snails lol but i keep 20 gal filtration on the tank too. But very small bioload on cories
 
I do gravel vac once a week with my water changes. I guess my post was two fold, more along the lines of getting a bottom dweller more (didn’t expect something would clean my tank for me lol)

Sounds like a need to give snails another look. Mystery snails are safe with my plants right? My bad feeling towards snails comes from my hatred of pond snails!
 
I wouldnt risk the mystery snail in worry of getting an apple snail. That is a bad mixup with plants!! Lol mine were sold as mysteries but hands down definitely are apples as theyre huge and have even cleared my tank of every last tidbit of salvinia (floating plant like duckweed)

In a 10g, a nerite snail, assassin snail, or similar would be your best chance
 
I agree, no Cory’s or Apple/mystery snails.

I would suggest some nerite snails.
 
What about MTS - malaysian trumpet snails. They stay under the substrate in the daytime and the population won't get out of control if you don't overfeed and do vacuum your gravel. Their bioload is a zero sum because they eat waste and turn it into smaller waste which the bacteria can deal with easier.

Even if they do get out of hand all you need to do is wait half an hour after the lights go out and pick them off the glass.
 
seangee said:
What about MTS - malaysian trumpet snails. They stay under the substrate in the daytime and the population won't get out of control if you don't overfeed and do vacuum your gravel. Their bioload is a zero sum because they eat waste and turn it into smaller waste which the bacteria can deal with easier.

Even if they do get out of hand all you need to do is wait half an hour after the lights go out and pick them off the glass.
Click to expand...
They are kind of annoying, if you are OCD about your sand being clean.
 
PheonixKingZ said:
They are kind of annoying, if you are OCD about your sand being clean.
Click to expand...
How so - my sand is always clean. In 2 of my tanks I never even see them. I do see them in the 3rd because I have slow feeders in there so they have plenty of food for several hours a day while the CPD and shrimps mess about wondering what to do with it. Still never see them with the lights on but about once a month I go in after dark to collect the surplus off the glass.
 
Update: added a nerite snail and some cherry shrimp! Was only able to get 3 good sized rcs but he threw in some babies for free. Stock is wiped out at both of our LFS’s
 

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Looks good, my LFS was really low on fish and I was going to take some pictures of all the almost empty tanks but today they called and told me they finally got in the water sprite I ordered. I went there and they had a big shipment of fish come in and most of the tanks were well stocked so I picked up some neon tetras too to celebrate.
 
I like to space out my stocking so I’m perfectly happy that I get to keep going back to check and see if they have more!
 
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