cleaning up tank for fry

[lizzy]

hi all. could anyone please tell me if there is a small fish that cleans up
the tank, and wont bother or eat baby fry. i have a sucker mouth cat fish in my main tank who does the job but hes about ten inches long ,and sucks up everything he can fit in his mouth( which is big).
i need something much smaller to put in my two foot tank with fry.

 

[gto_cowgirl]

Well i heard of Otto plecos? But i didn't see any for sale around where i live and i had a huge algae problem in my fry tank. Most scavengers will not intentionally eat your fry unless it gets in its way or the scavenger does not see it.

For my fry tank i got a rubber lipped pleco which seems to be doing a great job. One day the pleco will get about 5" and its in my 5 gallon so i'll have to trade him in or just replace him. I couldn't find any plecos or algae eaters any smaller that do a good job around my area, you may have better luck.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

There are no such things as cleaner fish.

What are the scraps of food that you plan on feeding the scavenger (or, rather, the fry)?

You have to feed the scavengers food of their own, i.e. algae discs and shrimp pellets.

How big is the fry rearing tank?

 

[gto_cowgirl]

Oh, i thought they ment an algae eater. The smallest and easist little food scavenger that i know if a ghost shrimp. I use to have a few of those in my 5 gallon fry tank before they died from some medication and i had no where else to put them.

They were great little things. I never had any problems with them eating my fry. Most of the time they would eat the extra food that i put in the tank and you have to put extra food in there for them to eat too. A couple of time a week i would feed them a couple of shrimp pellets which they and the fry loved very much.

 

[Angry_Platy]

A bristlenose catfish would be ideal for your purposes...they grow to 6 inches and will not bother the fry....in fact, my platy fry used to pick at my male bnoses fins Cheeky little buggers...

 

[balloon molly]

ramshorn snails will do but they lay eggs so ur choice

 

[snowyangel]

Well i heard of Otto plecos? But i didn't see any for sale around where i live and i had a huge algae problem in my fry tank.

Never heard of an otto pleco, I've heard of a plain, straight up Otto(nice small algae eater max sixe 1.5 inches) and plecos(various sizes from 4-20inches). I would personally go for ottos or for cories(small bottom feeders that usually stay around 2-3 inches). Both are non aggressive.

 

[lizzy]

hi and thanks to all for the advice. My tank is two foot by the way. The problem in
the tank is keeping down the algae. I also havent heard of otto plecos, but im in
england so maybe we dont get um here. My big catfish gets algae disks to eat
(the kind made for bottem eaters), but he also goes round sucking all the rocks,
and things and i dont get a build up of algae.
Ive heard of corys, but didnt really know what fish they were but they sound
like what im looking for, ill go and see if i can get one. Will one be enough do
you think?

 

[shaz4242485]

how about a kuhli loach
i have one but i think it will eat the platy fry
its really good in keeping my other tank clean

 

[Hitman]

A group (5-6) of Ottocinclus affinis (Otto's) will do the job prety well... This scheme works in mine tank pretty well...

 

[gto_cowgirl]

Oh sorry then, i ment Otto's. I just thought they were pleco's the way they were sounding. )

What gallon is a two foot tank? Seems a little small for a whole school of ottos to me.

 

[lizzy]

about 23 galls i think, well i have a 46 gallon community tank and the other tank is about half the size in length but roughly the same width / depth etc.
so i think thats about right. since starting this topic my mollies have been at it again and its now home to 40-50 fry ( all doing well so far apart from 1, whos still
in the breeding net just sort of laying there), so i think maybe just 1 otto or cory
might be enough by the sounds of it. Ive never seen ghost shrimp but im going to
check those out too cause they sound cute ( if you can see em that is. lol.).

 

[Hitman]

Otto's are about 1-1,5 inches long, thus you're not going to have any problems regarding your volume.

 

[gto_cowgirl]

Ah! 23 gallons is plenty of room for a school of ottos if they only get that big. That should take up the most of 12" in your tank which leaves plenty of room for the fry. Ghost shrimp are nice and cheap. I liked watching them eat because they are see through you can watch the food go right through.