"Cleaner" fish for 30 ukgal tank

[Firebelle_uk]

Hi I'm hoping to set up my second tank soon, it's about 30uk gals and I would like advice on some sort of "cleaneer" fish, and don't worry I know they still need food in thier own right etc. The thing is I;m going to be very limited on stocking levels for this tank and don't want to start of with it half full of Corydoras, neither do I really want anything tha's gping to be more than 2-3" long, as Il;m not comfortable with fish that look as if they haven;t got enough room to "stretch out" and have a good swim around. Any ideas please, preferably I;d liks something that is happy on it's own. I remember my Dad used to have something we called "Sucking loaches" but reading up now I think these may have been baby plecs, and certainly not the ideal fish for this role.

Thanks

Firebelle

 

[OohFeeshy]

Umm... khulis? They're not particularly grouping fish, but 3 would work well.

 

[spanishguy111]

Umm... khulis? They're not particularly grouping fish, but 3 would work well.

[snapback]905354[/snapback]​

You never get 3 Kuhlis. Schools of 7+ only or they feel extremely shy.

I'd suggest Tiger loaches. They're surprisingly mellow (the ones with wide yellow/black bands). Yo Yo loaches can be pretty mellow as well, but if you have extremely small fish they can be harassed.

Have you considered a crawfish? If you're using water with a pH over 7 and a hardness of atleast 7 or 8 GH you can get one. They're cheap and hardy and clean the gravel better than some people realize- they use their little pincers (not the big claws) to dig in the gravel and get tiny bits of food. In a 30G your crawfish will grow to 7" if well cared for, but even at this size will not harass your fish if fed well. If you have any apple snails these might be attacked and eaten. The same is true of extremely small fish. It will not actively hunt them down if fed well, but if it walks across a sleeping neon on the gravel at night it might eat it. Basically if your fish are 2"+ and don't sleep on the gravel (few fish do) you're fine. Larger fish will not be bothered regardless of their position, nor will crappy tasting fish or fish that are difficult to swallow such as plecos and corys (which you said you dont want). Also if you have shrimp these might be attacked, but again its unlikely if the animal is well fed. Crawfish REALLY cant be bothered catching food unless theyre very hungry.

If you get him make sure his diet includes TETRAMIN BOTTOMIN for bottom feeders (sometimes called tetra bottom feeder tabs) theyre in a yellow container. It contains a lot of calcium which is excellent for the animal's shell. Don't OVERFEED IT bad for the animal bad for your hardness. Also crawfish shed about once every month or two if well cared for. If you see it looking dead on its side under a rock, leave it alone. It needs to hide for a few days, get out of its old shell and harden the new one. Until then its soft like mashed potatos and can be eaten by anything.

 

[Bloo]

Umm... khulis? They're not particularly grouping fish, but 3 would work well.

[snapback]905354[/snapback]​

You never get 3 Kuhlis. Schools of 7+ only or they feel extremely shy.

[snapback]905371[/snapback]​

I would really never have guess that ! I have a single one in my one tank and he's out an about quite often. And then I have two in my other tank and they are forever swimming up and about even in broad daylight
Granted they feel more secure in groups, it's not to say that you can't keep less - and certainly not as many as 7 ! I'd love to know who has 7 Kuhli's in one tank - just out of interest

Granted that Kuhli's are not cleaners and only eat tiny amounts of food themselves - they are not vacuum cleaners.

What fish do you itend to keep in your 30 gallon ?

 

[rdd1952]

I think the key here is what you want "cleaned". If you're talking about just scavenging for left over food, I would suggest ghost shrimp. They are interesting to watch, don't add much to the bio-load and very cheap since they are basically sold as feeders.

If you are looking for something to clean algae, then you will probably need to go with a siamese algae eater (if you can find one), amano shrimp (once again if you can find them), or maybe a dwarf pleco. Florida Flag Fish are supposed to be good algae eaters too and are very pretty. My son has 2 in his 20 gallon. They are hard to find too though. The SAEs will get to about 4 or 5 inches but should be fine. All of the others will stay small enough to "fit" your tank fine.

 

[rdd1952]

Umm... khulis? They're not particularly grouping fish, but 3 would work well.

[snapback]905354[/snapback]​

Have you considered a crawfish? If you're using water with a pH over 7 and a hardness of atleast 7 or 8 GH you can get one. They're cheap and hardy and clean the gravel better than some people realize- they use their little pincers (not the big claws) to dig in the gravel and get tiny bits of food. In a 30G your crawfish will grow to 7" if well cared for, but even at this size will not harass your fish if fed well. If you have any apple snails these might be attacked and eaten. The same is true of extremely small fish. It will not actively hunt them down if fed well, but if it walks across a sleeping neon on the gravel at night it might eat it. Basically if your fish are 2"+ and don't sleep on the gravel (few fish do) you're fine. Larger fish will not be bothered regardless of their position, nor will crappy tasting fish or fish that are difficult to swallow such as plecos and corys (which you said you dont want). Also if you have shrimp these might be attacked, but again its unlikely if the animal is well fed. Crawfish REALLY cant be bothered catching food unless theyre very hungry.

[snapback]905371[/snapback]​

I definitely wouldn't put a crawfish in any tank with fish as small as 2 or 3 inches. When the lights go out at night and most fish settle down, the crawfish will lay in wait for an unsuspecting fish. I will bet money that a 4" crawfish in a tank with 2" tetras will be eating one within a month. That is their natural food in the wild. Even if what you are saying is true, it is extremely hard to find that "right" amount to feed fish. You are almost always overfeeding or underfeeding. That being the case, you have an outstanding chance of underfeeding him and sending him looking for food. Bottom line, I would stay away from the crawfish.

 

[trace1]

now i'm no expert by any means but looking up tiger loaches on google i got the site http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...?article_id=210. now maybe its me but aint these to big to put in a 30uk gallon tank if i'm wrong i'm sorry

 

[laurasmithuk]

my shrimp do a wicked job of cleaning my tank and i have only got 2 in a 96 litre tank

 

[Firebelle_uk]

Thanks for all the idea, I quite like the idea of shrimps as they would add a bit more variety, just got to try and find out where I can get them now.

As for my long term plans for this tank, I haven;t really got any yet, I'm really fond of gouramis and expect I will end up putting some form a differnt species in there. I can;t wait unitl Friday when I get my new male dwarf gourami as the female I have already is such a beuatiful fiish, I'd like to give her a companion and see her really bloom.


Firebelle

 

[rdd1952]

If you want shrimp to simply scavenge for left over food, then ghost shrimp are generally very cheap and readily available. Most of the places around here sell them for less than 50 cents each as they are really mainly sold as feeders for larger fish. I paid 29 cents each for mine. I have even heard of places selling them at 10 for a dollar. They will eat pretty much anything you put in the tank including flakes, algae pellets, even shrimp pellets (yes they're canibals).

Amano or other algae eating shrimp are more expensive and harder to find in most places. I'm sure you can order them online but shipping is expensive and you will most definitely lose some in shipping.