bottom feeders

[One_Trick_Pony]

Hello all still a brand newbie, and have yet to get any fish for my tnak, wanna know what im doing a bit first and hopefulyl not kill any, are bottom feeders necessary, as to be hounest i think most of them are ugly, or the are any ideas for cute ones??

the only one i have seen that i liked was sold to my girlfirend as a sharkcatfish which was kinda interesting tho not particully nice to look at but beter ten the otehrs

OTP

 

[WILDER]

They freaked me out at first but they are some pretty ones, but you will have to get them later when your tank has been running a while, as they need a mature tank and excellent water conditions,

 

[sunflower]

Well there's no rule saying that you have to have bottom feeders. I mainly got my cories because I wanted variety in my tank and didnt want to overstock the middle and upper levels of the tank too much. I got my bristlenose plecs for the same reason really.

 

[WILDER]

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/com_index.htm

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

than the catalog site is excellent

also there a thosands on there anyone know of any colourful ones??? bottom feeders i mean

 

[Alurny]

Yellow bristlenose plec. Sorted!

 

[sunflower]

Just a thought, make sure you research whatever you decide to buy as some cats and plecs can grow quite big and therefore need alot of room.

 

[Alurny]

dont buy chineese algae eaters or anything labled "algae eater" These are huge, and not the most suited to community tanks

 

[littlefishie]

No otos with platies, really. Platies eat algae and so do otos, so the otos might not get enough.

Cories! Like I told you! Especially pygmy cories, cos they're smaller. But panda cories are absolutely adorable.

And ghost shrimp! [aka river shrimp] Cheap, and they eat leftover food.

 

[sunflower]

I have some Amano shrimp, they clear my plants and ornaments of algea! My Plattys dont bother with the algae that much.

 

[WILDER]

My platys don't clear algae to, but my guppys do, I have had my pit bull plecs for two weeks now and very pleased with them, they grow up to 2 and half inches so don't get big.

 

[sylvia]

My platies (the ones in the tank I WAS going to put otos in...) do nip at algae but don't realy eat much of it. The same goes for swordtails. I've never had guppies in a tank with algae so I can't say anything about them. I think bulldog and bristlenose plecs are good for algae-eating. Otos are great but they can be fragile and need to be in groups. They also require LIVE algae to thrive so once they've eaten all your algae...

 

[ripvan]

I have 2 "glass shrimp".About 1" long.(from local shop in Sowerby Bridge west yorkshire)They eat any food on the bottom.They are fun to watch,scooping up the food and then finding somewhere to sit and eat it.

 

[SnowyzMom]

My pepper cories have a lovely metallic green sheen all down their sides so they're quite colourful. I can't speak for the other cory colours for prettiness but mine are alot of fun to watch and they sure do vacuum the tank bottom for you. Ottos sure cover algae on rocks, plants and tank sides. My guppies do nip at java moss and other small plants and will definitely go for an algae covered rock...salad time! I sometimes take out several clean aquarium pebbles, medium to large sized ones, put them in water in a window somewhere, let them develop a nice green fuzz and use them as an occasional treat for the ottos and particularly for any guppy fry.

Let us know what you decide to get if any. It's always fun deciding how to stock a tank once the basics are sorted out.

 

[littlefishie]

I only mentioned my platies cos all they did was eat algae. They wouldn't touch flakes, but the spirulina algae tabs I had were all they'd eat.