Looking For A Bottom Feeder

[shadowspar]

im looking for a bottom feeder that wont harm my koi. so no plecos, and no big cats. whats left??? i thought of snails but i dont want them to tear apart my plants. i know ramshorn generally dont eat plants but red, leapard, blue ramshorn snails are too small to have any impact of fallen foods. maybe the giant ramshorn? anybody got ideas?

 

[mark4785]

Have you thought about green tench? They are bottom dwellers that will be around and eat more of the algae.

 

[Tavares100]

Have you thought about green tench? They are bottome dwellers that will be around and eat more of the algae.

i would agree but would go for a gold tench as they will be easier to see.

Shaun.

 

[shadowspar]

ive honesty never heard of those, i just looked them up and they look like carp to me, is that what they are? ill ask a lfs if they can get their hands on some.

 

[mark4785]

ive honesty never heard of those, i just looked them up and they look like carp to me, is that what they are? ill ask a lfs if they can get their hands on some.

It is a distant relative of the carp family yes. It's nickname is 'doctor fish' as its role in the tank is to eat algae and other appealing material which will go some way to reducing waste. It's role and appearance is quite similar to that of a cat fish and can survive in appauling water conditions.

 

[Tavares100]

ive honesty never heard of those, i just looked them up and they look like carp to me, is that what they are? ill ask a lfs if they can get their hands on some.

where are you from?

they are very common here in the uk, the green ones are easier to find than the gold ones tho. nice fish too.

 

[shadowspar]

i live in the US florida to be exact. ill be checking around from some of these sometime.

 

[three-fingers]

Can we get some info on the set up you are talking about?

Koi will eat from the bottom...they are very good at it.

You mentioned plecos and catfish hurting your koi, that wouldent happen. But there are much more important reasons you shouldent keep them together in most cases.

Also, what do you even want a "bottom feeder" for?

 

[kizno1]

how big is the pond ?

 

[3ndl3r]

If you've got fallen food. You're feeding too much. Simple as....

 

[shadowspar]

my pond is about 2000g could be a tiny bit less. its a newer pond so i only have a a 8in koi and a small sarasa comet in it. and the food i feed is tetra color for ponds. and its made to soften VERY quickly so it sinks reletively quick and my koi is still scared to come out untill like 1 mins after foods been in water. i dont feed much though, just like 7 pellets at a time 2-3 times a day. im looking to get more koi and more comets. i really want fancies but dont think itll work out in there.

 

[kizno1]

some golden tench would go fine in there then but just make sure you have some places for them to hide at the bottom because they like to stay under or in plants and wood and will stay at the bottom.

 

[what a load of pollocks]

since had my pond build i put in 5 weather loaches in with my shubunkin and comet and goldfish and god know where they are but have seen one of them couple of time on pond shelf, and my god certinly have gotten fatten up and got big so now up to date i dont know how many is left there is as i gather have 2 or 3 left or maybe one i dont know but they are useful....

i dont know how friendly is weather loaches with koi so it up to u.......................

by the way what the maximum side for gold tench the one i find is 4"-6" as i am considering gettin one near future but does not want one that too big