Cleaning

[toebash17]

so do any catfish actually help u clean the tank or is it a myth? and if they do what are the best cleaners i have a 55 gallon tank

 

[fishing4exotics]

Hi toebash17, yes some catfish do actually help clean your tank. Some like the common pleco will produce more fish poop than it cleans up your tank. I have found that the Bushnose pleco is hard to beat for cleaning your tank. I also, have had Giraffe catfish that do a great job of stirring up the gravel and cleaning it.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi toebash17

It depends on what it is that you expect them to clean up. Corys will eat food that falls to the bottom of the tank when top feeders eat, even though they need to be fed their own regular diet.

Other catfish such as otos and plecos will eat a lot of unsightly algae.

If you are thinking that any fish eats the waste products of other fish.......... well, that is a myth.

 

[Teelie]

Actually, Tilapia will eat fish poop, and just about everything else, but you won't want those for your home aquaria.

 

[Animation]

Why not?

 

[ccg]

Just from doing a quick google search it looks like these fish get very large... which would be one good reason you wouldn't want one in your home tank:

http/www.igfa.org/images/Hotnews/july200...%2006050043.jpg

 

[Teelie]

Yes, they get very large and are pretty much impossible for the average aquarium to house. These are a fish farmed for human consumption as well.

 

[EliteFishy]

I heard some shrimps eat poop

 

[Animation]

What ones?

 

[Earthgirl]

There are no cats or plecs that eat poop directly (that can be housed in the home aqurium).
Snails or other invertebrates do not either.
We, as tank keepers are the only ones that can take care of the poop probs.
This conversation is also being talked about in "Chit Chat" for those who are interested to see what others have to say.....

 

[Animation]

i just mash my sand around with the net to get rid of it